Buyers More Positive About Housing Market

Buyers more positive about housing market

Homebuyers are becoming increasingly more positive about today’s housing market. According to Fannie Mae’s recent Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI), the number of buyers who say now’s a good time to buy is up seven percentage points for the month—and is nearing its highest point on record.

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The HPSI for November weighed in at 87.8—up from just 85.2 in October and 82.2 last year. Currently, about 29 percent of consumers believe it’s a good time to buy a home.

According to Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s Senior VP and Chief Economist, November’s HPSI indicates the market may be in for an upturn come 2018.

“In November, the HPSI rebounded to near its all-time high,…

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Rising Prices and Rising Expectations

Rising Prices and Rising Expectations

Expectations are rising for home price appreciation, according to the 2017 Q4 Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey. Home prices have continued to rise, and showed no signs of slowing.

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Zillow  sponsors a quarterly survey, conducted by Pulsenomics LLC, which asks more than 100 housing experts, market strategists, and economists what to expert for the U.S. housing market in 2018. The survey has revealed a steady uptick in home price increase, pushed along by the struggling supply over 33 straight months.

Zillow reports that although overall new construction picked up slightly toward the end of 2017, single-family construction was still plagued by a slow pace. Only 16.7 percent…

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How to Choose A Real Estate Agent

How to choose a real estate agent

The right person might be able to get you into your dream home.

Consider the real estate process: there’s time spent researching neighborhoods, searching for homes that match your budget (and your lifestyle), negotiations on price and repairs, and the commitment level of making one of the biggest purchases of your life. If going it alone sounds scarier than entering a haunted house at midnight, you might need more information about how to choose a real estate agent.

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A great real estate agent can help you navigate every step, with advice and connections to make getting to the closing table that much easier. And especially in hot real estate…

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How One Woman Paid Off $20K in Debt While Renting

How One Woman Paid Off $20K in Debt While Renting

The keys to paying off debt while renting are motivation, a plan, and spending in moderation.

How one woman’s ambitious money-saving tactics made her debt-free.

Search for tips to pay off debt and you’ll likely find lofty advice like “reduce your living expenses so more of your money can go toward paying down your debt.” If you can find a way to eradicate the need to pay rent, you can free up a big chunk of change to put toward paying off your debt instead. But living rent-free just isn’t a reality for most people. Add on to rent all the other bills you need to pay in a month and there may not be much left to devote toward your goal of debt freedom. 

Iryna…

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Good News for Rental Investors

Good News for Rental Investors

Average retention rates of expiring leases among single-borrower, single-family rental securitizations remained strong in September 2017, according to Morningstar Credit Ratings’ latest Single-Family Rental Research.

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The retention rate on full-term leases climbed to 76.3 percent in September, up from a revised 74.6 percent for August 2017. Of the single-family, single-borrower securitizations monitored by Morningstar, only three posted a retention rate below 70 percent. That’s half as many as in August’s total of six. Moreover, seven deals posted retention rates above 80 percent, as opposed to four in August. Rents themselves rose 2.9 percent in October. All of this amounts to good…

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Rising House Prices Trail Pre-Housing Bubble Levels

Rising House Prices Trail Pre-Housing Bubble Levels

According to the latest First American Real Home Price Index, slightly lower interest rates and higher wages helped increase consumer home-buying power between August and September 2017.

Making it easier for home buyers to buy Homes for Sale in Davenport FL.

Supply shortages continue to ensure that demand is outpacing supply, driving up prices as many existing homeowners remain reluctant to sell for fear of not being able to find a new house. In spite of that, however, home prices continue to be well below their pre-Recession levels.

The First American Real House Price Index (RHPI) “measures the price changes of single-family properties throughout the U.S. adjusted for the impact of income…

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What’s in Store for Existing Home Sales . . .

What’s in store for existing home sales

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently released its Existing Home Sales report—discovering that October 2017 reported the strongest pace since June, but low supply continues to lead to fewer closings on an annual basis for the second month in a row.

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Amidst the ongoing narrative of supply shortages, the report found that total existing-home sales increased by 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.48 million in October from 5.37 million in September.

According to NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, this slight increase is attributed to job growth, which in most of the country continues to carry on at a robust level and is starting to slowly push…

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Top 3 Barriers to Homeownership

Top 3 barriers to homeownership

As home prices rise and tight inventory continues, the current market has made it more challenging for American’s to reach their goals of homeownership, especially for low-to-median-income borrowers and first-time homebuyers.

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According to the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center, there are three significant barriers to homeownership: saving for a down payment, accessing mortgage credit, and housing affordability.

In a recent report, Urban Institute breaks down these barriers, reporting data on the latest market trends of these obstacles.

One of the biggest barriers are consumers thinking they need to put more down than lenders actually require. According to the…

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Keeping Up With Home Sales

Keeping up with home sales

The November RE/MAX National Housing Report recently released, reporting that October home sales increased 2.5 percent year-over-year—keeping 2017 prices ahead of 2016.

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In terms of inventory, the report found that October’s supply decreased to 3.3 percent, representing the lowest for any October since the housing report began tracking data nine years ago.

Median sales prices are now $224,000, which is an increase of 3.3 percent compared to October 2016.

According to Adam Contos, RE/MAX Co-CEO, the housing market is steady and at least somewhat predictable with record-low inventory and increasing prices in markets across the country.

“With job growth and increased household…

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Mortgage Interest Rates Are Going Up… Should I Wait To Buy?

Mortgage Interest Rates Are Going Up… Should I Wait To Buy?

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Mortgage interest rates, as reported by Freddie Mac, have increased over the last several weeks. Freddie Mac, along with Fannie Mae, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Realtors, is calling for mortgage rates to continue to rise over the next four quarters.

This has caused some purchasers to lament the fact that they may no longer be able to get a rate below 3.5%. However, we must realize that current rates are still at historic lows.

Here is a chart showing the average mortgage interest rate over the last several decades:

Bottom Line

Though you may have missed getting the lowest mortgage rate ever offered, you…

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