January is the month when real estate markets traditionally take a breather to restock their shelves for the spring season. In the final quarter of 2016 record demand powered by concern over interest rates and rising prices encouraged buyers to clear the shelves of depleted supplies and strong sales continued into the new year. An analysis of the January market … Read More »

Though younger adults typically move more often than their older peers, Millennials (ages 25 to 35) are moving significantly less than Gen Xers and Boomers, yet they still are more likely to rent than buy than older generations at the same age. New data from the Census Bureau and an analysis by the Pew Research Center found that Americans are … Read More »

Last year was not a great one for the housing economists who forecast home sales.  Most, include NAR[1] and Fannie Mae[2], predicted that existing homes sales would end up south of a 3 percent increase over 2015.  In fact, sales did a little better, rising 3.2 percent for the best sales year since 2006.[3] This year, experts are low-balling sales … Read More »

  The good news about January home sales is that the year over year rate reached the highest they reached an all-time high, an annualized total that was a little bit higher than it was last November. The bad news is that the serious problems facing the residential real estate economy grew even more serious during the slowest month of … Read More »

It had to happen. Put too many billions into building new apartment buildings atop subway stops and exurban min-cities and you can bet your bottom dollar the multifamily folks will end up with too much capacity. Not even massive demand from Millennials can deny the forces of supply and demand. Here’s the latest. “Fresh supply is beginning to overwhelm demand. … Read More »

Rising mortgage interest rates and their impact on mortgage affordability beat out inventory shorttagers as the most significant force driving the 2017 housing market, according to the latest Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey. On average, experts said rates on a 30-year, fixed mortgage will need to reach 5.65 percent before significantly impacting home value growth, though a sizable share said … Read More »

  December home sales were up from a shaky November, but they could have been better if not for the inventory shortage. Tthe market for existing-home sales underperformed its potential by 2.2 percent or an estimated 129,000 (SAAR) of sales, an improvement from the 6.2 percent underperformance in November The difference is the gap between actual and potential sales, as … Read More »

Will 2016 be remembered as the peak of the recovery?  It was the best year for sales in more than a decade.  Will sales take a break in 2017, a victim of political uncertainty, rising rates and prices that are outpacing incomes? Even worse, will 2017 herald a multi-year downtrend in sales? Last year, existing-home sales finished 2016 at 5.45 … Read More »

The real estate economy in the year just past broke records as well as hearts.  As soaring values left homeowners with more equity than they’ve seen in a decade, there’s not much good news in store for thousands of frustrated buyers who couldn’t find a home to buy last year. December’s data from the nation’s leading monthly market reports paint … Read More »

Has the long-anticipated boom in multifamily housing construction finally ignited a capacity glut that will lower rents and reduce pressure on renters to buy? Rental growth has fallen to the lowest level in six years and rents in top luxury markets have declined over the past four months in the wake of rising capacity. New apartment inventory levels grow by … Read More »