Orlando has the lowest amount of inventory for sale since 2019. Ready to sell?
It’s a great time to get a great price!
Time to Move?
Tag: Housing
Forecasting the Housing Market
NAR forecasts the possibility of record low housing inventory in 2020. A shortage could lead to higher prices and make it even more challenging for buyers to find a home.
4 Reasons to Buy A Home This Summer
Here are four reasons to consider buying today instead of waiting.
1. Prices Will Continue to Rise
CoreLogic’s latest U.S. Home Price Insights reports that home prices have appreciated by 3.7% over the last 12 months. The same report predicts that prices will continue to increase at a rate of 4.8% over the next year.
Home values will continue to appreciate. Waiting may no longer makes sense.
2. Mortgage Interest Rates Are Projected to Increase
Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows that interest rates for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage have started to level off around 4.3%. Most experts predict that rates will rise over the next 12 months. TheMortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the National Association of Realtors are in unison, projecting rates will increase by this time next year.
An increase in rates will impact YOUR monthly mortgage payment. A year from now, your housing expense will increase if a mortgage is necessary to buy your next home.
3. Either Way, You Are Paying a Mortgage
Some renters have not yet purchased a home because they are uncomfortable taking on the obligation of a mortgage. Everyone should realize that unless you are living with your parents rent-free, you are paying a mortgage – either yours or your landlord’s.
As an owner, your mortgage payment is a form of ‘forced savings’ which allows you to have equity in your home that you can tap into later in life. As a renter, you guarantee your landlord is the person with that equity.
Are you ready to put your housing cost to work for you?
4. It’s Time to Move On with Your Life
The ‘cost’ of a home is determined by two major components: the price of the home and the current mortgage rate. It appears that both are on the rise.
But what if they weren’t? Would you wait?
Examine the actual reason you are buying and decide if it is worth waiting. Whether you want to have a great place for your children to grow up, greater safety for your family, or you just want to have control over renovations, now could be the time to buy.
Bottom Line
If the right thing for you and your family is to purchase a home this year, buying sooner rather than later could lead to substantial savings.
Are Older Generations Really Not Selling Their Homes?
Many studies suggest one of the main reasons for the inventory shortage in today’s market of homes for sale is that older generations have chosen to “age in place” over moving.
The 2019 Home Buyers & Sellers Generational Trend Report by NAR clarifies this point!
NAR’s findings show that Baby Boomers (43%) and the Silent Generation (12%) made up 56% of sellers in 2018! This means the majority of sellers last year were over the age of 54. This also shows these generations ARE moving!
The report also shared the reasons why they chose to move. According to the research, the top reason was a desire to be closer to friends and family. Below is a full breakdown:
As we can see, they have plenty of reasons to sell their current home! But what type of homes are they trading in?
Once again, the report demonstrated that older generations are not keeping that 3-bedroom, 2-bath colonial home. Instead, they are putting it on the market and moving on with their lives!
Bottom Line
If you are living in a house that no longer fits your needs, let’s get together to help you find a home that will!
Real Estate Heat Index
For More information on March real estate activities, click the link!
Fed chief: We’ll be ‘patient’ hiking interest rates
Looks like lower interest rages are here for a while – NOW IS THE TIME to buy a home. Call Linda.
Entire article: https://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=1&id=375648
Granny Pods: Caring for Aging Relatives in Your Own Backyard
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on March 2, 2016. Housecall continues to share this piece due to ongoing requests and reader interest.
Caring for aging parents is a growing concern for many Americans. For those among the Sandwich Generation, homeowners typically in their forties who are responsible for their own families and their aging parents, what to do with grandma or grandpa is always a trying, stressful question to answer. While nursing homes may feel wrong or unnecessary, and having the elderly family member move into your family’s home may have its own inherent difficulties, the Granny Pod is here to finally provide a nice middle ground option for families in need.
Granny Pods, aka MedCottages, are 12 x 24-foot pre-fabricated pods that sit conveniently in one’s backyard. The structures hook up to existing plumbing and electrical systems and allow both the caregiver and senior citizen to have their own space while still being available and connected. The pods are quickly growing in popularity and are a win-win for both parties: the aging family member has his or her own space, while the caregiver doesn’t have far to travel to assist family members in case of an emergency.
The mobile homes are built with safety in mind and include many of the basic amenities any adult would need. They include a small kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom all designed in a small scale space with easy access in mind. The bathrooms are handicap accessible with railings and safety features, while the floors are padded to help lighten the load on joints.
Not only are they safe, but they’re tech-savvy, too! Granny Pods can incorporate webcams for family members to monitor from afar. Even more impressive, robotic features can monitor vital signs, with alert systems armed to notify caregivers should a problem arise. The air can be monitored for contaminants and reminders can be sent to the inhabitant to remind them to take pills or supplements accordingly.
The MedCottages encapsulate all the functions of a proper nursing home, while providing grandma or grandpa with the freedom and privacy they may still desire.
For more information, visit the MedCottage Facebook page.
So what do you think – would you purchase a Granny Pod for an aging relative? Tell us your thoughts!
Courtesy of: Blog.rismedia.com
4 Reasons Why Today’s Housing Market is NOT 2006 All Over Again
With home prices rising again this year, some are concerned that we may be repeating the 2006 housing bubble that caused families so much pain when it collapsed. Today’s market is quite different than the bubble market of twelve years ago. There are four key metrics that explain why:
- Home Prices
- Mortgage Standards
- Mortgage Debt
- Housing Affordability
1. HOME PRICES
There is no doubt that home prices have reached 2006 levels in many markets across the country. However, after more than a decade, home prices should be much higher based on inflation alone.
