Market Studies

The market share for built-for-rent homes increased following the financial crisis of 2008, despite a share higher than the historical average in Q1, the total numbers overall are low. This particular measure includes only single-family homes that are built and rented out; it does not include homes that are sold to another party to rent.

Yesterday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that existing-home sales were at 5.04 million units, a 3.3 percent decrease from March, though up 6.1 percent from a year ago. Both, Auction.com and Consensus estimates were off for April because they predicted a stronger performance based on data released in March.

Leading indicators for the housing sector have shown that despite the moderate economic growth predicted, housing may experience a strong season in the spring, according to Fannie Mae. In March, existing home sales rose to their highest level in nearly two years, but for Q1 existing home sales were off slightly from the previous quarter's total. Despite a slowdown in March, new single-family home sales ended the first quarter at their strongest pace in seven years.

The severe delinquency rate on home equity installment loans fell from 2.59 percent in Q1 2014 to 1.98 percent in Q1 2015, while balances declined by 16.4 percent year-over-year in Q1 down to $136.1 billion and accounts declined by 10.6 percent down to 4.5 million for the same period.

April's composite default index fell by eight basis points from March down to a historical low of 0.97 percent, its lowest level since July 2014. The composite index had just fallen from 1.12 to 1.05 from February to March, its first month-over-month decline in eight months.

“For the remainder of this year, we're likely to continue to see these mortgage rate swings as market participants try to anticipate Fed timing around rising short term interest rates,” said Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac. “Unfortunately, perspective homebuyers may experience bouts of affordability shock in many housing markets."

Only six percent of renters who have lived in their home longer than two years have experienced a decrease in their rent amount, while 38 percent of renters experienced an increase in their rent amount in the last two years.

According to TransUnion's report, every state reported a year-over-year decline in mortgage delinquency rate, and most metro areas reported a substantial decline. In Miami, the delinquency rate declined by 36.1 percent down to 6.15 percent, and in San Francisco, it fell by 31.1 percent down to 1.32 percent. "It's a positive sign to see double-digit percentage delinquency declines in major markets across the country, as it demonstrates the improvements are widespread -- not just a regional phenomenon," Mellman said.

April's Sentiment Index reading of 95.9 was the second-highest since 2007, second only to January 2015. Curtin said despite the large decline in the index for May, consumers' attitudes toward personal finances and spending habits have stayed positive.

Visio found that 63 percent more investors are considering purchasing properties over $200,000, while sub-$40,000 deal interest has decreased, compared with last year’s report. Investors are also seeking to enhance their investment return strategy by fixing and flipping homes and building their rental portfolios.