Top 5 REALTOR® Updates | Week of July 6th
Check out these fives real estate updates to help you stay in-the-know with the latest happenings in our industry.
1. How Did Housing Wealth Change at Your Zip Code?
Based on a recent recent study by the National Association of REALTORS®, although there are gains in housing wealth in recent years from rising home prices, fewer people benefit because of the decline in the homeownership rate. Hence, wealth inequality increases in the United States. Much has changed since 2013. Nationally, housing prices have risen by about 15 percent since then and much of the increase in home prices has been seen in zip codes that showed large losses as of 2013, as seen below. Still, this study is useful in showing the geographic distribution of gains, which were generally widespread even after the housing bust, and losses, which like the largest gains were mostly concentrated. Note, two zip codes form the San Jose metro market made it to the top-10. At the same time, one zip code from San Jose was in the bottom-10. Even within a metro market, there appears to be a sizable variation on which zip codes thrive or not. Read More...
Realtor.com and Airbnb recently announced a partnership that allows homebuyers to “live like a local” before making a major purchasing decision in cities throughout the country. Buyers searching realtor.com for a home can select the option to “Airbnb before buying,” which will appear on the home page. Three rotating listings will display in the for-sale search results page and the listing detail page, and homebuyers will be redirected to the Airbnb website to find even more options in the area. Many people relocating to a new market stay in a hotel when they visit the marketplace, but hotels are not always located in the actual neighborhoods where people want to live. Plus, hotels don’t offer the same level of comfort and localized experience of staying in a home. The option to stay in an Airbnb home gives the buyer an inside look into what it’s really like to live in a neighborhood. Read More...
3. 5 Issues That Will Impact Real Estate
Demographic shifts from retiring baby boomers and the increase of millennials buying homes will have the most profound impact on the real estate industry in the coming years, according to a new survey of real estate professionals from the Counselors of Real Estate. CRE's survey identifies the issues that will have the most significant impact on real estate near and long-term. "This list reflects a higher degree of economic uncertainty than in years past," says CRE chair Noah D. Shlaes. "Anticipation of rising interest rates, continued currency devaluation, and excess capital flowing into the United States are all on the minds of our membership. Combine this with a growing wage gap and major changes in demographics, and we've got a lot to think about this year. Issues topping the list include: demographic shifts, excess capital supply, rising interest rates, global instability and currency devaluation, and urbanization. Read More...
4. Renters Face More Cost Increases
Rents continue to push upwards, as landlords take advantage of the hot rental market. Average effective rents climbed 3.6 percent during the second quarter compared to a year earlier, according to REIS Inc., a real estate research data firm. Rent growth has bloomed at a fast pace since 2012, hovering around a 4 percent annual growth since then. Strong technology markets like San Jose, Calif.; San Francisco; and Denver are seeing some of the largest increases in rental costs. In San Jose, rents rose 7.2 percent from the second quarter of 2014 to $1,951 a month. In San Francisco, rents rose 6.8 percent to $2,316. In the country's most expensive rental market, New York City, rents rose 1.7 percent over the prior quarter, reaching $3,294 a month. Read More...
5. The 20 Hottest Markets in June (psst... Denver is #4)
Housing markets are booming in California, which continues to dominate realtor.com®'s Housing Markets Fueled by Job Growths list. California boasts nearly half of the nation's 20 hottest real estate markets. A limited number of homes for sale as well as the state's strong economy are helping to boost demand.Realtor.com® analyzed the number of listing views at its site, the number of listings in the 300 largest U.S. markets, and the median number of days that homes spent on the market to identify some of the top-performing markets. The realtor.com® Hotness Index identified the following 20 medium-size to large U.S. markets where home buyers are the most active and sales are closing quickly. Read More...
