Real Estate Archives

Prices Increase Slower For More Expensive Homes

It’s said that real estate is all about location. And that’s generally true. But it isn’t the only thing that influences which way prices are headed and how quickly. Price range also makes a difference. For example, a recent analysis of current home prices found that homes in affordable price ranges were seeing annual increases much larger than more expensive homes. In fact, the most affordable third of homes sold in June saw year-over-year increases of 8.7 percent, while the most expensive third of homes only saw prices grow 1.1 percent. That’s no small difference. It is, however, understandable. Supply and demand are more well balanced on the high end of the housing market. The market for affordable homes, on the other hand, currently has more buyers than available homes, which causes prices to rise. But there is reason for encouragement. Available inventory is improving and should begin to help moderate price increases. As this happens, the gap between the high and low end of the market will narrow. More here.

Is January’s Sales Spike A Sign For Spring?

There has been a lot of discussion lately about what the housing market will look like this year. Will higher mortgage rates and rising prices hold off buyer demand or will consumer confidence and a better job market fuel a spike in sales regardless of what rates and prices do? One early answer comes in the form of the National Association of Realtors’ latest home sales figures. In January, for example, the number of previously owned homes that were sold was 3.3 percent higher than the month before and reached its strongest pace in a decade. This could be a sign that this spring’s real estate market will continue to build on last year’s strength. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says the January report shows that consumers are coming out despite the changing landscape for home buyers. “Much of the country saw robust sales activity last month as strong hiring and improved consumer confidence at the end of the year appear to have sparked considerable interest in buying a home,” Yun said. “Market challenges remain, but the housing market is off to a prosperous start as home buyers staved off inventory levels that are far from adequate and deteriorating affordability conditions.” Regionally, home sales saw strong gains in the West, South and Northeast but fell 1.5 percent in the Midwest. Also in the report, home prices experienced their biggest increases over last year in the West, South, and Midwest. The Northeast, on the other hand, only saw a modest increase year-over-year. More here.

What Are The Country’s Hottest Markets?

Buying a home is a major financial transaction that involves piles of paperwork, years of savings, and the weight of new responsibilities. It’s also about your dreams, though. That’s why, no matter where you live, it can be fun to think about packing up and moving somewhere new. But where would you go, if you were to move away? Well, according to Freddie Mac’s most recent Multi-Indicator Market Index, the hottest housing market in the country right now is Dallas. The index – which compares current data to historical norms in all 50 states and the top 100 metropolitan areas – looks at things like home purchase applications, payment-to-income ratios, proportion of on-time mortgage payments, and the local job market in an effort to gauge how quickly individual housing markets have rebounded from their post-crash lows. Based on those factors, Dallas leads a list that includes Nashville, Honolulu, Ogden, UT, and Los Angeles among the cities that have the healthiest housing markets. But, despite booming markets in some areas of the country, there are others that are still climbing upward. “While we see strong house price growth in markets like Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Phoenix and others, most are still well below their pre-2008 peak and still have significant room for improvement,” Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist, said. That means, whether you fantasize about a good deal in a far-off state or are looking to move to a hot spot closer to home, you’re only limited by your imagination. More here.

Most Homes Will Last More Than 100 Years

Everybody knows buying a house is a long-term commitment. After all, the typical mortgage is paid over 30 years and the typical home seller has been in their home for almost 10 years. In other words, homeownership isn’t for frequent movers or anyone with a strong case of wanderlust. But regardless of how long you stay in one place, you aren’t likely to outlast your house. That’s because most homes will last around 100 years, according to a new analysis from the National Association of Home Builders of numbers from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In fact, just 0.59 percent of all housing units are lost each year. These homes are lost for various reasons – including demolition, disaster, conversions, mergers, and homes that are put to non-residential uses. And that rate is pretty consistent whether the home was built in 1983 or 1962. In fact, when broken down per decade, the annual loss rate is fairly steady, though it does accelerate to just over 1 percent for homes built before 1950. Overall, the data suggests most of the homes built recently will still be standing 100 years from now and, even if you bought a house built 40 years ago, it’ll likely still be standing strong in 2076. More here.

New Home Sales Up 30% Over Last Year

In September, new home sales were 29.8 percent higher than they were at the same time last year, according to new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The data shows sales up 3.1 percent from the month before and at their second-highest level since the recovery began. That’s good news for the housing market because any increase in new home sales helps spur more new home construction, which raises for-sale inventory and moderates price increases on all homes up for sale. As it is, the median price of a new home sold in September was $313,500; the average sales price was $377,700. And, with the number of new homes for sale lower than the month before, prices will likely continue to rise in the near term. Still a more favorable labor market and low mortgage rates have helped balance higher prices and kept buyer demand high. As an example, economists and analysts predicted a sales decline for September, making the results both unexpected and a good indication that potential home buyers aren’t being deterred by higher prices. More here.