In the cold light of winter. concerns about affordability are cooling potential buyers, according to the latest Sentiment Index from Fannie Mae. Fevers consumers believe this is a “Good Time to Buy”; figures trended down for the year in 2015 and declined an additional 4 percentage points in January. The share of consumers who reported that their income was significantly … Read More »

When we published “Will Sellers Step up the Plate in 2016? “two weeks ago December market report weren’t in yet and it was clearly too early to blow the bugle over the inventory picture for the coming season The reports are now in and hands are reaching for the nearest brass instruments.  Too many signals from too many sources are … Read More »

    “It is important to recognize that 2016 is shaping up to be the best year in recent memory to sell. Supply remains very tight, so inventory is moving faster. Given the forecast that price appreciation will slow in 2016 to a more normal rate of growth, delaying will not produce substantially higher values, and will also see higher … Read More »

  Over the past two years, homeowners’ confidence in recouping the price they paid for their homes has risen 29 percent.  A biennial opinion survey on housing issued conducted by the National Associate of Realtors shows that fears of selling have abated dramatically since the housing recover hit high gear two years ago. Nearly three quarters of owners (71%) disagreed … Read More »

Single family home and condo sellers in the first half of 2015 sold for more above their purchase price in the first half of this year than any time since prices were at the peak of the boom. Homes sold for an average of 13 percent above their original purchase prices, the highest average percentage in home price gains realized … Read More »

Remarkably negative findings from the 2015 How Housing Matters survey released this week by the MacArthur Foundation were punctuated by two critically important findings.  Attitudes on the value of housing as an excellent long term investment have flip-flopped and Millennials put a higher priority on the dream of homeownership than their elders. Though the survey found that  most Americans believe … Read More »

Americans remain positive about home buying, but are a bit less optimistic than they were in 2013 and 2014, according to a new Gallup Poll taken last month. Currently, 69% say it is a good time to buy a house, down from an average of 74% during 2014 and 2013, but similar to what Gallup measured from 2009-2012. Americans are … Read More »

  Vacation Home Sales Soar to Record High in 2014, Investment Purchases Fall or Homes Sold to Owner-Occupants Drops to New Low in First Quarter, Smaller Investors Picking Up Slack Time for a quiz.  Which headline do YOU think is right?  The first, the second, both or neither? The right answer is that you should never believe a real estate … Read More »

Freddie Mac’s economists look for home sales this year to be the best since 2007 with mortgage rates low, purchase applications up and pending home sales on a positive upward trend, even though first quarter results were less than sterling. As a result, the GSE lowered its forecast for economic growth for 2015 from 2.8 to 2.6 percent and the … Read More »

Though unusually sunny on the coming housing market, a survey of real estate consumers by TD Bank found that they don’t know much about affordable mortgages, or buying a home. The survey found that 30 percent of Americans consider now to be a very good time to purchase a home, compared with just 20 percent in 2014, and 29 percent … Read More »