Category: Uncategorized

By Susanne Dwyer

Ask the 60-some percent of brokers in RISMedia’s 2017 Power Broker Survey: Almost every housing market is plagued by short supply. In fact, inventory nationally for pre-owned properties is at 3.9 months, down 10.4 percent from last year, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) recently reported.

The challenge, according to realtor.com®, could moderate in the next year. Groundbreaking is projected to ramp up 3 percent, with single-family starts up 7 percent, realtor.com’s 2018 National Housing Forecast reveals.

The catch? Activity won’t kick up until later in the year, and many builds will be higher- and/or mid-priced—not an ideal scenario in the short term. Lower-priced homes, which were hit hardest in the recession, will be the last to recover.

“We are forecasting next year to set the stage for a significant inflection point in the housing shortage,” says Javier Vivas, director of Economic Research for realtor.com. “Inventory increases will be felt in higher-priced segments after home-buying season [in the fall], which limits their impact on total sales of the year.”

Home prices will increase in 2018, but at a lesser pace than in 2017, the forecast shows: 3.2 percent. As with inventory, prices in the starter supply will take longer to lose steam. Existing-home sales are expected to grow 2.5 percent to 5.60 million. Considerable gains in prices and sales will be seen in: Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.; Dallas-Ft. Worth-Arlington, Texas; Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.; Stockton-Lodi, Calif.; Lakeland-Winter Haven, Calif.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn.; and Tulsa, Okla.

Realtor.com also anticipates 43 percent of buyers in 2018 will be millennials, up from the 40 percent projected for 2017. The biggest group of millennials is turning 30 in 2020, so their share is likely to continue tracking upward.

Expected to grow, as well, are mortgage rates, averaging 4.6 percent and possibly reaching 5 percent by year-end, the forecast states. Action by the Federal Reserve and economic factors, including inflation, will precede the rise. Markedly, more first-time homebuyers were able to get a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage this year than last year, despite a rate uptick. The 30-year, fixed mortgage rate averages 3.92 percent at present, according to Freddie Mac.

2018’s homeownership rate, meanwhile—which has gone up thus far this year—is forecasted to land at 63.9 percent.

A potential wrench is tax reform. The forecast was made prior to the House bill passing and the Senate bill being voted on; as such, realtor.com cautions that certain cuts—among others, the mortgage interest deduction and the state and local tax (SALT) deduction—could lead to less in the way of prices and sales.

The forecast, however, is optimistic overall.

“As we head into 2019 and beyond, we expect to see these inventory increases take hold and provide relief for first-time homebuyers and drive sales growth,” Vivas says.

For more information, please visit www.realtor.com.

Suzanne De Vita is RISMedia’s online news editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at sdevita@rismedia.com.

For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.

The …read more

From:: Real Estate News

By Susanne Dwyer

Pending home sales picked up steam in October, up 3.5 percent in the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI). The PHSI posted 109.3 in October, up from 105.6 in September; however, sales were 0.6 percent lower year-over-year. The Index is based on contract signings.

“Last month’s solid increase in contract signings were still not enough to keep activity from declining on an annual basis for the sixth time in seven months,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist of NAR. “Home shoppers had better luck finding a home to buy in October, but slim pickings and consistently fast price gains continue to frustrate and prevent too many would-be buyers from reaching the market.”

“Pending home sales benefited from a strong post-hurricane bounce-back in the South in October,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist of realtor.com®. “The rest of the country continued to see year-over-year declines in pending home sales as depleted inventory continues to challenge would-be buyers, especially millennials.”

All but one of the four major regions in the U.S. saw increases in the PHSI in October, with the Northeast up 0.5 percent to 95.0, the Midwest up 2.8 percent to 105.8, and the South up 7.4 percent to 123.6. The West saw a decrease, 0.7 percent to 101.6.

“Existing inventory has decreased every month on an annual basis for 29 consecutive months, and the number of homes for sale at the end of October was the lowest for the month since 1999,” Yun says. “Until new-home construction climbs even higher and more investors and homeowners put their home on the market, sales will continue to severely trail underlying demand.”

There is hope for inventory. A forecast by realtor.com suggests supply will tread upward in 2018.

“[Realtor.com] is predicting that relief may be on the horizon,” Hale says. “We expect to see slowing inventory declines into 2018 and an increase in the number of homes for sale in fall. Inventory is expected to recover first among higher-priced homes, so entry-level buyers will continue to face challenges in 2018, but the eventual lift in available homes is expected to push home sales up 2.5 percent next year.”

For more information, please visit www.nar.realtor.

For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.

The post Pending Home Sales Pick Up Steam appeared first on RISMedia.

…read more

From:: Finance and Economy

By Susanne Dwyer

Pending home sales picked up steam in October, up 3.5 percent in the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI). The PHSI posted 109.3 in October, up from 105.6 in September; however, sales were 0.6 percent lower year-over-year. The Index is based on contract signings.

“Last month’s solid increase in contract signings were still not enough to keep activity from declining on an annual basis for the sixth time in seven months,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist of NAR. “Home shoppers had better luck finding a home to buy in October, but slim pickings and consistently fast price gains continue to frustrate and prevent too many would-be buyers from reaching the market.”

“Pending home sales benefited from a strong post-hurricane bounce-back in the South in October,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist of realtor.com®. “The rest of the country continued to see year-over-year declines in pending home sales as depleted inventory continues to challenge would-be buyers, especially millennials.”

All but one of the four major regions in the U.S. saw increases in the PHSI in October, with the Northeast up 0.5 percent to 95.0, the Midwest up 2.8 percent to 105.8, and the South up 7.4 percent to 123.6. The West saw a decrease, 0.7 percent to 101.6.

“Existing inventory has decreased every month on an annual basis for 29 consecutive months, and the number of homes for sale at the end of October was the lowest for the month since 1999,” Yun says. “Until new-home construction climbs even higher and more investors and homeowners put their home on the market, sales will continue to severely trail underlying demand.”

There is hope for inventory. A forecast by realtor.com suggests supply will tread upward in 2018.

“[Realtor.com] is predicting that relief may be on the horizon,” Hale says. “We expect to see slowing inventory declines into 2018 and an increase in the number of homes for sale in fall. Inventory is expected to recover first among higher-priced homes, so entry-level buyers will continue to face challenges in 2018, but the eventual lift in available homes is expected to push home sales up 2.5 percent next year.”

For more information, please visit www.nar.realtor.

For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.

The post Pending Home Sales Pick Up Steam appeared first on RISMedia.

…read more

From:: Real Estate News