Tag Archives: Lawrence Yun

The National Association of Realtors reported a rise in pending home sales in October, but what does that mean for the bigger picture?

Though existing home sales are forecasted for a comeback in 2018, a few obstacles stand in the way.

Though existing home sales are poised for a comeback in 2018, a few hurdles stand in their way.

Potential homeowners are feeling more confident about their financial situation and are turning out in large numbers, but find they are challenged by supply, higher sales prices, and rising interest rates.

National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun talks with DS News about his forecast for the housing market for the remainder of 2016 as well as such topics as inventory, affordability, wage growth, and delinquency rates.

The thin shadow inventory compared with rising home values has caused the share of distressed home sales to drop to single digits. Since there will be fewer properties sold at deep discounts, this will cause home prices to strengthen, Yun said. "It also means that those practitioners who specialize in foreclosures or short-sales need to start thinking about a change in business models to normal home buyers and normal positive-equity home sellers," Yun wrote on the blog.

Annualized housing starts crossed the 1 million mark in April for the first time this year, but little of that improvement came on the single-family side—and that's a serious problem, says the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Measuring new homebuilding against employment numbers—which only recently recovered from their recessionary decline—NAR finds that historically, there is one new home built for every 1.5 jobs added to the economy.

Despite many beginning-of-the-year predictions about spring growth in the housing market falling flat, and despite a still chugging economy that changes its mind quarter-to-quarter, economists at the National Association of Realtors and other industry groups expect an uptick in the economy and housing market through next year.

According to the latest release, NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose to 97.4 last month, up 3.4 percent from February’s upwardly revised 94.2. It was the first real pickup in the last nine months, the association said. NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said the increase was expected with the end of last season’s severe weather.