Share Of Women In Construction At An All Time High

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced this week it will increase the 2020 conforming loan limits for mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $510,400 on one-unit properties and a cap of $765,600 in high-cost areas. The previous loan limits were $484,350 and $726,525, respectively. In response, C.A.R issued a statement.

The U.S. economy grew at a 2.1% annualized pace in the third quarter, picking up speed from the second quarter’s 2% rate and surprising economists, who expected the Commerce Department’s second estimate to be unchanged at 1.9% on Wednesday. The upward  revision  was based on stronger readings for private inventory investment, nonresidential fixed investment, and personal consumption expenditure, the Commerce Department said. While growth has slowed from the blistering 3.1% pace recorded in 2019’s first quarter, fears of a recession are abating as low  mortgage rates  drive a rebound in the mortgage and housing markets. Refinancings are at a three-year high, and much of the savings borrowers get by lowering their rates get plowed into GDP in the form of spending. While spending is being supported by an unemployment  rate  near 50-year lows, a slowdown in the pace of job creation along with sagging consumer confidence and stagnant wage growth are causing some economists to questio

Mortgage borrowers who  shopped around  last week could’ve saved $47,768 on the life of a $300,000 loan, according to  LendingTree ’s Mortgage Rate Competition Index. The index measures the spread in the APR of the best offers available on its website. LendingTree derives that savings claim by comparing the amount a borrower would payout of over the life of a loan at the lowest available interest rate on its site versus the highest available  interest rate . According to the company’s data, although the index slid to 1.01, the share of borrowers that received rates under 4% edged up for the week ending Nov. 17, 2019.  LendingTree indicates that for  30-year fixed-rate mortgages , 51.5% of purchase borrowers received offers under 4%, increasing from 48.2% the previous week. This percentage remains significantly higher than the 2018 rate, when virtually no purchase offers were under 4%. Notably, the report highlights that across all 30-year, fixed-rate purchase mortgage applic

Despite lingering regional variances, the nation’s existing-home sales increased by 1.9% in October, according to the  National Association of Realtors. Total existing-home sales – completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops – rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.46 million. This means sales are 4.6% above October 2018’s rate.  “ Historically-low interest rates , continuing  job expansion , higher weekly earnings, and low  mortgage rates  are undoubtedly contributing to these higher numbers,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist said. “We will likely continue to see sales climb as long as potential buyers are presented with an adequate  supply of inventory .” In October, the median price for an existing home was $270,900, a gain of 6.2% from last year’s rate of $255,100. This marks the 92nd straight month of year-over-year gains. According to NAR, total homes available for sale came in at 1.77 million, down 2.7% fro

American homeowners aren’t feeling the pinch from housing costs like they used to — but that’s not necessarily reason to celebrate. Only 20.9% of homeowners with a mortgage were cost-burdened as of 2018, meaning that they spent at least 35% of their monthly household income on housing costs,  according to new data  from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. That’s down from 28.8% a decade earlier, just as the financial crisis was reaching its fever point. And the number of cities where a significant share of homeowners are cost-burdened has dwindled. In 2008, at least 40% of homeowners with a mortgage were burdened across 43 metro areas nationwide. Today, there are no cities where that’s the case. Homeowners without a mortgage have also felt less pressure from housing costs. Among these people, only 11% are burdened by housing costs, compared with 12% in 2008. While homeowners may be less burdened by housing costs, fewer people actually own their homes. Ten years

How much of a refinance surge is the mortgage business experiencing? Well, for the first time in more than four years, there were more refinances closed in a month than purchase loans. According to the new Origination Insight Report from  Ellie Mae , there were more refis than purchase mortgages in October. That’s the first time that’s happened in any month since March 2015. The Ellie Mae report shows that the refinance share of overall closed loans rose to 51% in October, continuing a  trend  that stretches back to June. In every month since June, the refinance share of mortgages has risen, culminating in there being more refis than purchases in October. The refi share hasn’t been that high in more than four years. The increase in refis over the last few months came as a result of a drop in mortgage rates, with the  most recent data  from  Freddie Mac  showing that mortgage rates are still more than a full percentage point lower than they were last year. That shows in Ellie

In October, America’s home sales rose by 3.9%, marking the fourth month of the past six to post a year-over-year increase in sales, according to the  RE/MAX  National Housing Report. “October continued a recent win streak for home sales, and the market is positioned much better than it was a year ago,” said RE/MAX Holdings CEO Adam Contos. “Demand is strong, due in part to  low-interest rates , but buyers have limited options because  inventory remains such a challenge .” RE/MAX reports that although sales increased last month, the nation’s housing inventory posted a steep decline. According to the company, housing inventory fell 9% year-over-year across the report’s 54 housing markets, representing the largest retreat since May 2018. Furthermore, October posted a 3.1-month supply of inventory, marking the lowest October amount in the report’s 11-year history. RE/MAX indicates homes spent 49 days on the market, which is the second-lowest figure for October in report history. A

