House Rentals Outpace Apartment Boom
April 14, 2018 By Leave a Comment
The multifamily sector has seen a frenzy of apartment construction over the last decade, but it’s single-family homes that were the fastest growing type of rental between 2007 and 2016, according to a new study by RentCafe. Over the last decade, single-family rentals rose by 31 percent, while the multifamily sector grew by 14 percent. In net gain, the growth makes up 3.6 million units versus 3.2 million units added, respectively.
2017 MIGRATION PATTERNS
March 31, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Based on 72,986 Interstate and Cross-Border Household Goods Relocations from January 1, 2017, through December 15, 2017. Click on the map for detail for each Province or State.
Existing Home Sales Report
March 23, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Although home sales in the Midwest and Northeast saw a dip in this period, the South and West regions skyrocketed, boosting the national numbers.
Dr. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist noted that “The very healthy U.S. economy and labor market are creating a sizeable interest in buying a home in early 2018. However, even as seasonal inventory gains helped boost sales last month, home prices – especially in the West – shot up considerably. Affordability continues to be a pressing issue because new and existing housing supply is still severely subpar.”
Added Yun, “The unseasonably cold weather to start the year muted pending sales in the Northeast and Midwest in January and ultimately led to their sales retreat last month. Looking ahead, several markets in the Northeast will likely see even more temporary disruptions from the large winter storms that have occurred in March.”
Click to enlarge.
In February, the median home price rose to $241,700, a 5.9 percent increase from February 2017, and the 72nd straight month of annual gains. The average days on market fell to 37, down from 41 in January, and 45 last February. That’s what we call a competitive market.
NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall comments on the difficulty first-time buyers are seeing in this competitive market. “Realtors® in several markets note that entry-level homes for first-timers are hard to come by, which is contributing to their underperforming share of overall sales to start the year. Prospective buyers should start conversations with a Realtor® now on what they want in a new home. Even with the expected uptick in new listings in coming months, buyers in most markets will likely have to act fast on any available listing that checks all their boxes.”
Regional performance varied, with sales in the West outperforming all other regions. While sales fell in the Northeast by 12.3 percent, and dropped 2.4 percent in the Midwest, they skyrocketed 11.4 percent in the West, and 6.6 percent in the South.
Should I Wait Until Next Year To Buy? Or Buy Now?
February 25, 2018 By Leave a Comment
- The Cost of Waiting to Buy is defined as the additional funds it would take to buy a home if prices & interest rates were to increase over a period of time.
- Freddie Mac predicts interest rates to rise to 5.1% by 2019.
- CoreLogic predicts home prices to appreciate by 4.3% over the next 12 months.
Things You Probably Don’t Know About The 2018 Winter Olympics
February 23, 2018 By Leave a Comment
The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics are winding down, but this year’s Games have brought exciting events and athletes with captivating storylines to your television screen.
While most fans of the Olympics focus only on the sports, the inner workings of the Games from budget to security can be just as interesting. Did you know that the PyeongChang Games will cost $13 billion? Despite that staggering figure, it’s still four times less money than the previous 2014 Sochi Game. After all, any event as big as the Olympics will have a huge impact on the economy, media, and environment in addition to sports.
Security is tight at the PyeongChang Games. About $18.4 million has been spent on X-ray screening, and $1.2 million will be spent on cybersecurity by the time it’s all said and done. Meanwhile, 5,000 South Korean military service members are present along with 13,000 police officers. On top of that, the United States has sent 200 of their own security members and many other nations have probably done the same. It’s clear that security is paramount to the host and participating nations of the Games.
Homeownership: The Dream is Still Alive
February 13, 2018 By Leave a Comment
A story in the Wall Street Journal gave these new homeownership numbers some context:
“The annual increase marks a crucial turning point because it comes after the federal government reined in bubble-era policies that encouraged banks to ease lending standards to boost homeownership. This time, what’s driving the market is a shift in favor of owning rather than renting.
‘This is market, market and market…There’s no government incentive program in sight that is having this effect,’ said Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate and finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, ‘This is back to basics.’”
In a separate report comparing the rental population in America to the homeowner population, RentCafé also concluded that the gap is now shrinking.
“Undoubtedly, the recession had a great impact on homeownership…However, it looks like it takes more to discourage Americans from buying a house than that.
As the years go by, it seems more and more certain that the fact that renting has seen a sudden gain in popularity is more a reaction to the economic crisis than a paradigm shift in the Americans’ attitude toward housing.”
America’s belief in homeownership was also evidenced in a recent survey by Pew Research. They asked consumers “How important is homeownership to achieving the American Dream?”
The results:
- 43% said homeownership was essential to the American Dream
- 48% said homeownership was important to the American Dream
- Only 9% said it was not important
Bottom Line
Homeownership has been, is and will always be a crucial element of the American Dream.