Many homeowners faced higher property tax bills in 2017. Property taxes levied on single-family homes in 2017 totaled $293.4 billion, up 6 percent from 2016.
The average property tax on a single-family home in 2017 was $3,399 per home at an effective tax rate of 1.17 percent, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm, from its analysis of more than 86 million U.S. single-family homes.
Millennials are increasingly entering the housing market as first-time buyers and are expected to lead the growth in new homebuyers too, the National Association of Home Builders reports from its analysis of Census data.
The overall homeownership rate of millennials is at 36 percent, which is the largest gains among all age groups in 2017, the Census data shows. Millennials are the nation’s largest demographic group, and more than 70 million are expected to enter the housing market over the next few years.
Homebuilders are responding by increasing the amount of entry-level homes they are building, according to the NAHB. But they note that rising construction costs and limited lot availability have created challenges to building smaller, single-family detached homes that are affordable to first-time buyers and yet still cost-effective for builders.
More townhomes may be the answer, builders say. The townhome sector plunged during the Great Recession, but it has steadily been on the rise since 2009. Townhouse construction was up 7 percent in 2017 over 2016, according to Census data.
Builders are also taking note of millennials’ preferences as they look to add inventory. Millennials desire a three-bedroom and two-bathroom home, outdoor space, flexible areas that can be used for multiple purposes, and more luxurious finishes, such as quartz countertops, the NAHB says of its surveys.
Homeowners are getting richer, thanks to rising home values. The amount of equity that homeowners can tap into is now at the highest level on record, according to Black Knight Financial Services, a mortgage and finance industry solution provider.
The amount a borrower can take out of a home—while still leaving 20 percent in it—increased by a collective $735 billion during 2017. That is the largest annual increase by dollar value on record, according to Black Knight. The collective amount of tappable equity now stands at $5.4 trillion, 10 percent more than the prerecession peak in 2005.
Homeowners are being more conservative, and lenders are much stricter when it comes to tapping into home equity. Homeowners took out $262 billion in cash-out refinances or home equity lines of credit last year, which is less than 1.25 percent of all available equity and is at a four-year low.
The typical spring home buyer this year is on the hunt for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a garage and updated kitchen, according to a new realtor.com survey of more than 1,000 home shoppers. Forty-four percent of respondents say they want a three-bedroom home, and 93 percent say they want a home with at least two bathrooms. But the garage is becoming increasingly important to home shoppers, too, with 27 percent rating it as one of the most important home features, even above an updated kitchen (24 percent) and open floor plan (20 percent).
Several fair housing organizations sued Facebook on Tuesday, accusing the social media giant of allowing landlords and brokers to discriminate based on gender and family status on its advertising platform. They argue that advertisers could use the personal data of Facebook users to then target ads that could exclude certain populations from viewing them.
The National Fair Housing Alliance and three other housing groups filed the lawsuit, alleging that Facebook’s advertising platform violates the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination “based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin” on home sale and rental advertisements.
The housing groups that are suing Facebook say they created a fake real estate firm and submitted dozens of housing advertisements to Facebook for review to show that advertisers could exclude users based on their gender, family status, and whether they were interested in “disabled parking permits.”
Though consumers are optimistic about the economy and their own personal financial situations, more are expressing anxiety about their ability to buy a home, save for a down payment, and qualify for a mortgage, according to the National Association of REALTORS’ Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey for the first quarter of 2018.
The share of consumers who are confident about buying a home edged down to 68 percent in the latest survey—which is based on responses from about 2,000 people—from 72 percent in the previous quarter and is now at the lowest level in two years. Renters are the least optimistic: 55 percent say now is a good time to buy a home compared to 60 percent in the previous quarter. They perceive the top barriers to homeownership to be saving for a down payment and qualifying for a mortgage, stemming from concerns about future incomes, student loan debt, and having a low credit score, according to the survey.
Despite consistently low inventory levels and faster price growth, existing-home sales bounced back in February after two straight months of declines, according to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR).
Total existing-home sales grew 3.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.54 million in February from 5.38 million in January. After last month’s increase, sales are now 1.1 percent above a year ago.
February existing-home sales in the Northeast fell 12.3 percent to an annual rate of 640,000, and are now 7.2 percent below a year ago.
The Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to raise its short-term interest rates, and that likely will mean more mortgage rate increases are on the horizon. The Fed’s rates are not directly tied to mortgage rates but tend to follow 10-year Treasury bonds. However, mortgage rates are often influenced by the Fed’s rates.
The Fed increased its federal fund rate from 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent, which is the highest level since 2008. The Fed’s move Wednesday marks the first of what many economists predict will be three rate hikes this year. Some economists are predicting the federal funds rate to be at 2.1 percent by the end of the year.
Generation Z – the post-millennial generation – is already making a move into homeownership. This generation, which tops out at age 23, consists of those born in 1995 or later.
Nearly 100,000 members of Gen Z have a mortgage, according to data from TransUnion, a credit agency. Their average loan balance is $140,000.
In comparison, 12 million millennials had a mortgage in the fourth quarter of 2017, while Generation X had 24 million mortgages, baby boomers had 27 million, and the silent generation had 5.1 million mortgages, according to TransUnion’s data.
Albany, NY – March 21, 2018 – The New York State housing market continued to post solid numbers in February, reaching 7,328 closed sales despite a 6.2-percent decline from February 2017, according to the housing market report released today by the New York State Association of REALTORS. The February statewide median sales price of $260,000 represented an increase of 8.8 percent from a year ago.
“The ongoing decline in homes listed for sale created a headwind for New York State home sales during February,” said Duncan R. MacKenzie, CEO of the New York State Association of REALTORS. “However, buyer demand remained high, driving sales to the third highest total for the month. Buyer competition in this low-inventory market continues to spur sales price growth.”
“As we move closer to the typically busier spring and summer months, housing market sales growth will be largely dependent on an influx of newly listed homes and residential construction gains to meet demand.”
The February 2018 sales total of 7,328, represents a decrease of 6.2 percent from the February 2017 total of 7,813.
The February 2018 statewide median sales price was $260,000, an increase of 8.8 percent from the February 2017 median of $239,000.
February 2018 pending sales were on par with last February at 9,183.
The months supply of homes for sale dropped 10.7 percent at the end of February to 5 months supply. It was at 5.6 months at the end of February 2017. A 6 month to 6.5 month supply is considered to be a balanced market. Inventory stood at 57,082, a decrease of 9.5 percent compared to February 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]
Privately-owned housing starts in February fell 3.5 percent in the Northeast to 109,000, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department. January’s total was 113,000.
Nationally, housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1,236,000, a 7-percent decreased from the revised January total of 1,329,000.
Building permits for the Northeast rose 12.7 percent to 133,000, while nationally, building permits fell 5.7 percent to 1,298,000.
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes edged down one point to a level of 70 in March from a downwardly-revised February reading on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).
The Northeast rose one point to 57 on the index.