Market Matters

Homebuilders feeling happiest in 10 years Source: Yahoo! Finance U.S. homebuilder sentiment jumped 3 points in October to a level of 64 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, which is proof that the single-family housing market is making lasting gains as more serious buyers come forward. An index rating above 50 is considered positive sentiment. Sales expectations in the next six months rose 7 points to 75, while current sales conditions rose 3 points to 70. Buyer traffic, however, didn't move, sitting at 47— the only component still in negative territory. Read the full story   Homeownership Help: The Growing Importance of the Bank of Mom & Dad  Source: Zillow   Potential home buyers are increasingly relying on money from mom and dad as younger Americans look to secure the necessary funds for a down payment. The combination of rising home values, slow income growth, and still-tight credit markets has resulted in a growing reliance on intra-family loans and gifts meant to be used as down payments for younger home buyers. Overall, presumed first-time home buyers who bought in the years after the recession were roughly twice as likely to have received down payment assistance from friends and family as those who bought prior to the recession. The growing importance in the home-buying process of loans and gifts from family and friends underscores the challenge that securing a suitable down payment represents for younger home buyers. Read the full story Home Construction Rebounds Amid Surge in Multifamily Units Source: Wall St. Journal   A sharp increase in construction of apartments and other multifamily housing has led U.S. home building to rebound in September after two straight months of declines. Housing starts rose 6.5 percent from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.21 million in September, and an 18.3 percent surge in multifamily units, which include apartments and condominiums, led the increase. Builders are confident home buyers will return to the housing market, drawn by an improved job market, higher rental costs, and continuing low interest rates from the Federal Reserve. Read the full story   Millennials’ top competition for condos might be their parents Source: Washington Post   Roughly 10,000 baby boomers are retiring each day, and recent data shows that half of those who plan to move will downsize when they do. As a result, millennials have tough new competition for the condominiums and apartments that are heating up the nation’s housing market. In fact, boomers are renting apartments and buying condos at more than twice the rate of their millennial children. This means cash-strapped millennials may not be able to snag affordable units in buildings developed to house 20-somethings in urban areas. Read the full story Millennials Less Likely to Identify Credit-Altering Life Events Source: DSNews.comMillennials are less likely than baby boomers to identify milestone life events that could affect their credit, according to a new survey released by TransUnion. In fact, less than half of millennials surveyed could cite specific major life events that could negatively or positively affect credit, such as divorce (40 percent compared to 57 percent of boomers) or the death of a spouse (26 percent compared to 48 percent of boomers). Read the full story

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Market Matters

Number of First-Time Home Buyers Falls to Lowest Level in Three Decades Source: Wall St. Journal Concerns continue to grow that young people are being left out of an otherwise strong housing-market recovery due to the fact that the share of U.S. homes sold to first-time buyers this year declined to its lowest level in almost three decades. First-time buyers fell to 32 percent of all purchasers in 2015 from 33 percent last year, the third straight annual decline and the lowest percentage since 1987, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Typically, first-time buyers comprise 40 percent of purchasers. As home prices continue to rise, it will become even more difficult for new buyers to enter the market. Read the full story   Home buyers are hitting record credit scores  Source: CNBC   High-credit borrowers, those with FICO scores above 700, are almost entirely behind the surge in purchase applications, with some experts stating that loan performance is arguably the best in history. Since credit is favoring a smaller segment of borrowers, activity among borrowers with lower scores is flat to slightly lower from a year ago, according to Black Knight. For example, just 20 percent of purchase originations over the past three months have come from borrowers with credit scores below 700, the lowest level in more than a decade. Read the full story Median Home buyer Age Has Remained ‘Remarkably Steady’ Over the Years Source: DSNews.com   The rising share of home buyers age 50 and over and the shrinking percentages of homeowners ages 35 to 50 and under 30 have been major trends in housing as of late, but the median age of home buyers has remained “remarkably steady” in the last decade. The median home buyer age was 39 years old from 2005 to 2010 and 41 years old from 2011 to 2014, according to government data in the recently released American Community Survey (ACS). While the data showed that most states mirrored the trend of the rising share of older home buyers from 2005 to 2014, the median home buyer age actually declined in nine states and the District of Columbia during that period. Read the full story     Grown and still at home: Why young adults are moving back home and staying longer Source: Yahoo! Finance   A third of 18- to 34-year-olds are living with their families, which is more than during the Great Recession, according to a recent analysis from the Pew Research Center. So despite an improving job market, why are more millennials moving back home with their parents and staying longer? Many young Americans feel financially unprepared to live on their own because of their education debt, and in many instances, parents are welcoming their adult kids back home with open arms. Many recent grads are saving thousands of dollars each month, money that would’ve gone to rent and food if they lived on their own. Read the full story

Credit, Mortgages, and Your Ability to Buy a Home: It Doesn't Have to Be Scary Source: U.S. NewsAfter the effects of the recession, many Americans are still leery of entering the housing market for fear of another bubble, and a lack of education about mortgages has made some consumers still a little gun-shy to close on a home. But financial advisors caution that buying a home doesn’t have to be scary. Find a REALTOR® who can advise you through the process, and develop an understanding of your financial situation and what you are able to afford, as well as the kind of lending you sign on for. For instance, potential home buyers should know their credit score and any problem areas in their credit history. Also, meet with multiple loan representatives to get the best deal. Read the full story

People Slept Outside Overnight Just to Buy a House

Source: Dallas Morning News

 

Buyers want a piece of real estate in the town of McKinney, Texas, so badly that roughly a dozen people camped out overnight to secure first dibs on home lots in a new subdivision. Reportedly, the supply of houses in the north Dallas area is at the lowest point in generations. There has been a surge of new jobs in the region, which has affected the supply of homes. Quite notably, the area is also experiencing one of the largest year-over-year home price gains in the country, currently only behind San Francisco and Denver. One local real estate agent, who was eight months pregnant, was among the people camped out to get first dibs on a home in a region that is sure to see more growth.
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Millennials Are Buying Homes in Droves—Just Not Where You’d Expect

Source: Time

While there has been plenty of media attention about the lack of home-buying activity among the millennial generation, a recent analysis of home sale data performed by Realtor.com® and reported by Bloomberg shows that in many U.S. cities, millennials make up half or more of home purchasers and a large number of them are first-time buyers. They are just buying homes in less glamorous places than where the media has asserted the younger generation wants to live. For example, millennials—those between the ages of 25 and 34—accounted for nearly 60 percent those who took out a mortgage to buy a home in the first half of 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. They accounted for 45 percent or more in places like Provo, Utah; Madison, Wisc.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and New Orleans.
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Realtor.com® Uses Humor in Celebrity Video Series to Teach Home Buyers

Source: Inman   A clever five-part, first-time home buyer video series is targeting consumers – especially millennials – and real estate agents to teach important aspects of the home-buying process. The portal’s celebrity spokeswoman, Elizabeth Banks, stars in the humorous videos, which launched this spring as part of its revamped marketing campaign. The videos cover how to know when you’re ready for a home, mortgage lending, searching for a home, making an offer, and the sale. Smartly targeting millennials is the strategy behind the videos, as this demographic makes up the nation's largest generation of home buyers. Read the full story