Jonathan Burdick

Just when we thought home sales were shifting toward downsizing we get NAR’s news release that reports sales of existing homes prices above $1M jumped over 16% in October from a year ago, outperformed every other price segment. The next strongest was the $750k-1M range, up over 12%. Sales of homes prices under $100k fell 6%. As the U.S. stock market raises, so do sales of million-dollar homes, a relationship not lost on the nation’s Realtors. “There is little volatility in th

On Tuesday, Fannie Mae released its latest contribution to a seemingly unending stream of research on one of the biggest problems facing the housing industry: What is preventing millennials from buying homes? The thrust of Fannie’s report said that millennials have reasonable access to affordable housing but are not buying, largely for reasons already known: high unemployment, not enough access to downpayment capital, lots of student loan debt and subpar median incomes. Fanni

Home sales in July (single family, townhouse & condo combined) were 4.9% lower than June, with a 4.6% fall in single family and a 7.5% fall in townhouse & condo sales. Total sales were down 18.1% from July 2013 with single family down 18.7% and townhouse & condo sales down 13.3%. The gap between 2013 and 2014 sales closed opened wider than in June because July was an unusually strong month last year. Thanks to the price rises between July 2013 and July 2014, the drop

All-Cash Sales Fall To Six-Year Low The market share of all-cash home sales continues to fall and in June made up the lowest share since the beginning of the financial crisis. CoreLogic said today that cash sales comprised 33 percent of all home sales in June compared to 34.4 percent in May. Prior to the crisis cash transactions generally averaged 25 percent of all home sales. Cash sales hit a peak of 46.2 percent of sales in January 2011. The share was also down on an ann

US Housing, A Global Marketplace The housing market is rapidly becoming an international marketplace with an increasing number of transactions representing global sales. According to the National Association of Realtors®2014 Profile of International Home Buying Activity, for the period April 2013 through March 2014, total international sales are estimated at $92.2B, an increase from the previous period’s level of $68.2B. Favorable exchange rates, affordable home prices and ri

Improvement In The Lending Environment A couple of recent solid reports on mortgages paint a picture of a market that’s healing, with loan access and demand rising. Recent mortgage reports indicate that consumer access to mortgages is opening up and demand is rising. Low interest rates are fostering rising demand in both existing and new homes. However, now the challenge is for available housing inventory to balance with the market demand. The demographic profile of consumers

First-time homebuyers are key to the housing rebound The typical first-time homebuyer is about 30 years old, and income gains for younger households have been weaker than average. Median household income was flat from 2008 to 2012 for households aged 25 to 34 years. Growth in the median income for all households was weak but did advance by 0.8% per year. Job and income growth will accelerate and help first-time homebuyers overcome rising house prices and enter the market. Mor

There's No Doubt, The Economy Is Mending Moody’s Analytics recently released their latest U.S. Macro Forecast, by economist Mark Zandi. Here are two central themes highlighted to support their belief that the economy is truly recovering: Recovery is in high gear - Since it began five years ago, real GDP growth has been tepid, averaging just over 2% per year. The pace now looks closer to 3%. - Behind the pickup is the winding down of fiscal austerity. Government spending cuts

CPLs protect lenders from the unauthorized actions of settlement agents. When you secure a mortgage to purchase a home or other piece of real estate, your lender will require that you purchase title insurance to protect the loan. This title insurance premium will be paid one time during the escrow/settlement period of the real estate transaction, and the coverage will last until the loan is settled — paid, refinanced or foreclosed. When the title insurance company agrees to i

One of the foremost economists covering the housing market is Celia Chen with Economy.com. Over the next three issues we will be covering her latest U.S. Housing Outlook, just released. Here is a summary of her key projections: • As employment conditions improve, pent-up housing demand will be released. • Home sales will remain at 5.5 million this year and accelerate to 6.4 million in 2015. • Credit remains tight, but mortgage lenders are expected to ease in coming months. •