Category: Housing Market Updates

Where Are Americans Moving?

Some Highlights: Atlas Van Lines recently released the results of their annual Migration Patterns Survey in which they tracked their customer’s movement from state-to-state over the course of 2017. Idaho held on to the top spot of ‘high inbound’ states for the 2nd year in a row followed by Washington. The ‘outbound’ states seem to draw a line straight across the country from Connecticut to Wyoming.   Chrysti TovaniChrysti Tovani is a REALTOR® based in Fair Oaks, CA, serving the greater Sacramento area—including Orangevale, Carmichael, and nearby neighborhoods. She’s also a multimedia journalist and founder of I Love Fair Oaks,…

What Impact Will the New Tax Code Have on Home Values?

Every month, CoreLogic releases its Home Price Insights Report. In that report, they forecast where they believe residential real estate prices will be in twelve months. Below is a map, broken down by state, reflecting how home values are forecasted to change by the end of 2018 using data from the most recent report. As we can see, CoreLogic projects an increase in home values in 49 of 50 states, and Washington, DC (there was insufficient data for HI). Nationwide, they see home prices increasing by 4.2%. How might the new tax code impact these numbers? Recently, the National Association of…

93% Believe Homeownership Is Important in Attaining the American Dream

Americans continue to believe that homeownership is important in achieving the American Dream. A recent survey by NeighborWorks America reported that: “Owning a home remains a core element of the American Dream.” When asked “How important a part of the American dream is owning a home?” 18% of those surveyed said it was the most important part 53% of those surveyed said it was very important 22% of those surveyed said it was somewhat important Homeownership and Financial Stability The survey also revealed that 81% of Americans believe that owning a home leads to a family being more financially stable.…

The Impact of Tight Inventory on the Housing Market

The housing crisis is finally in the rearview mirror as the real estate market moves down the road to a complete recovery. Home values are up, home sales are up, and distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales) have fallen to their lowest points in years. It seems that the market will continue to strengthen in 2018. However, there is one thing that may cause the industry to tap the brakes: a lack of housing inventory. While buyer demand looks like it will remain strong throughout the winter, supply is not keeping up. Here are the thoughts of a few industry…

712,000 Homes in the US Regained Equity in the Past 12 Months!

CoreLogic’s latest Equity Report revealed that “over the past 12 months, 712,000 borrowers moved into positive equity.” This is great news, as the share of homeowners with negative equity (those who owe more than their home is worth), has dropped more than 20% since the peak in Q4 of 2009 (26%) to 4.9% today. The report also revealed: The average homeowner gained approximately $14,900 in equity during the past year. Compared to Q3 2016, negative equity decreased 22% from 3.2 million homes, or 6.3% of all mortgaged properties. U.S. homeowners with mortgages (roughly 63% of all homeowners) have seen their…

Time on the Market Drops to New Low in 2017

According to recently released data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the median amount of time a home spent on the market hit an all-time low of only three weeks in 2017. Strong buyer demand, a good economy, and a low inventory of new and existing homes for sale created the perfect storm to accelerate the time between listing and signing a contract. The time needed to sell a home has dropped substantially since its highest mark of 11 weeks in 2012. The chart below shows the median weeks on the market from 1987 to today. Bottom Line If…

How Rising Prices Will Help You Build Family Wealth in 2018

Over the next five years, home prices are expected to appreciate on average by 3.35% per year and to grow by 24.34% cumulatively, according to Pulsenomics’ most recent Home Price Expectation Survey. So, what does this mean for homeowners and their equity position? As an example, let’s assume a young couple purchases and closes on a $250,000 home this month (January). If we only look at the projected increase in the price of that home, how much equity will they earn over the next 5 years? Since the experts predict that home prices will increase by 4.2% in 2018, the young homeowners will have…

There’s More to a Bubble Than Rising Home Prices

What truly causes a housing bubble and the inevitable crash? For the best explanation, let’s go to a person who correctly called the last housing bubble – a year before it happened. “A bubble requires both overvaluation based on fundamentals and speculation. It is natural to focus on an asset’s fundamental value, but the real key for detecting a bubble is speculation…Speculation tends to chase appreciating assets, and then speculation begets more speculation, until finally, for some reason that will become obvious to all in hindsight, the ‘bubble’ bursts. I have taken to calling the housing market a ‘bubble’.” –…

5 Reasons to Sell This Winter!

Here are five reasons listing your home for sale this winter makes sense. 1. Demand Is Strong The latest Buyer Traffic Report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that buyer demand remains very strong throughout the vast majority of the country. These buyers are ready, willing and able to purchase… and are in the market right now! More often than not, multiple buyers are competing with each other to buy a home. Take advantage of the buyer activity currently in the market. 2. There Is Less Competition Now Housing inventory is still under the 6-month supply that is…