Consumer sentiment breaks record – again
For the second consecutive month, Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index reached an all-time survey high in May. But as home prices rise, consumer attitudes about buying and selling a home are diverging even more.
The net share of survey respondents who say now is a good time to sell rose to 46 percent, and is now up 14 percentage points year over year. Meanwhile, the net share who say now is a good time to buy fell to 28 percent and has shown little improvement over the past year, Fannie Mae notes.
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Homeowner equity growth streak continues
Homeowners with a mortgage saw their equity rise 13.3 percent year over year, according CoreLogic’s Home Equity Report for their first quarter of 2018. The average homeowner gained $16,300 in home equity between the first quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. That is the highest growth in home equity in four years.
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Homeownership still vital to build wealth
Homeownership remains a major component to financial security and continues to be the largest asset of the majority of households in the U.S. Primary residences account for a quarter of all household wealth, according to data from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System’s Survey of Consumer Finances.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, households in the U.S. saw a record $14.4 trillion of equity in their homes. However, the homeownership rate in recent years has slipped below its 25-year average. In the fourth quarter, it was at 64.2 percent compared to its historical average of 66.3 percent.
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Report: Higher prices, rates are unsustainable
Recent income growth has not been enough to keep up with rising mortgage rates and home prices, according to a new report by Black Knight, a real estate technology and data firm. Rising home prices and mortgage rates have increased the monthly payment of a median-priced home purchased with a 20-percent down payment on a 30-year mortgage by $150 per month. That marks about a 14-percent increase since the start of 2018.
While housing affordability stays better than long-term averages across most of the country, seven states are now less affordable than their long-term norms; 12 more states are approaching that point, according to the report. The report also cautions that housing affordability is likely to worsen across the country.
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First-time buyers account for more mortgages
First-time homebuyers are flocking to the real estate market in larger numbers, comprising 46 percent of mortgages backed by Freddie Mac – excluding refinancings – that were issued in the first quarter of this year. That marks the largest quarterly share that Freddie Mac has recorded, dating back to 2012.
“This is a millennial-driven rise,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, told Bloomberg. “You’ve got a strong economy that’s helping, along with the appetite of the financial market to invest in mortgages.”
Younger buyers may be motivated to buy due to the easing of credit in recent months as well as an improving job market. They also may be motivated to buy as rents rise and as increasing home prices and mortgage costs threaten to price them out of homeownership if they don’t act soon, Bloomberg reports.
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Caution: Email scam claims to be from NAR
Several NAR members have reported receiving a suspicious email regarding updates to a member directory. The sender – claiming to be NAR – uses an elon.edu address, and the message itself is riddled with random word capitalizations and misuse of the REALTOR mark. It’s also missing the association’s logo as well as other identifying information – signs that the email did not come from NAR.
Recipients of this email should not open it or respond in any way. Anyone who has opened it or entered any information or credentials should immediately change their nar.realtor passwords and other related passwords.
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Drop in rates doesn’t budge loan demand
Mortgage rates eased last week following recent increases, but would-be homebuyers or refinancers didn’t bite. Total mortgage applications volume dropped 2.9 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This marked the sixth consecutive week of losses in applications.
Mortgage application volume is now 10 percent lower than a year ago.
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NAR: Existing-home sales slide 2.5 percent in April
After moving upward for two straight months, existing-home sales retreated in April on both a monthly and annualized basis, according to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR).
Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, decreased 2.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.46 million in April from 5.6 million in March. Sales are now 1.4 percent below a year ago, and have fallen year-over-year for two straight months.
April existing-home sales in the Northeast fell 4.4 percent to an annual rate of 650,000, and are 11 percent below a year ago.
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Empire State home sales stay at elevated level during April
Albany, NY – May 24, 2018 – Against the backdrop of fewer homes on the market, homebuyers in New York State closed 8,640 sales during April, falling only 2.6 percent from April 2017, according to the housing market report released today by the New York State Association of REALTORS. The median sales price growth trend continued, increasing by nearly 12 percent compared to last April to reach $260,000 for the month.
“Home sales remain constrained by the continued decline in homes listed for sale and the inability of new home construction to fill the gap,” said Duncan R. MacKenzie, CEO of the New York State Association of REALTORS. “However, strong buyer demand pushed April closed sales to the third-highest level on record for the month.”
“We will be keeping a close eye on affordability conditions as the combination of buyer competition driving up sales prices and mortgage rate increases may create an additional market headwind,” said MacKenzie.
The April 2018 sales total of 8,640 represents a decrease of 2.6 percent from the April 2017 total of 8,869. Year-to-date (Jan. 1 – April 30) sales were 34,225, a decrease of 2.5 percent from the same period in 2017.
The April 2018 statewide median sales price was $260,000, an increase of 11.9 percent from the April 2017 median of $232,250. The year-to-date (Jan. 1 – April 30) median sales price was $258,900, an increase of 7.9 percent from the same period in 2017.
Pending sales increased 2.8 percent in April compared to a year ago to reach 12,697.
The months supply of homes for sale dropped 11.5 percent at the end of April to 5.4 months supply. It was at 6.1 months at the end of April 2017. A 6 month to 6.5 month supply is considered to be a balanced market. Inventory stood at 61,331, a decrease of 9.1 percent compared to April 2017.
Additional data is available at http://www.nysar.com/industry-resources/market-data
Editor’s Note: All data is compiled from multiple listing services in the state of New York and the data include townhomes, condominiums and existing single-family homes.
The New York State Association of REALTORS® is a not-for-profit trade organization representing more than 55,000 of New York State’s real estate professionals. The term REALTOR® is a registered trademark, which identifies real estate professionals who subscribe to a strict code of ethics as members of the National Association of REALTORS®. These REALTORS® are also members of the New York State Association of REALTORS® as well as their local board or association of REALTORS®.
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Salvatore I. Prividera Jr.
Director of Communications
518-463-0300×208 office
[email protected]
More properties sell above list price
More homes are being sold for at or above the list price, according to the latest REALTORS Confidence Index Survey, a survey of real estate pros on their most recent transactions. Thirty-seven percent of properties that closed in February sold at or above the list price, according to the survey. A year ago, 35 percent of properties sold at or above the list price.
“Buyer demand continues to outpace supply of homes being listed for sale in the market, sustaining the upward pressure on home prices,” the National Association of REALTORS reports at its Economists’ Outlook blog.
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Kids have a big say in real estate decisions
The opinion of homebuyers’ children has a big sway in real estate decisions, a new survey finds. Fifty-five percent of homeowners surveyed say that their children under the age of 18 have an opinion on which home to buy, according to a new Harris Poll Survey commissioned by SunTrust Mortgage of more than 2,000 adults.
Seventy-four percent of millennial parents between the ages of 18 and 36 report their children have even more of an influence. And 83 percent of renters said the opinion of their children will be a factor in which home to buy, the survey finds.
The top requests of children include their own bedrooms (57 percent); a large backyard (34 percent); proximity to parks and activities (25 percent), close to schools (24 percent), close to friends (24 percent), and a swimming pool (21 percent).
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NAR to launch .realestate top-level domain
The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) will be launching a new top-level domain, .realestate, later this year. The new domain extension is scheduled to be available in September for members of NAR, with a late November release to the general public.
The .realestate web addresses will be free of restrictions from NAR affiliation and will allow real estate entities and professionals to creatively market properties, geographic areas served, or their personal brands and specialties.
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