As floods, fires, and devastation become commonplace in areas with high climate impact, more Americans than ever are factoring disasters into their homebuying decisions.
A majority of buyers in every region of the U.S. consider at least one climate risk when home shopping, according to a new report from Zillow.
Americans living in the West are the most likely to say climate fears are “very or extremely” impactful on their purchase decisions, with Northeastern buyers in second place. Southern and Midwestern shoppers are less concerned, though two-thirds report that disaster risk affects their searches at least somewhat.
Millennial and Gen Z buyers are the most likely to worry about global warming’s impact on their new homes. They also make up…
Pending home sales were up in July, marking a second month of increases, but there is still lots of room for improvement.
NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index rose by 0.9% to a reading of 77.6 in July. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.
“The small gain in contract signings shows the potential for further increases in light of the fact that many people have lost out on multiple homebuying offers,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
“Jobs are being added and, thereby, enlarging the pool of prospective home buyers. However, rising mortgage rates and limited inventory have temporarily hindered the possibility of buying for many.”
Only seven of the nation’s 200 largest…
Maui already had a housing crisis before wildfires ravaged the island, destroying up to 3,000 homes.
Hawaiian governor Josh Green declared a state of emergency over the lack of housing stock in July 2023 in response to worsening affordability. The pandemic housing boom resulted in a flood of wealthy buyers to the islands, pushing home sales worth more than $10 million six times higher in 2022 than in 2020.
“It’s like nothing anyone has ever seen before,” Matthew Beall, CEO of Hawaii Life, told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s almost like a hot nightclub. It’s not can you get a deal, it’s can you get behind the rope and to the door.”
Just days before the fire, the U.S. Department…
Listings took a hit in July, but both listed and closed prices saw positive YOY growth, according to new data from HouseCanary.
The company’s latest Market Pulse report found that net new listings dwindled in July, down 40.3% YOY. The number of properties that went under contract also fell by 13.4% from the same time last year.
“In June, the housing market initially showed signs of resilience, but these reversed as we continued to face the effects of rate hikes initiated in March 2022,” said Jeremy Sicklick, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HouseCanary. “July has followed suit with stagnant performance as the Federal Reserve implemented another rate increase and potential homebuyers remained cautious amidst market uncertainties.”
New listing volume…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Buyers waiting on the sidelines for home prices to drop may be out of luck this year.
During a webinar on Thursday afternoon, Mike Simonsen, founder and president of Altos Research, said that by now it has been clear enough for long enough that even the most strident of bubble-bursters recognizes that the housing market has held up well despite gloomy predictions walking into 2023.
Simonsen said the results have been surprising.
“Very few of us forecast what was going to happen, and forecasts are always tricky, but the key is that those of us watching the data right now, and those of us on this webinar right now, are those who have been able to pay…
Veterans are taking the difficult housing market in stride, according to a recent survey by Veterans United Home Loans.
About 75% of veterans and service members considering homeownership in the next three years plan to buy a home in the next 12 months, despite having fears that home prices in their desired area will be higher (60%) and interest rates will rise (68%).
On top of that, more than half feel that buying a house is within reach for them. Though most believe that both home prices and interest rates will rise before they enter the market, they are confident about their financial futures. Nearly 70% expect to be better off financially a year from now, and more than half…
Recession is still on the horizon, but housing may support the economy moving through it, according to Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group.
In recent commentary, the group noted that mixed economic data has muddied the waters on the economy’s strength. But recession “remains the most likely outcome” of tightening monetary policy and late-stage business cycle dynamics.
Inflation has improved thanks to slowing domestic and global economic growth, but core inflation is still sticky.
“Lessons learned from the inflationary era of the 1970-80s … lead the ESR Group to expect that the Fed will maintain its restrictive monetary policy stance until it is abundantly clear that inflation pressures from the labor market have eased,” the group stated.
But that…
As the country approaches D-Day for defaulting on its debts, analysts are breaking down the impact of such a scenario on the economy.
The Treasury Department said in January that the U.S. was close to its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit. As a result, it announced “extraordinary measures” to keep the government’s funding above water through spring.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other experts are now saying the U.S. could default on its debt as early as June in a worst-case scenario.
Dramatic as the news may be, it’s highly unlikely that Congress would actually allow a breach of the debt ceiling.
“While we have a highly polarized Congress negotiating, it isn’t in either party’s interest to let a default happen,”…
Net new listings and contract volume have officially declined for twelve straight months, according to new data from HouseCanary.
HouseCanary’s latest Market Pulse report, which covers 22 listing-derived metrics and compares data between April 2022 and April 2023, shows market activity was significantly hindered in the first month of Q2.
“As we enter May 2023, the real estate market continues to experience uncertainty, with the purchasing market slowdown being one of the key trends observed for over a year now,” Jeremy Sicklick, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HouseCanary, said.
Contract and net new listing volume both fell annually, down 17.8% and 39.8%, respectively.
Listings were hit particularly hard by a nearly 45% YOY increase in removals.
Home sellers who…
Buying a house became slightly more affordable in Q1 2023 as the housing market remains stalled, but remained out of reach for many Americans.
According to ATTOM Data Solution’s Q1 2023 U.S. Home Affordability Report, median-priced single-family homes and condos were less affordable in the first quarter of 2023 compared to historical averages in 94% of counties. This is a huge leap from the 62% of counties that were less affordable at the same time last year.
The portion of average wages it takes to pay major homeownership costs decreased slightly to 30%. While this is still unaffordable by most lending standards, it’s a minor improvement from the 31% registered at year-end 2022.
ATTOM calls this housing data a “mixed…
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