Share Of Women In Construction At An All Time High

eal estate brokerage company  Redfin  claims that 14.6% of successful offers submitted by its agents waived an inspection contingency in May. Additionally, the number of homebuyers who waived a finance contingency dropped to 11.7% during the same month. Last year, the share of American homebuyers who waived either an inspection or finance contingency sat at 19.8% and 13.2%, respectively. So, this year’s decline suggests home shoppers now have  more buying power  than they did in 2018, according to Redfin. “The inspection contingency allows the buyer to cancel the deal if they find an issue during the inspection period that they consider to be a deal-breaker,” Redfin writes. “A financing contingency allows the buyer to cancel their purchase agreement if their financing falls through, for example if the appraisal comes in below the purchase price or the buyer’s finances change before closing.” As a form of protection for the buyer, both of these contingencies ...

Unfortunately, while renovation mistakes do happen, they can be costly. If you can at all avoid them, you should. With that in mind, I've laid out a list of the top renovation mistakes that homeowners make, as well as some advice on what you can do to ensure that they don't derail your project. Read them over so you don't fall prey to them during your renovation. Your budget and schedule will thank you. Hiring the wrong contractor Choosing the right contractor is a process. It can be tempting to go with the first one you find to just get it over with. But, the reality is, if you choose the wrong contractor, you could be setting yourself to face a much bigger headache in the long run. Instead, do your due diligence and thoroughly vet multiple contractors before ultimately deciding which one to hire. Conventional wisdom says that you should gather at least three estimates before getting started on any home improvement project. However, in addition, you should check ref...

Under current law, participation by a rental property owner in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Choice Voucher program, more widely known as Section 8, is VOLUNTARY.  Under  SB 329 , which redefines “source of income” to include Section 8, EVERY residential rental property owner will be effectively forced to enter into a contract with the local housing authority upon receiving an application from a tenant who uses Section 8 housing vouchers to pay a portion of their rent. Because housing authorities already lack the resources to process applications and inspect properties quickly, units may sit unoccupied for many weeks until all the administrative requirements are met. Governor Brown vetoed a bill similar to SB 329 last year.  Governor Brown vetoed SB 1427 last year. SB 1427 only included Section 8 “HUD-VASH” vouchers while  SB 329  is far more expansive in that it includes ALL Section 8 vouchers. In his veto message for SB ...

Housing starts fell 0.9% MOM in May. The month-over-month decrease was driven primarily by a 5.0% drop in the multifamily sector, which in recent months has accounted for nearly 40% of total activity. Housing starts slipped nearly 5.0% year-over-year, with the single-family space responsible, falling 3.3%. Diving into the raw data reveals nearly 21,000 fewer single-family housing units (NSA) begun construction year-to-date compared to the same period in 2018. When using starts as a predictive indicator, look at a longer-term trend such as the year-over-year growth rate of the 6-month moving average. This data shows a pullback since hitting the peak in April 2016. While demographics support greater housing development, replacement land, entitlement issues, and costs are making it difficult for supply to ramp up.

On Friday, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in the case of Knick v. Township of Scott, a decision that will lead state and local governments to be more thoughtful and deliberate when developing laws or regulations that could infringe on Americans’ private property rights. Specifically, Knick v. Township of Scott declared that plaintiffs who have accused local governments of violating the Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution may proceed directly in federal court rather than first litigating in local circuits, overturning a 34-year old precedent set by a 1985 Supreme Court ruling. “A property owner has an actionable Fifth Amendment takings claim when the government takes his property without paying for it,” the Court’s opinion reads. “The Fifth Amendment right to full compensation arises at the time of the taking, regardless of post-taking remedies that may be available to the property owner. In sum, because a taking without compensation violates the self-execut...

“You are what you do … not what you say you’ll do.” When people ask you ... “what do you do?” the answer should be … “whatever it takes.” “Don’t wait for things to get easier, simpler or better. Life will always be somewhat complicated. Learn to enjoy the present moment, otherwise you’ll run out of time.”  “Maturity is learning to walk away from people and situations that threaten your peace of mind, self-respect, values, morals and self-worth.”  “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.” – Eric Thomas “If you’re going to quit anything in your life … quit making excuses.” – Zig Ziglar

For decades, single-family homes were  an investment primarily for people who wanted to live in them. Real estate investors were around, but they were mostly individuals or small partnerships. That changed with the Great Recession and its aftermath, when investors bought at least two million homes, and almost certainly far more than that, with prices depressed. Large-scale institutional investors bought tens of thousands of homes for less than they cost to build. At first, the flood of capital seemed like a one-time opportunity arising from the collapse of the residential real estate market. Once the bargains dried up, the investors were expected to stop buying. Except they didn’t stop. Last year, investors bought about one in five starter homes in the United States (defined as priced in the bottom third of the local market), according to CoreLogic. That was even higher than in the early years after the Great Recession and about double the level of two decades ago. In the...

