Castro based his optimism on what he called a "confluence of factors" he believes will encourage more potential homebuyers to take the plunge this year, including a leveling off in home prices, lower entry barriers to mortgage credit, and falling costs—helped by an imminent reduction in Federal Housing Administration (FHA) annual mortgage insurance premiums and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) directive for Fannie and Freddie to accept mortgages with lower down payments.
Read More »Castro to Answer Housing Questions at Fireside Chat-Style Event
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro will answer questions about a variety of housing topics in a fireside-chat style event on the morning after President Obama's state of the union speech on Wednesday, January 21, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
Read More »Underwater Borrower Rate Drops Below 17 Percent
The number of U.S. homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth has fallen off by nearly half in the last two years, but third-quarter data shows millions are still close to slipping back under. By the end of Q3 2015, the company expects negative equity will drop further to a rate of 15.2 percent. While improving trends in home values and foreclosures have helped push more homeowners into positive equity positions, many are still barely afloat, possessing too little equity to realistically afford the cost of selling their home and buying a new one. Because they're essentially locked into their houses, those homeowners are unable to contribute to their local stock of for-sale homes and are stuck in the way of entry-level or move-up buyers.
Read More »Economist Predicts Millennials Will Greatly Increase Presence in Home Market in 2015
While millennials so far have yet to find their place in the housing market, the stage is set for younger Americans to become the driving force in the residential sector in 2015, according to a forecast from Zillow.
Read More »Survey: Many Still Believe Housing Recovery Still Three to Five Years Away
Nearly a third of panelists took a more optimistic view, predicting the market will stabilize one to two years from now, while one in five responded that housing has either already returned to normal or will within the next 12 months.
Read More »Report: Five Million Potential New Households Held Back By Slow Economic Recovery
A major part of that decline comes from stagnating wages, which came to a median $29,000 in doubled-up households in 2012. On average, Zillow says doubled-up adults make about 76 percent of the median income of people living without roommates, making it more difficult for those Americans to save up money for initial housing costs.
Read More »Housing Confidence Heats Up, But Expectations Remain Cool
Two of the three component sub-indices improved through the summer: the measure of current market trends and conditions rose more than half a point to 62.7, while the measure of homebuying plans and attitudes toward homeownership climbed more than two points to 62.4.
Read More »High Negative Equity Among Gen-Xers Causing Housing Gridlock
Nearly 43 percent of homeowners between 35 and 49 are underwater on their mortgages. In contrast, only 15 percent of millennial homeowners (those between 20 and 34 years old) and 31 percent of baby boomers (50 to 64 years old) are underwater.
Read More »High Rents Prevent Potential Buyers From Owning Homes
What this means for the future of the housing market could be trouble. The effects of rents high enough to keep prospective buyers away from houses is particularly hitting millennials, who are already saddled with uncertain job prospects and enormous student debt, according to Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries.
Read More »Florida Focus: Negative Equity Rate in Tampa Bay is Problematic
While the national negative equity rate continues to fall (down to 18.8 percent, according to the Zillow Q1 2014 Negative Equity Report), many neighborhoods in the Tampa Bay area of Florida are well above that rate. Some areas in Tampa Bay even fall within the highest rates in the country.
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