Americans are feeling richer. Household net worth neared $100 trillion in the final quarter of last year, falling into record territory, according to new data released by the Federal Reserve on Thursday. Rising stock markets and property prices were attributed to the jolt in the fourth quarter. (Household net worth is the value of all of a consumer’s assets, like stocks and real estate, minus any liabilities like mortgage and credit card debt.)
The housing market may not be as robust this spring as some originally predicted, and real estate professionals are pointing to the main culprits as rising mortgage rates, a new tax law, and growing affordability problems among first-time buyers.The spring market will be the true judge of whether the housing market has hit a slowdown. About 40 percent of the year’s sales tend to occur from March through June, according to the National Associa
Borrowers were once again faced with rising mortgage rates this week. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage continues to be at its highest average in four years.“The 10-year Treasury yield has been bouncing around in a narrow 15 basis point range for the last month,” explains Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “While the yield on the 10-year Treasury is currently below the high of 2.95 percent reached two weeks ago, mortgage rates are u
Higher home prices don’t seem to be spooking investors from buying up properties to flip. About 207,088 U.S. single-family homes and condos were flipped in 2017, the highest level since 2006, ATTOM Data Solutions reports in its U.S. Home Flipping Report. That compromises nearly 6 percent of all single-family home and condo sales during last year. ATTOM Data Solutions defines a “home flip” as a transaction for a single-family home or condo t
Investors are once again being lured to student housing properties. Purchases of student housing properties slowed considerably in 2017 after a record high in 2016, but the sector is showing another rebound in 2018.“Now, we are busy like we were in 2016,” says Travis Prince, executive managing director of Colliers International, a student housing real estate services firm.Student housing properties are particularly gaining traction among inve
Foreclosures are surging in some locales, and some housing experts view that as a good thing for the housing market this spring. Foreclosures tend to be priced lower, and many markets are starved for inventory in the lower end of the market.Bank repossessions across the U.S. may have plunged to an 11-year low in 2017, but that hasn’t been the case in every market. New Jersey saw the opposite, with bank repossession hitting an 11-year high in 20
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering changing its mission statement to remove what it calls antidiscrimination language. HUD Secretary Ben Carson has been leading the charge and seeking to add in “self-sufficiency,” a major focus of his since taking the helm of HUD.A draft being circulated of the new mission statement reads:HUD’s mission is to ensure Americans have access to fair, affordable housing and opportunit
As home prices rise, more buyers are finding they need to earn more to break into some housing markets. SmartAsset, a personal finance resource, recently analyzed the salary residents need to buy a median-priced home in 15 of the nation’s largest cities.In some cities, buyers may need to bring more than just savings from a paycheck. For example, in three big cities—San Francisco, San Jose, Calif., and New York—buyers need to make more than
Commercial real estate executives say this year’s increase in interest rates is what has them the most worried about the impact to commercial real estate markets in 2018, according to a new sentiment survey released by Seyfarth Shaw, a law firm. Commercial executives are bracing for multiple rate increases throughout the year, too.Low unemployment and a strong economy should be giving a boost to the executives’ outlook, but instead they said
New-home sales may have started 2018 by softening, but that hasn’t made Freddie Mac economists lose their optimism that the sector will be key to driving the housing market in 2018. New-home sales plunged 7.8 percent in January month over month, but economists remain hopeful.“While existing home sales may struggle to top their best-in-over-a-decade 2017 performance, new home sales should provide enough growth to push total home sales in the U
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