Housing confidence is at five-year high levels in  Atlanta ,  Boston ,  Chicago ,  Miami ,  New York ,  St. Louis , and  Washington DC . Year-over-year, homeowner confidence improved the most in  Atlanta  and diminished the most in  Seattle , while renter confidence grew the most in  Boston  and receded the most in  Las Vegas. Members of the Gen Z and millennial generations have bolstered nationwide housing confidence during the past year. Among those who rent a home, eight in ten are confident or somewhat confident that they will be able to afford homeownership someday; two-thirds of them expect to buy a home within five years; six in ten believe that buying a home is the best long-term investment a person can make and that owning a home provides more freedom than renting one.  T he Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 has elevated homeownership affordability concerns for about one in four households nationwide, but it ...

Over the years, research has found numerous differences between men and women that affect their financial prospects and outcomes. While the gender wage gap is well known, economists at the Federal Reserve have also found that women have lower credit scores on average, and some studies have shown there may be a difference in risk aversion between the genders. In a study, LendingTree reported that single women owned homes at higher rates than single men. This suggests women are overcoming both the gender pay gap and the credit score gap in pursuing their dream of homeownership. However, it seems women are paying a higher price to access homeownership than they should. A new LendingTree study of data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reveals that women report being less prepared in terms of knowledge about mortgages and also comparison shop less than men. This can result in considerably higher costs. Borrowers can save tens of thousands of dollars over the li...

The share of renovating homeowners upgrading home security systems as part of their home renovations is quickly rising.  Eighteen percent of renovating homeowners in 2018 upgraded security systems, compared with 15 percent in 2017 and 12 percent in 2016. Last year renovating homeowners spent a median of $500 — meaning that half of homeowners spent more and half spent less — on these security upgrades.  But despite the steady rise in popularity of home security systems, the most popular systems to upgrade as part of a home renovation in 2018 were plumbing and electrical systems, as the chart here shows. Meanwhile, the most expensive systems to upgrade as part of a home renovation last year were cooling systems, with a median spend amount of $4,000, and heating systems, with a median spend of $3,500. Overall, smart home products such as wireless door locks still appeal to only a niche group of homeowners who are renovating. But home assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Ho...

For eclosure  filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 56,152 U.S. properties in May 2019, up 1% from the previous month but down 22% from a year ago for the 11th consecutive month with an annual decline, ATTOM Data Solutions  reported Thursday. Lenders completed foreclosures (REO) on 10,634 U.S. properties in May 2019, down 4% from the previous month and down 50% from a year ago - a 7th consecutive annual decline. States across the nation, except for  Vermont  all saw annual declines in completed foreclosures. Those that saw an annual decline of more than 50% in REOs included Michigan (down 84%); Massachusetts (down 74%); Indiana (down 67%);  Kentucky  (down 66%); and New Jersey (down 64%). In looking at those greater metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more and those that had at least 100 completed foreclosures in May 2019, with double-digit decreases were  Birmingham, Alabama  (do...

A  new national report  from Yardi® Matrix shows that U.S. multifamily rent growth in 2019, while steady, falls short of the levels seen in recent years. James Stuart Griffith Adobe Stock/Stu The average rent, which reached $1,442 in May, has grown $14 over the last three months. While that represents a year-to-date increase of 1.2%, last month was one of only two Mays in the last six years in which year-to-date rent growth fell below 2%. Deliveries of new supply are tamping down rent increases in some metros, including  Denver ,  Seattle  and  Kansas City, Mo. Although the "bullish outcomes" of that six-year period might not be sustained in 2019, "most markets continue to be in good shape, with only a handful producing rent growth of less than 1.5% year-over-year," says the report, which is based on a survey of 127 major U.S. real estate markets. Phoenix ,   Las Vegas ,   Sacramento , Calif.,   Atlanta   and California's In...

CoreLogic ® 's(NYSE: CLGX) monthly  Loan Performance Insights Report , out Tuesday, shows that nationally 4% of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency in March 2019, representing a 0.3-percentage-point decline in the overall delinquency rate compared with March 2018, when it was 4.3%. This was the lowest for the month of March in 13 years. As of March 2019, the foreclosure inventory rate – which measures the share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process – was 0.4%, down 0.2 percentage points from March 2018. March 2019 marked the fifth consecutive month that the foreclosure inventory rate remained at 0.4% and was the lowest for any month since at least January 1999. The rate for early-stage delinquencies – defined as 30 to 59 days past due – was 2% in March 2019, up from 1.8% in March 2018. The share of mortgages 60 to 89 days past due in March 2019 was 0.6%, unchanged from March 2018. The serious delinquency rate – defined as 90 days or more past due, inc...