Housing starts rose 3.8% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.314 million and the pace for September was revised upward, according to the  Department of Housing and Urban Development  and the  Department of Commerce . While household construction is on the rise, Mark Fleming,  First American ’s chief economist, said homebuilders are yet to construct enough homes to meet demand. “ Low mortgage rates ,  rising household income  and a  surge in household formation  among Millennials have significantly boosted demand for housing over the past year,” Fleming said. “However, we have underbuilt new housing relative to  demand  for years. Building will have to exceed household formation for a number of years to reduce the housing stock “debt” we have accumulated.” Single-family starts grew 2% from  last month  to 936,000 units while multifamily starts climbed 6.8% to 362,000 units, according to the report. Single-family completions increased 4.5% to a rate of 897,000,

Housing could fuel economic growth for the first part of 2020, a new economic outlook from  Fannie Mae  shows. Fannie Mae upgraded its economic outlook to a gross domestic product growth of 1.9% in 2020, according to its latest commentary from the Economic and Strategic Research Group. This is due to expected easing trade tensions, stimulative fiscal policies and continued consumer spending This year, the third quarter added to GDP growth for the first time in more than 1.5 years, Fannie Mae’s data shows. And this growth is expected to continue into the second quarter of 2020. Fannie Mae explained housing should also continue to function as a positive contributor to growth in the near term, as indicated by both new and existing single-family home sales advancing in the third quarter, as well as pending home sales, permits, and starts. However, persistent supply and affordability constraints continue to hold back household formation, inhibiting  housing market activity . “As we

Double Sinks Grow in Popularity Sinks are a common bathroom element to upgrade as part of a master bathroom remodel: 78% of renovating homeowners do so. Among this group, 69% are choosing a two-sink setup in 2019, up from 66% in 2018. Among renovating homeowners upgrading their sinks, u ndermount sinks are the most popular type (64%), followed by drop-in (16%) models and vessel sinks (11%). The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn Double Mirrors Are Popular Too Three-quarters (77%) of homeowners upgrade mirrors during their master bathroom renovation, and among that group a majority (54%) install two mirrors. This choice, of course, marries well with the popular two-sink setup. Thirty-nine percent of renovating homeowners upgrading mirrors are selecting one upgraded mirror, while 7% are upgrading three or more mirrors. Some renovating homeowners upgrading mirrors are choosing models with fancy features like anti-fog systems (15%), LED lighting (14%) and hidden outlets (6%).

In the third quarter of the year, the nation’s home-sale prices fell by 1.5% from 2018 levels, coming in at a median of $370,300, according to a report from  Redfin . The quarter’s decline, which now marks the biggest retreat since 2012, also represents the third consecutive quarter of price weakening. Redfin suggests the price decline is partly a reflection of  home builders  responding to  buyer demand for affordability , which  strengthened  sales during the quarter. According to the company, new-home sales rose by 5.6% in Q3, marking the second consecutive quarter of increases.  However, new-home supply, which decreased 7.9% year over year, experienced the biggest inventory drop since 2012 and the second straight quarter of declines. Redfin attributes Q3’s sales increase to a drop in new-home inventory as the typical new home was on the market for 90 days before going under contract, just about flat from 89 days the year before. Nevertheless, the company claims the su

Receiving financial assistance with a down payment won’t increase the chances of a home owner defaulting on their mortgage, according to a new study. A  new working paper  prepared for the Center for Household Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis examined the performance track record for loans made with some form of down-payment assistance. Down-payment assistance has grown in popularity in recent years as home prices have soared across the country, making it more difficult to put together enough money for a home purchase. There are more than 2,000 private- and government-sponsored down-payment assistance programs across the country today. The share of Federal Housing Administration-backed loans made with down-payment assistance has grown from around 30% in 2011 to nearly 40% in 2018. Previous research had suggested that down-payment assistance (DPA) programs increased the odds of the borrower defaulting on their home loan. While all forms of down-payment

