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Some Highlights: Both New Home Sales and Existing Home Sales are up month-over-month and year-over-year. Inventory remains low which continues to drive home prices up as demand continues to exceed the 4.7-month inventory. The median price of new homes is up 12% from March 2015, while the median price of existing homes is up 6.3% from April [...]
Some Highlights: The percentage of income needed to afford a median priced home is almost half the percentage of income needed to afford median rent. Buying costs are significantly less than renting costs. The percentage of income needed to afford a median priced home is less than the historic norm. Powered by WPeMatico
Some Highlights: Home sales are up 1.5% year-over-year and 5.1% month-over-month. Demand is still much higher than the available housing inventory which declined 2.2% from March 2015. This is the 49th consecutive month with year-over-year price gains. Powered by WPeMatico
Some Highlights: Real estate outranks stocks/mutual funds, gold, savings accounts/CDs, and bonds as the best long-term investment among Americans. Real estate is ranked as the best long-term investment among all age groups. Millennials rank both real estate and savings/CDs at 26% when it comes to the best long-term investment. Powered by WPeMatico
Some Highlights: 2015 marks the first year-over-year increase in investment home sales since 2011. 62% of all investment homes purchased were single family homes. The South saw the highest percentage of investment home sales (39%) with the West coming in second (28%). Powered by WPeMatico
Some Highlights: 11% of new homebuyers stated "energy efficient features" as the reason for their purchase. The most popular remodeling projects done for energy efficiency were insulation upgrades, HVAC replacements, and vinyl & wood window installations. Research shows that word preference does make a difference when it comes to attracting "green buyers." Powered by WPeMatico
Some Highlights: 58% of vacation homes purchased were single family homes. 51% of vacation homes that were purchased were found online. The median price of a vacation home is up 28% from 2014. Powered by WPeMatico
Some Highlights: 24% of all recent home buyers were single at the time of purchase. 47% of single men cite the desire to own a home of their own as the primary reason to buy. 18% of first-time buyers were single women. Powered by WPeMatico
Some Highlights: Harvard University's Joint Center of Housing Studies recently released the top financial & emotional reasons to own a home. Owning is a good way to build up wealth that can be passed along to your family as it is usually a form of "forced savings." Whether you rent or own, you are paying a mortgage. [...]
Some Highlights This is the 48th consecutive month with year-over-year price gains. Lawrence Yun, NAR's Chief Economist says that, "The main issue continues to be a supply & affordability problem. Finding the right property at an affordable price is burdening many potential buyers." Inventory is still below historic norms at a 4.4 month supply. Powered by WPeMatico