National real estate news and stats

Nationally, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the homeownership rate in the 3rd quarter increased to 64.4%, up from 63.9% a year ago. Why? We have millions more first time homebuyers as adults under 35 saw their homeownership rate rise from 35.6% a year ago to 36.8% now.   According to Genworth Mortgage Insurance, “In…

Realtor.com recently ran a great story about the cooling off of real estate markets in some parts of the country. Here are the cities they highlighted. Santa Clara County, home to Silicon Valley, saw a 171% INCREASE in the number of homes that received a price drop in August vs. August 2017. Further, the number…

Fannie Mae recently announced that on condo communities with 21 or more units that an individual investor (person or entity) can now own up to 20% of the units in the community and the loan can still be delivered to Fannie. For as long as I can remember this percentage has been 10%. So, this…

Zillow economist Jeff Tucker wrote a great story on August 1st that I recently read. His story was titled “Home Values Grew Most in Markets With Strictest Land Use Regulations.” He cites in his story of how job growth leads to home price growth; but the level of land use regulations has an even greater…

PropertyShark recently surveyed 2,134 U.S. renters, homeowners, and people living with family to determine their housing preferences. They discovered that 83% of Gen Z has plans to purchase a home in the next 5 years. Who is Gen Z? Typically people born since 1998 or 2000. About a third of both Millennials and Gen Z’s…

“I’m hearing every day from small business owners that business is booming. As the tax and regulatory landscape changed, so did small business expectations and plans,” said NFIB President and CEO Juanita D. Duggan. Small businesses make up a large portion of those employed across the U.S.  According to data from the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of…

Black Knight revealed that America’s 44 million homeowners now have a combined $6 TRILLION of tapable home equity. This is 21% more than in 2006. Still, this year equity withdrawals by new first mortgages and Helocs are down 3% from last year, the lowest share of equity withdrawn since the first quarter of 2014.  …

One of my favorite national economist is Brian Wesbury, Chief Economist for First Trust Portfolios. Brian last week dug DEEP into the August Jobs Report and discovered that Total Wages, which factors in both hourly earnings and hours worked, are up 5.1% in the past year. Second, Total Wages (net after taxes) have increased by…

Zillow surveyed more than 100 RE economists and experts for their housing predictions. They are predicting that national home price appreciation will average 5.9% this year with a slow down to 3% or less in 2020. They are also predicting a Buyer’s Market for the nation in 2020.   At the national level we have…

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose to its second highest level in the survey’s 45-year history to 107.9 in July, just a whisker away from its record-high of 108 set back in July 1983. Small businesses are one of the backbones of the U.S. economy and employ millions of Americans.   “Small business owners…