Top 5 REALTOR® Updates | Week of June 22nd
Check out these fives real estate updates to help you stay in-the-know with the latest happenings in our industry.
1. Dot REALTOR® In the Top Ten
About nine months ago, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) introduced its Top-level Domain: . REALTOR. The domain quickly became one of the Top Ten most active of the new list of Top Level Domains (TLDs) with over 102,000 domains claimed. According to Bob Goldberg, NAR SVP of Marketing, Business Development, and Member Benefits, "[A] .REALTOR Web address is an opportunity to tell consumers that if someone has a .REALTOR domain, they are a member in good standing who abides by the Code of Ethics of the NAR (CREA). Consumers over time will know that if they’re on a .REALTOR domain, they’re working with a REALTOR®, a trusted real estate resource.” Read More...
2. Why Your Home May Not Be Worth as Much as You Think
It is rare for both homeowners and appraisers to be on the same page when it comes to a property's value, and for the majority of the past 10 years, homeowners have continued to overvalue their homes. In May of this year, there was a 1.15 percent gap between the worth valued by consumers and the worth determined by appraisers, which represents the first time in nearly two years that homeowners have overvalued their properties by more than one percent. May was the fourth consecutive month to show a growing gap between homeowner and appraiser opinion in Quicken Loans' monthly Home Price Perception Index (HPPI). Read More...
3. Report: 90% of Properties Now Have Equity
According to CoreLogic's recent equity report, about 254,000 properties regained equity during the first quarter of this year, which brings the total number of residential properties with a mortgage that have equity to about 44.9 million – or 90 percent – by the end of the first quarter. “About 90 percent of home owners now have housing equity and, as a result, have experienced an increase in wealth, which can spur additional consumption and investment expenditures,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “The remaining 10 percent of owners with negative equity will find their home value rising while they continue to pay down principal on their amortizing mortgage loan.” Read More...
4. Here Come 1.5M Boomerang Buyers
An estimated 1.5 million homeowners who were negatively impacted by the mortgage crisis may be ready to re-enter the housing market within the next three years. According to a study released by TransUnion, this number might even reach 2.2. million within five years. Just this year, around 700,000 former home owners - also known as boomerang buyers - stand to re-enter the housing market. "As boomerang buyers who experienced foreclosures or other negative impacts become eligible to re-enter the mortgage market, they may not immediately do so if they are not aware they are eligible again, or feel daunted by their prior experience," says Joe Mellman, vice president and head of TransUnion’s mortgage group. Read More...
5. Apartment Occupancies Soar to Record High
Across the nation apartments are filling up, with the national occupancy rate in May reaching its highest rate ever, 95.3 percent. The increase in occupancy rates has brought with it higher rents. In May, rents increased five percent nationally, making it the fourth consecutive month at or above that mark. Several factors have led to the increased demand for apartments, including the fact that more millennials are forming their own households and many baby boomers are now looking to downsize. Read More...
