By KIMBERLEY HAAS
As the future of traditional office spaces remains unclear, the coworking industry is seeing growth, and college students could boost this market while benefiting from the opportunity to work alongside established professionals and entrepreneurs.
According to a CoworkingCafe market study released last week, 80% of the top 100 universities in the country have at least one coworking space close to campus. Analysts found a total of 926 coworking spaces within two miles of the schools they looked at.
New York University has 220 coworking spaces around its campus, George Washington University in Washington, DC, has 74, and the University of Illinois at Chicago rounds out the top three with 66 coworking spaces within two miles.
The median…
As home prices spike and interest rates stay elevated, affordability has fallen to its lowest point in more than three decades.
First American Financial’s Real House Price Index soared by 16.9% YOY in July, the latest available data, and was up 2% from the month prior.
But consumer buying power sank, down 1% month-over-month and 11% YOY.
The RHPI is controlled for house-buying power, measuring the impact of income and interest rate changes, and therefore acts as a measure of housing affordability as well as price changes.
The increase was driven by house prices and the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate rising 4% and 1.4% YOY, respectively.
The median existing-home sale price was $345,000, while the median house-buying power was just…
By NICOLE MURRAY
The joy and satisfaction of buying a home has been diminished because of remorse for many Americans. Experts say it doesn’t have to be this way.
Due to bidding wars, rising interest rates, and a scarcity of options, in recent years homebuyers put themselves under pressure to make quick decisions about the places they now call home. So it’s not surprising that a recent survey by Clever Real Estate showed that a high percentage of people had regrets about buying in 2022 and 2023.
First-time buyers were particularly affected. 51% said the seller of their home took advantage of them and 67% said they felt pressured to submit an offer.
More than half of all the buyers…
Mortgage rates stayed above 7% again last week.
Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.19%, up from 7.18%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.29%.
The 15-year fixed-rate rose to 6.54% from 6.51%. A year ago, it averaged 5.44%
“Mortgage rates continue to linger above 7% as the Federal Reserve paused their interest rate hikes,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.
“Given these high rates, housing demand is cooling off and now homebuilders are feeling the effect. Builder sentiment declined for the first time in several months and construction levels have dipped to a three-year low, which could have an impact on the already low housing supply.”
August’s inventory…
Existing-home sales slipped overall in August, though activity in the Midwest and Northeast remained hot.
Sales fell by 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.04 million, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors.
Year-over-year, sales are down 15.3%.
“Home sales have been stable for several months, neither rising nor falling in any meaningful way. Mortgage rate changes will have a big impact over the short run, while job gains will have a steady, positive impact over the long run,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
Poor performances in the South and West overshadowed neutral activity in the Northeast and a spike in the Midwest. Yun noted that the South’s performance is an improvement over…
Home flipping rates are falling as profit margins soar, according to new data from ATTOM.
Flipped homes accounted for 8.9% of all U.S. home sales in Q2 2023, down 1% from the prior quarter and nearly the lowest rate since 2021.
In total, 84,350 single-family homes and condominiums were flipped in the second quarter.
At the same time, raw flipping profits increased 18% from Q1, the largest spike in the past decade. Typical profits also increased at the fastest quarterly pace in three years.
The profit upswing comes on the heels of an “extended slump” that cut profits in half in the last two years.
Though they remain far below 2021’s peaks, last quarter’s profits represent a rebound for home…
Mortgage applications spiked last week as both purchase and refinance loans saw a boost.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey shows the adjusted Market Composite Index – a measure of mortgage loan application volume – jumped by 5.4%, wiping out the week prior’s 0.8% decrease.
Adjusted purchase applications rose by 2%, while the unadjusted index increased by 12% from the week before and was 26% lower YOY. The results included an adjustment for the Labor Day holiday.
Refinances also improved, rising 13% and making up 31.6% of total applications. In the past decade, refis averaged 58% of total activity.
Meanwhile, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed loan increased to 7.31%, its highest level in a month.
MBA VP…
Housing starts slipped in August as multifamily construction sank, though permits for single-family homes accelerated.
New U.S. home construction fell by 11.3% last month, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, to an annualized rate of 1.28 million. Single-family starts were down 4.3% from July.
Permits for new construction rose to their fastest pace in nearly a year, however, up 6.9% to 1.54 million. Permits offer an indication of how many homes will be built in the coming months.
Permits for single-family homes in particular soared to their fastest pace since May 2022.
This suggests that builders are optimistic about demand moving forward. But they’ve recently taken a hit from the high-rate environment, leading to depressed homebuilder sentiment. The…
Mortgage rates increased last week, and despite a two-week streak of declines, will likely remain above 7%.
Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.18%, up from 7.12%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.02%.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped, however, down to 6.51% from 6.52%. A year ago, it averaged 5.21%.
“Mortgage rates inched back up this week and remain anchored north of seven percent. The reacceleration of inflation and strength in the economy is keeping mortgage rates elevated,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.
The consumer price index saw its biggest monthly gain this year in August, coming in hotter than expected at +0.3% month-over-month.
This heightens the…
As the student loan forbearance program comes to an end, Americans are terrified that resuming payments will force them into greater debt.
That’s according to a new survey of student loan borrowers by digital personal finance company Achieve.
Student loan repayments were put on pause in March 2020 as a response to the pandemic. Payments will resume in October. Nearly half of respondents are extremely or very stressed about resuming their payments, while 28% say they will have to take on new debt to manage their personal finances.
45% of respondents paid down other expenses rather than making advance payments on their student loans during forbearance, with 27% using their extra cash for mortgage or rent payments.
More than 60%…