Total non-farm payroll employment edged up in May (+75,000), and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The gain was far smaller than that reported for the previous two months, providing fresh evidence that the economy is cooling and giving the Federal Reserve another reason to cut its benchmark interest rate this month. U. Ivanov/Creative Commons The unemployment rate remained at 3.6%in May, and the number of unemployed persons was little changed at 5.9 million. Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.8%, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.6%, were unchanged in May. Average hourly earnings for all employees on private non-farm payrolls increased by 6 cents to $27.83. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.1%. Monthly job gains have averaged 164,000 in 2019, compared with an average gain of 223,000 per month in 2018. Construction employment changed little in May (+4,000), following an inc...

A bathroom renovation is simultaneously one of the most popular and expensive improvement projects that homeowners can undertake. As such, homeowners may be less likely to embrace trends unless they believe that what they are adding to their bathroom will be in style for a while. Remodelers will likely have success by creating bathrooms that feel both up to date and timeless.  Steamboat Pilot & Today  presents several current bathroom design trends that appear to have the most staying power. Quartz Is King There was a time when everybody aspired to one of two natural stones for bathroom countertops. It was either marble for its beauty or granite for its superior durability. That time has passed, and countertops are now trending toward quartz. An “engineered” stone that is still mostly natural quartz, ground up and fused with a polymer resin, the slabs can be made to resemble marble or granite, but with a durable, nonporous surface that outmatches both. And—no small fact...

In the NAHB’s new Home Building Geography Index, a quarterly measure of building conditions across the country, the exurbs – defined in this index as “outlying counties of large metro areas with at least 1 million residents” – were the only region type to show net single-family permit growth from the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019. Single-family permits grew by 1.6% in eurbs during this time frame. The exurbs, small towns, rural communities and suburbs in small metropolitan markets have seen the largest single-family home growth over the past four quarters. All other areas have declined or shown no change. “The HBGI data is consistent with the fact that housing costs are increasing fastest in large metro suburban counties and smaller metro areas with populations under 1 million where demand for housing is high but supply constraints are tight,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “Supply-side issues that are hurting affordability and raising costs for build...

During the National Homeownership Month in June, The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is urging Congress to address the housing affordability problem in the United States. Even with the recent mortgage interest rate drop, housing affordability is close to where it was a year ago, according to the NAHB. The NAHB/Wells  Fargo  Housing Opportunity Index found only 61% of new and existing homes were affordable to a typical household. The current homeownership rate (64.2%) remains below the 25-year average rate (66.3%), according to the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). More than half (53%) of buyers actively searching for a home in the first quarter of 2019 have been looking for three months or longer, according to NAHB’s Housing Trends Report (HTR). Home buyers say high home prices are the principal barrier to homeownership. A majority (78%) of buyers estimated they could afford fewer than half of the homes for-sale in their markets. In its message ...

In the  California  legislature, SB 50 was the centerpiece of housing legislation that was intended to help ease the shortage of affordable housing in the state's most populous areas. Here, the  Los Angeles Times  chronicles how the legislation was derailed and shelved for at least a year. Just over two weeks ago, California lawmakers were planning to advance some of the most aggressive policies in the nation to combat rising housing costs. They were pushing to open up most neighborhoods zoned only for single-family homes to apartment construction and to prevent millions of renters from facing double-digit rent increases each year. Then it all fell apart. In a series of dramatic committee hearings and last-minute decisions in  Sacramento , three major housing bills were blocked or whittled to a husk. Their demise came at the hands of engaged homeowner activists from predominantly suburban communities, real estate lobbies and after a lack of intervention f...

The Zonda / Metrostudy teams recently gazed into their crystal balls to provide financial analysis for the homebuilding industry, which includes bad news for the end of year 2021. “We’re predicting a fairly healthy year for the remainder of 2019 with about 2.575 million jobs being created this year,” said chief economist Mark Boud of Metrostudy. “This forecast was done before the recent news on tariffs so this may be revised downward. As time goes on we do predict a recession and predict job losses to begin at the latter part of 2021 and going into 2022.” The good news is Boud and his team don’t believe the recession will be nearly as bad as what happened during the housing crises. The timing of the recession prediction is based on the 2-10 treasury yield spread, a key economic metric that measures the difference of yields on short term (2-year) treasury bonds versus long term (10-year) treasury bonds. When the short term bonds are worth more than the long terms the yield curve is “...

Mortgage applications rose by 2.4% on a seasonally-adjusted basis from one week earlier for the week ending May 17th, 2019, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. On an unadjusted basis, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, rose 2% over the previous week. The Refinance Index rose by 8% over the same period. The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index fell 2% from the previous week, and the unadjusted Purchase Index fell 3%. “Mortgage rates fell for the fourth straight week, with the 30-year fixed rate mortgage hitting its lowest level since January 2018, leading to a rebound in refinances. The refinance index increased 8 percent to its highest level in over a month, and once again there was an increase in average refinance loan sizes, as borrowers with larger balances responded accordingly to lower rates,” says Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting. The r...