Category Archives: Housing Market Updates

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A Tale of Two Markets: Inventory Mismatch Paints a More Detailed Picture

March 16, 2017First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Housing Market Updates, Move-Up Buyers, Real EstateBrenda Jones

The inventory of existing homes for sale in today’s market was recently reported to be at a 3.6-month supply according to the National Association of Realtors latest Existing Home Sales Report. Inventory is now 7.1% lower than this time last year, marking the 20^th consecutive month of year-over-year drops. Continue reading A Tale of Two Markets: Inventory Mismatch Paints a More Detailed Picture →

Spring Forward: The Difference An Hour Makes [INFOGRAPHIC]

March 11, 2017First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Housing Market Updates, Move-Up Buyers, Real EstateBrenda Jones

Some Highlights:

Don’t forget to set your clocks forward this Sunday, March 12^th at 2:00 AM EST in observance of Daylight Savings Time.
Unless of course, you are a resident of Arizona or Hawaii!
Every hour in the United States: 649 homes are sold, 177 homes regain equity (meaning they are no longer underwater on their mortgage), and the median home price rises $1.86!

Thinking of Selling? Do it TODAY!!

March 8, 2017For Sellers, Housing Market Updates, Real EstateBrenda Jones

That headline might be a little aggressive. However, as the data on the 2017 housing market begins to roll in, we can definitely say one thing: If you are considering selling, IT IS TIME TO LIST YOUR HOME!

The February numbers are not in yet, but the January numbers were sensational. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, said:

“Much of the country saw robust sales activity last month as strong hiring and improved consumer confidence at the end of last year appear to have sparked considerable interest in buying a home. Market challenges remain, but the housing market is off to a prosperous start as homebuyers staved off inventory levels that are far from adequate…”

And CNBC says consumer confidence in the economy is fueling the market:

“U.S. home resales surged to a 10-year high in January as buyers shrugged off higher prices and mortgage rates, a sign of growing confidence in the economy.”

The only challenge to the market is a severe lack of inventory. A balanced market would have a full six-month supply of homes for sale. Currently, there is less than a four-month supply of inventory. This represents a decrease in supply of 7.1% from the same time last year.

Bottom Line

With demand increasing and supply dropping, this may be the perfect time to get the best price for your home. Let’s get together and discuss the inventory levels in your neighborhood to determine your next steps.

How Long Do Most Families Stay in Their Home?

March 1, 2017First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Housing Market Updates, Move-Up Buyers, Real EstateBrenda Jones

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) keeps historical data on many aspects of homeownership. One of the data points that has changed dramatically is the median tenure of a family in a home. As the graph below shows, for over twenty years (1985-2008), the median tenure averaged exactly six years. However, since 2008, that average is almost nine years – an increase of almost 50%.

Why the dramatic increase?

The reasons for this change are plentiful!

The fall in home prices during the housing crisis left many homeowners in a negative equity situation (where their home was worth less than the mortgage on the property). Also, the uncertainty of the economy made some homeowners much more fiscally conservative about making a move.

With home prices rising dramatically over the last several years, 93.7% of homes with a mortgage are now in a positive equity situation with 79.1% of them having at least 20% equity, according to CoreLogic.

With the economy coming back and wages starting to increase, many homeowners are in a much better financial situation than they were just a few short years ago.

One other reason for the increase was brought to light during a recent presentation by Lawrence Yun, the Chief Economist of NAR, at the Realtor’s Summit in San Diego, CA. Yun pointed to the fact that historically, young homeowners who were either looking for more space to accommodate their growing family or looking for a better school district were more likely to move more often (every 5 years). The homeownership rate among young families, however, has still not caught up to previous generations resulting in the jump we have seen in median tenure!

What does this mean for housing?

Many believe that a large portion of homeowners are not in a house that is best for their current family circumstances. They could be baby boomers living in an empty, four-bedroom colonial, or a millennial couple planning to start a family that currently lives in a one-bedroom condo.

These homeowners are ready to make a move. Since the lack of housing inventory is a major challenge in the current housing market, this could be great news.

Existing Home Sales Reach Highest Mark Since 2007 [INFOGRAPHIC]

February 27, 2017For Buyers, For Sellers, Housing Market Updates, Infographics, Real EstateBrenda Jones

Highlights:

Sales of existing homes reached the highest pace in a decade at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.69 million.
January marked the 59^th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains as the median home price rose 7.1% to $228,900.
NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun had this to say, “Much of the country saw robust sales activity last month as strong hiring and improved consumer confidence at the end of last year appear to have sparked considerable interest in buying a home.”