Tag Archives: First-Time Homebuyers

HomeStreet Bank announced Thursday the extension of its Hometown Home Loan employer-assisted housing program in the greater Spokane area.

Feelings about homeownership remain positive in the face of a diminished market, but an uncertain economy and increasing down payments are keeping Americans from making purchases, a report from Integra Realty Resources (IRR) said. Wednesday's report detailed results from an IRR-commissioned survey of non-homeowners ages 22-50 in 11 major markets. While 85 percent of potential buyers indicated that market conditions are favorable for purchasing a home, unemployment and job instability make many respondents reluctant or unable to buy a home.

The survey, released Wednesday, revealed that more than 83 percent of 2009-2010 homebuyers believe owning a home is still an integral part of the American Dream. Furthermore, 88.7 percent of respondents said they were happy with their purchases, citing a multitude of reasons such as the ""stability of owning [their] own property,"" the relief of ""getting away from renting,"" and ""having a yard and a real 'neighborhood feel,'"" to name a few.

The incentive comes as an extension of Freddie Mac's First Look Initiative, a program designed to stabilize communities and support housing recovery. The initiative offers owner-occupants, second purchasers, and neighborhood stabilization non-profits a chance to purchase HomeSteps homes for a brief period after listing with no competition from investors.

The stigma associated with foreclosure purchases has apparently faded with interest in foreclosures nearly tripling in the past two years, according to a survey released Wednesday by Realtor.com. The survey, conducted over 1,004 phone interviews at the beginning of May, suggested that homebuyer interest in foreclosures has jumped 159 percent since October 2009, when foreclosures made up 29 percent of all home sales. The vast majority of buyers said they would want to live in their foreclosure purchase, with 92.1 percent looking for a home to live in and only 6.9 percent looking for foreclosure investments.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed a bill to ban Wall Street Resale Fees, which require a percentage of the sale of a home to go to a third party. Carolina is the 38th state to sign the bill banning these fees, also known as Private Transfer Fees. The fees are added to home sale contracts by private third parties and typically require that over the next 99 years, a percentage, usually 1 percent of the sale of a home, be paid to the third party.

Americans have lost $7 trillion in home equity in the past five years, and nearly 12 million homeowners are currently underwater. The Progressive Policy Institute says these issues deserve just as much attention in the upcoming presidential election as the issue of unemployment, and in a January report, the institute offers a few suggestions to improve the housing market and ultimately, the economy at large, including shared appreciation mortgages and down payment savings accounts for first-time buyers.

The year 2011 is ending on a high note as economists anticipate some positive movement in the housing market. Prices appear to be reaching their trough, visible supply is on the decline, and banks are beginning just slightly to loosen lending standards, according to a fourth-quarter report from Capital Economics. However, the research firm warns these positive signs do not point to an immediate recovery, particularly with housing undervalued by the most it's been since at least 1975.

Home price depreciation over the past few years has made housing more undervalued relative to incomes than ever before, yet home sales have continued to decline. Even more striking is that the dampened activity can be largely attributed to a weakening in demand from cash buyers and investors, according to the researchers at Capital Economics. The firm has found that since January, the number of homes purchased by cash buyers and investors has fallen by 26 percent.

First-time homebuyers - a segment that typically targets distressed homes - currently make up just one-third of the market, according to the research firm Campbell Surveys. While this is what would be considered their ""normal"" market share, the company says this is not enough demand to absorb the excess supply coming from defaulting homeowners and will likely make for a poor spring and summer buying season. Survey respondents in April reported that potential first-time buyers are having trouble finding foreclosed homes in move-in ready condition.