Tag Archives: Trulia

According to Trulia, for the first time since July 2012, none of the 100 largest markets in May—anywhere in the United States—saw home prices rise more than 20 percent year-over-year. This is the first sign of sustainability in the housing market in years and is a welcome change from the hyper-rebounding that occurred in some markets—particularly in the West, where asking prices rose by as much as 30 percent from 2012 to 2013.

According to a consumer survey conducted by Trulia, 60 percent of American adults age 18–34 say a lack of savings, poor credit, and severe debt stand between them and homeownership. As a result, 50 percent would have to ask for help from their parents or grandparents to put together enough money to clear the initial hurdle of making a down payment.

For the majority of homes, buying is cheaper than renting. But as home prices rise faster than incomes and mortgage rates slowly head upwards, the question of national affordability becomes ever more germane. Compared to the longer-term past, homeownership still looks relatively affordable as home prices remain undervalued and mortgage rates remain near historic lows. However, affordability for the middle class in some areas of the nation is becoming problematic.

Nationally, asking prices rose 0.8 percent month-over-month in March and 2.8 percent quarter-over-quarter in April. Yet asking prices rose a mere 9.0 percent year-over-year, the smallest gain in 11 months according to an analysis of data from Trulia’s Price Monitor and Rent Monitor. With monthly and quarterly increases holding steady, why are yearly increases slipping?

In a survey of more than 2,000 adults, Trulia found an estimated 41 percent “would strongly or somewhat prefer” to buy a new single-family home over an existing one, assuming the prices were equal. Just more than one in five respondents—21 percent—said they would prefer an existing home, while 38 percent expressed no preference.

In the Trulia’s latest quarterly Bubble Watch report, Jed Kolko estimates national home prices are still around 5 percent undervalued when examining long-term fundamentals like historical prices, incomes, and rents. While ongoing improvements in prices have brought the market close to a tipping point, he notes that it’s far cry from the 39 percent overvaluation in the first quarter of 2006.

Recovery in the housing market is stumbling back to solid ground, thanks to a rise in home prices and existing home sales, as well as a drop in foreclosures, according to the latest Housing Barometer report released Wednesday by Trulia.

While "tech hub" metros have experienced elevated price gains compared to the rest of the nation, a recent analysis from Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko argues that the two may have little to do with one another. Rather, tech hubs "had steeper price declines during the bust and have fewer homes stuck in foreclosure today–and both of those factors are driving the current price rebound."

Search statistics compiled by Trulia show that for every 10-degree drop in temperature, searches on the company's engine increase by 2.6 percent nationally. For warm regions specifically, home searches rise 4.4 percent.

Bank of America brought in $3.4 billion in profits last quarter, beating out the previous quarter's $2.5 billion and the previous year's $732 million. The bank says it's entering the new year with one of the strongest balance sheets in its history, largely the result of cost-cutting and declining credit losses. Provisions for credit losses have fallen from $2.2 billion to $336 million over the past year.