Frank Nothaft is the Chief Economist for CoreLogic (which compiles some of the best data on past, current, and future home prices). Nothaft recently explained:
“Even though CoreLogic’s national home price index got to the same level it was at the prior peak in April of 2006, once you account for inflation over the ensuing 11.5 years, values are still about 18% below where they were.” (emphasis added)
2. MORTGAGE STANDARDS
Some are concerned that banks are once again easing lending standards to a level similar to the one that helped create the last housing bubble. However, there is proof that today’s standards are nowhere near as lenient as they were leading up to the crash.
The Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center issues a Housing Credit Availability Index(HCAI). According to the Urban Institute:
“The HCAI measures the percentage of home purchase loans that are likely to default—that is, go unpaid for more than 90 days past their due date. A lower HCAI indicates that lenders are unwilling to tolerate defaults and are imposing tighter lending standards, making it harder to get a loan. A higher HCAI indicates that lenders are willing to tolerate defaults and are taking more risks, making it easier to get a loan.”
The graph below reveals that standards today are much tighter on a borrower’s credit situation and have all but eliminated the riskiest loan products.
3. MORTGAGE DEBT
Back in 2006, many homeowners mistakenly used their homes as ATMs by withdrawing their equity and spending it with no concern for the ramifications. They overloaded themselves with mortgage debt that they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) repay when prices crashed. That is not occurring today.
The best indicator of mortgage debt is the Federal Reserve Board’s household Debt Service Ratio for mortgages, which calculates mortgage debt as a percentage of disposable personal income.
At the height of the bubble market a decade ago, the ratio stood at 7.21%. That meant over 7% of disposable personal income was being spent on mortgage payments. Today, the ratio stands at 4.48% – the lowest level in 38 years!
4. HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
With both house prices and mortgage rates on the rise, there is concern that many buyers may no longer be able to afford a home. However, when we look at the Housing Affordability Indexreleased by the National Association of Realtors, homes are more affordable now than at any other time since 1985 (except for when prices crashed after the bubble popped in 2008).
Bottom Line
After using four key housing metrics to compare today to 2006, we can see that the current market is not anything like the bubble market.
A New Housing Bubble Forming…Not Before 2024!
A recent report by CoreLogic revealed that U.S. home values appreciated by more than 37% over the last five years. Some are concerned that this is evidence we may be on the verge of another housing “boom & bust” like the one we experienced from 2006-2008.
Recently, several housing experts weighed in on the subject to alleviate these fears.
Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac Chief Economist
“The evidence indicates there currently is no house price bubble in the U.S., despite the rapid increase of house prices over the last five years.”
Edward Golding, a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center
“There is not likely to be a national bubble in the way that we saw the first decade of the century.”
Christopher Thornberg, Partner at Beacon Economics
“There is no direct or indirect sign of any kind of bubble.”
Bill McBride, Calculated Risk
“I wouldn’t call house prices a bubble.”
David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices
“Housing is not repeating the bubble period of 2000-2006.”
A recent article by Teo Nicolais, a real estate entrepreneur who teaches courses on real estate principles, markets, and finance at Harvard Extension School concluded that the next housing bubble may not occur until 2024.
The article, How to Use Real Estate Trends to Predict the Next Housing Bubble, looks at previous peaks in real estate values going all the way back to 1818. Nicolais uses the research of several economists. The article details the four phases of a real estate cycle and what defines each phase.
Nicolais concluded his article by saying:
“Those who study the financial crisis of 2008 will (we hope) always be weary of the next major crash. If George, Harrison, and Foldvary are right, however, that won’t happen until after the next peak around 2024.
Between now and then, aside from the occasional slow down and inevitable market hiccups, the real estate industry is likely to enjoy a long period of expansion.”
Bottom Line
The reason for the price appreciation we are seeing is an imbalance between supply and demand for housing. This has created a natural increase in values, not a bubble in prices.
Bidding Wars Abound… How Long Will They Continue?
Just like with any product or service, the law of supply and demand impacts home prices. Any time that there is less supply than the market demands, prices increase.
In many areas of the country, the supply of homes for sale in the starter and trade-up home markets is so low that bidding wars have ensued, and the busy spring-buying season is just around the corner.
CoreLogic recently conducted an analysis on national home prices at the time of sale for their January 2018 MarketPulse Report and found that a third of homes sold for at least list price.
“The share selling above list price was almost three times the trough in January 2008 and represented more than one-fifth of total sales.”
Many markets in the western part of the country and around major cities are experiencing higher shares of homes selling above list price.
“San Francisco had the largest share of homes—76 percent—that sold for at least the list price, and Seattle and Los Angeles followed with 63 and 51 percent, respectively. Miami had the lowest share—16 percent—of homes selling at or above the list price.”
Increased demand during the spring and summer months, the traditionally busier seasons for real estate, will no doubt influence how many homes continue to sell over list price.
This should not be seen by sellers as permission to overprice their homes, though. Buyers are becoming more and more educated, especially those who have been searching for their dream homes for a while now while waiting for new inventory to come to market.
Realtor.com gives this advice:
“Aim to price your property at or just slightly below the going rate. Today’s buyers are highly informed, so if they sense they’re getting a deal, they’re likely to bid up a property that’s slightly underpriced, especially in areas with low inventory.”
Bottom Line
Without a large wave of new listings coming to market, buyers will continue competing with each other for the homes that are available. If you are thinking of selling your home, now may be the time to do so before more competition comes this spring. Let’s get together to determine the demand for your house in our area.
Linda Parvin Hutchinson, REALTOR 