In his latest column, realtor.com Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke said that with inventory levels plunging to multiyear lows, sellers are facing very little competition and should consider listing earlier rather than later. Also, with interest rates largely forecasted to move higher this year, buyers are more in a rush to lock in a low rate sooner. Click here to learn more.
NYSAR CEO Duncan MacKenzie issued a statement Friday on behalf of New York’s REALTORS encouraging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to expand his recently announced first-time homebuyer program to cover all New Yorkers. He called on the governor and legislature to include the REALTOR NY First Home proposal in the state’s 2017-18 budget. Read the statement.
In its year-end U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which reports default notices, schedule auctions and bank repossessions, RealtyTrac Inc. report New York State ranked 13 out of all 50 states for foreclosure filings. New York had 59,402 total foreclosure filings for 2016, up 0.91 percent from 2015. One in every 137 housing units in New York State received a foreclosure filing.
In December 2016, New York State had 4,666 total foreclosure filings, ranking 19 out of all 50 states. This is 1.24 percent above November 2016 but down 3.34 percent from December 2015. One in every 1,747 housing units in New York State received a foreclosure filing.
Nationally, foreclosure filings were reported on 933,045 properties in 2016 and 85,919 properties in December 2016.
To read the entire RealtyTrac press release, click here.
For more statistics and trends from RealtyTrac, click here.
The average size of newly-built homes decreased in 2016 – a sign that the home building industry is preparing for the coming wave of first-time buyers as Millennials begin to dip their toes into the market, according to research and survey results released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). In 2015, the typical new home had 2,689 square feet. In 2016, it dropped to 2,634, according to figures supplied by the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s the first drop in size since 2009, said Rose Quint, NAHB assistant vice president for survey research.
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Construction of single-family homes is expected to gradually rise this year, as a growing economy, solid employment gains and rising household formation buoys builders’ forecasts. Last year, the National Association of Home Builders projected 1.16 million total housing starts in 2016, which was up nearly 5 percent from the previous year. Now, NAHB is forecasting a 10-percent increase in single-family production for 2017, and a 12-percent rise for 2018.
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It’s more affordable to buy a home than to rent one in 66 percent of the largest U.S. counties, according to a report by ATTOM Data Solutions after comparing monthly rents of three-bedroom apartments to monthly payments on median-priced homes. The report showed rents surging faster than home prices in about 27 percent of the markets measured.
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Lower costs are coming for homebuyers seeking a Federal Housing Administration -insured mortgage. FHA announced today that they are cutting annual premiums for mortgage insurance from 0.85 percent to 0.60 percent, a move the National Association of REALTORS said breathes new life into the program.
“FHA mortgage products exist to serve an important mission: providing homeownership opportunities to creditworthy borrowers who are overlooked by conventional lenders,” said NAR President William E. Brown. “The high cost of mortgage insurance has unfortunately put those opportunities out of reach for many young, first-time- and lower-income borrowers. Now, we have a real opportunity to get back on track.”
Learn more here.