As 2023 nears its end, with mortgage rates slowing to the mid-7%s but home prices at record highs, the question on housing analysts’ minds is: Will 2024 be any better?
For the most part, experts see a mixed bag coming next year, predicting the beginning of a turnaround that won’t fully flower until 2025.
Realtor.com’s 2024 Housing Forcast suggests mortgage rates will moderate and ultimately average 6.8%, hitting 6.5% at year-end, while home prices ease slightly by 1.7%. But the company also predicts worsening inventory shortages as homebuyers cling to their current homes to keep their sub-5% rates.
Still, Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com, emphasizes the bright sides of softening unaffordability.
“Our 2024 housing forecast reveals the green shoots…
Jody Mulkey has been named chief technology officer at First American Financial Corporation, the company announced in a press release.
Mulkey will oversee FirstAm’s corporate product development team, which will build and enhance enterprise products for customers across the spectrum.
“It is an honor to join such an incredible company with its unique combination of financial strength and stability built over more than 130 years, innovative technology assets, and unmatched data capabilities. Grateful to be part of the team that is leading the digital transformation of the industry,” Mulkey said in a LinkedIn post.
He noted that First American is at the “forefront of real estate innovation.” “I’m looking forward to accelerating the company’s product development efforts in ways that…
Homeownership remains the most significant way single women can build wealth, and more women than ever are taking advantage.
First American Financial reports that the number of single, female-headed households (including windowed, separated, or divorced) has risen by 1.4 million since 2019.
Of that group, one million are homeowners.
Female homeownership has helped the overall homeownership rate rebound since the Great Recession, with women-headed households surpassing 52% in 2022. That’s up from a post-Great Recession low point in 2016 of 50%.
Single women’s homeownership rate has outstripped men’s by about two percentage points, FirstAm says, putting them in a better long-term financial position. Homeowners have 40 times as much household wealth compared to renters, most of which is held in…
Commercial real estate (CRE) price growth may keep outpacing CRE income growth, suggesting property values may not have reached their cyclical peak, according to First American’s Potential Capitalization Rate (CPR) Model for Q4 2021. First American’s PCR estimates capitalization rates using historical data for interest rates, rental income, occupancy rates, debt, and recent property price trends. In Q4 2021, the actual cap rate hit a record low of 5.2% while the potential cap rate sank to 4.4%. When the actual cap rate is significantly above the potential cap rate, as was the case in the fourth quarter of 2021, the model suggests that the CRE market can support a lower cap rate. The National potential cap rate was 4.4%, down…
Homes are less affordable than they were a year ago, but they largely remain more affordable than at the peak of the 2006 housing boom, according to First American Financial Corporation’s Real House Price Index. In January, the RHPI rose 27% from the year prior, making it the fastest-growing RHPI – and fastest YOY decline in affordability – since 2004. This was driven by a 21.7% increase in home prices and a 0.7% rise in rates. The RHPI measures price changes for single-family properties adjusted for the impact of income and interest rate changes on consumer house-buying power. As such, it also serves as a measure of affordability. Household income was up 5% from January 2021, but that gain was…
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced it will double the pace of tapering its pandemic asset purchase program, and signaled it would likely raise interest rates next year. This would be its first rate hike since March 2020. The move comes in response to concerns about rising inflation. At its November meeting, the FOMC said it would reduce its purchases of Treasury securities from $80 billion to $70 billion and from $40 billion to $35 billion for mortgage-backed securities. Since then, inflation has reached a 39-year high and become a major sticking point for the American public. As to how this announcement affects the mortgage and real estate industries, analyst response has focused on rising costs. “Increasing mortgage rates…
