Global Luxury Market On The Rise

The world’s affluent population– people worth $5 million or more– grew 19.8% in 2021, and with it grew the luxury housing market, according to Coldwell Banker Global Luxury’s 2022 Global Luxury Market Insights report, titled “The Report.” There are now 3,612,730 affluent individuals worldwide, with a combined wealth of over $75 trillion. Wealth growth in the U.S. rose 24.8% in both population and wealth in 2021, up from 8.1% in 2020. At the same time, luxury single-family home sales– the top 10% of any given market– increased 14.5%, with prices jumping 20.3% from 2020. Attached luxury homes saw a 29.6% increase YOY and a 16.6% increase in prices. “Double-digit wealth and affluent population gains have happened concurrently with a once-in-a-generation…

Investors Bought 80,000 Homes In Q4 2021

Real estate investors bought 80,293 properties in Q4 2021, a record 18.4% of homes sold. Redfin reported that investor purchases were up from 43.9% YOY, though they fell 9.1% from Q3’s peak, likely due to stock shortages that impacted regular homebuyers and investors alike. Seasonality also contributed to the quarter-to-quarter drop, as the housing market typically slows in the winter. More than three-quarters of homes bought by investors (75.3%) were all-cash purchases. Atlanta saw the most investor activity in Q4 at 32.7% of market share, followed by Charlotte (32.1%), Jacksonville (29.8%), Las Vegas (29.2%), and Phoenix (28.4%). These are all popular destinations for moving Americans and have seen high demand during the Great Migration. “While record-high home prices are problematic…

December Inventory At All-Time Low

Monthly home value appreciation accelerated for the first time since July as potential buyers continue to outnumber new listings, driving December inventory to an all-time low, according to Zillow’s latest market report. “Home shoppers picked the shelves clean this December, leaving fewer active listings than ever before in the U.S. housing market,” said Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow.  “Enough determined buyers kept up their house hunt to reignite monthly price appreciation. Rising mortgage rates could be the next potential headwind, but demand has proven persistent; neither high prices nor slim inventories have deterred buyers so far.” The typical home value is now $320,662, 19.6% above that of December 2020 and a record high for Zillow’s data, which dates back…

December Home Sales Saw Largest Drop Since May 2020

December was a hot month for homebuyers, but supply couldn’t keep up with demand. Monthly home sales saw their largest decline since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Redfin. Month-over-month sales fell 3.6%, the largest drop since May 2020, and were down 11% year-over-year (YOY), the largest annual decline since June 2020.  The drop was the result of continuing stock shortages. Active listings declined 19% YOY, reaching a record low. New listings dropped 13%, down annually in 82 of the 88 metro areas Redfin tracks. In addition, home prices were up 15% YOY, marking the 17th straight month of double-digit price increases. “Home sales are slumping, but not for lack of demand,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “There…

Mark Johnson Named President of JPAR Real Estate

Cairn Real Estate announced the appointment of Mark Johnson as President of JPAR® – Real Estate. As president, Johnson will oversee the entire JPAR Real Estate enterprise, including brokerage and franchise operations, across 65 states and more than 3,600 real estate professionals. “I am incredibly excited to expand my role with JPAR® – Real Estate and look forward to delivering on our unique value proposition to create strong exponential growth in the years ahead. We are well-positioned as a premium provider of real estate services to our professionals and their customers and are further supported to deliver on our customer commitment as a member of the Cairn Real Estate Holdings network of companies,” Johnson said. Johnson has worked with JPAR…

SFRhub.com Partnering With Altisource

SFRhub.com has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Altisource, with the goal of creating an online marketplace for SFR and BFR properties. The collaboration is intended to give SFRhub.com, a real estate investment platform specializing in single-family residential (SFR) and Build-For-Rent (BFR) investment portfolios, a “one-stop” platform for investors to buy and sell homes. Altisource, a data and residential real estate services provider, will supply information and services to the platform. “SFRhub.com’s collaboration with Altisource will provide SFR/BFR investors with the first-to-market, ‘one-stop’ solution to expertly buy and sell homes in one of CRE’s most fast-paced and hottest asset investment segments,” said Jeff Cline, executive director and principal of SFRhub.com.  “We believe this multi-platform collaboration is truly one of the…

Lawsuit Claims Zillow Purposely Mislead Investors With Public Statements

Zillow and some of its top executives are being sued for allegedly making misleading claims in advance of the closure of its iBuying arm, Zillow Offers. Zillow shareholder Dibikar Barua filed a class-action lawsuit against the company in federal court in Seattle alleging that Zillow failed to tell shareholders it was struggling to accurately predict home prices. “Throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects,” the suit reads. It claims that Zillow did not disclose the “significant unpredictability in forecasting home prices” the company was struggling to overcome or its inventory backlog, both of which would have signaled to investors that…