Although the nation’s low-interest rates continue to drive purchasing demand, a report from  Redfin   indicates  America’s bidding competition weakened in October.  According to the company, 10% of purchasing offers made on its site faced a bidding war during the month. Not only is this percentage down from last year’s rate of 39%, but it also marks a 10-year-low. Despite October’s cooling, Redfin notes the rate of bidding wars in San Francisco and San Jose hit new highs for the year, coming in at 34.8% and 20.5%, respectively. That being said, both markets experienced an annual decline as bidding war rates were still well below last year’s levels of 58.1% and 64.9%, according to the company. Redfin attributes the Bay Area’s annual decline to lackluster results following the launch of several big tech stock IPOs, including  Uber ,  Lyft  and  Slack , which the company claims weren’t as hot as many expected earlier in the year. “There was a lot of hype earlier this year in th

For the first time since 1850, the average size of the U.S. household is on the rise,  RealPage  says. It’s not just the  kids or Millennials , either. Households are growing and becoming multi-generational. Over the last century-and-a-half, household sizes have actually been shrinking, according to the data from the  Census Bureau . But that trend reversed recently. In 2010, the average number of habitants in a house was 2.58, but in 2018, it was 2.63. According to the Census Bureau, the population within a household has grown 6% since 2010 and household formation has grown 4%. About 20% of households today are a multi-generation home, up from 12% of households in 1980. During the previous economic downturn, many households most likely added or retained an extra adult, RealPage said. These extra adults are often a parent or child of the primary occupant or a  roommate or boarder  who cuts down on the cost of living. This makes up 20% of households in 2019, up from 17% in

Continuing a trend that  stretches back  to one year ago, Millennials are still dominating the homebuying landscape, taking on more mortgages than previous generations. A report from  Realtor.com  says that at the end of the third quarter, the Millennial share of mortgage originations increased 3% from last September, coming in at 46%. (Image courtesy of realtor.com. Click to enlarge.) Meanwhile, Gen X and Baby Boomer shares continued to fall, to 35% and 17% this year, from 37% and 18% last year, respectively. As for primary home loan originations, Millennial shares increased also. In September, Millennial share was 44%, up from last year’s 40%. Gen X shares fell from last year’s 41% to 39%, while Baby Boomer shares fell to 16% from 17% last year. Millennials were also  found to move  once every two years, a study from  Porch  said. Gen Xers moved about every four years and baby boomers stayed in the same place for nearly six years at a time.  According to the report, M

The federal government’s nearly four-year investigation into whether foreign buyers are using shell companies to buy U.S. real estate in order to launder money will continue for at least another six months. The  Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network , which has been investigating all-cash luxury real estate deals since  January 2016 , announced Friday that it is extending its investigation until May 2020, at least. The  initial FinCEN investigation  looked into whether unknown buyers were using shell companies to buy high-end real estate in Manhattan and Miami-Dade County, because the government was “concerned about illicit money” being used in the deals. The  results of that initial investigation  showed more than 25% of transactions reviewed involved a “beneficial owner” who was also the subject of a “suspicious activity report,” which is an indication of possible criminal activity. From there, FinCEN expanded the investigation several times. First,  Fin

The 2019 U.S. Houzz Bathroom Trends Study includes responses from more than 1,300 registered users of Houzz who had completed a master bathroom remodel in the past 12 months, were working on one or were planning to start one in the next three months. Lignum Vitae This photo shows a one-piece toilet, which has no seam between the tank and seat. Self-Cleaning Toilets, Bidet Seating Have Niche Appeal If you’re going to upgrade your toilet, you might as well make it easier to clean. Thirteen percent of renovating homeowners upgrading toilets are choosing self-cleaning models that cut the need for bowl-scrubbing, thanks to a range of technologies designed to keep dirt and grime off the bowl. Twenty-seven percent are opting for a one-piece toilet like the one shown in this photo. One-piece toilets lack a seam between the tank and the seat, which means one less place for germs to hide out. Nearly 1 in 5 homeowners upgrading a toilet as part of their master bathroom projec

In the third quarter of 2019, luxury home prices increased 0.3% year over year, marking the first time in nearly a year that luxury prices did not fall. Previously, luxury home prices saw three consecutive quarters of declines, according to data from  Redfin. Redfin classifies luxury homes as those that sold among the top 5% most expensive in the quarter. In the third quarter, luxury home prices across the country averaged $1.6 million. However, in the other 95% of the market, Redfin indicates home prices rose 3.6% year over year, averaging $319,000 in the third quarter. According to the company, sales of homes priced at or above $1.5 million increased by 3.2% in the third quarter. This increase comes after three consecutive quarters of declines in the luxury sector, including a 12% annual drop in the first quarter of the year. Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist, said despite  economic uncertainty ,  recession fears  weren’t enough to scare off wealthy homebuyers th