Tag Archives: alabama
Indianapolis named as best US market for first time buyers
Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Memphis are the best markets for first time buyers in the United right now, according to new research. Cleveland, Chicago, Houston, and Birmingham, Alabama, also made the top 10 first time buyer market ranking list put together by real estate firm Zillow. To determine which markets are best for those looking to buy their first home, Zillow looked for places where it's more affordable to make a monthly mortgage payment than a monthly rental payment. The research also looked at median home values and competition, including how many homes the first time buyer has to choose from and whether they are likely to be up against all-cash offers. It found that San Jose, Seattle and Austin are among the hardest places for first time buyers to get on the housing market, a conundrum for many young people who move to those cities because of their hot job markets, only to find a limited and unaffordable selection of starter homes to choose from. ‘Buying your first home is a big decision that takes a lot of planning. First time buyers across the US are up against high prices and low inventory,’ said Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell. ‘But these are the places where the availability of affordable, entry level homes and the presence of cash buyers are less of an issue. First time buyers in these markets won't have to deal with as many bidding wars or runaway price as they'll be able to find a first home that fits their needs with less stress. With record low mortgage rates, it's a good time to buy a home and certainly worth considering,’ she pointed out. In Indianapolis, home buyers can expect to spend 11% of their income on a monthly mortgage payment, some 4% less than the US average. Renters, on the other hand, can expect to spend 26% of their income on monthly rent, an incentive for renters in Indianapolis to become home owners. Continue reading
Cash sales of homes in the United States falling, latest figures show
Cash sales made up 34.6% of total home sales in the United States in March 2015, down from 39% in the same month in 2014, according to the latest data available. The year on year share has fallen each month since January 2013, making March 2015 the 27th consecutive month of declines, the report from real estate form CoreLogic shows. Month on month the cash sales share fell by 2.8% compared with February but the firm pointed out that due to seasonality in the housing market, cash sales share comparisons should be made on a year on year basis. The cash sales share peak occurred in January 2011 when cash transactions made up 46.5% of total home sales nationally. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales averaged approximately 25%t. The report predicts that if the cash sales share continues falling at the same rate it did in March 2015, the share should decrease to 25% by the middle of 2016. A breakdown of the figures shows that real estate owned (REO) sales had the largest cash sales share in March 2015 at 56.2% followed by resales at 34.5%, while short sales accounted for 31.6% and newly constructed homes 14.9. While the percentage of REO sales that were all-cash transactions remained high, REO transactions made up only 8.4% of all sales in March. In January 2011, when the cash sales share was at its peak, REO sales made up 23.9% of total home sales. Resales make up the majority of home sales at about 80% and therefore have the biggest impact on the total cash sales share. Florida had the largest share of all cash sales at 51.8 followed by Alabama at 50%, New York at 46.5%, New Mexico at 42.2% and Michigan at 41.3%. Of the nation’s largest 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, Philadelphia had the highest share of cash sales at 60.7% followed by West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, Florida at 59.9%, North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida at 59.5%, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida at 59.3% and Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida at 58.3%. The data also shows that Colorado Springs had the lowest cash sales share at 16.1%. Continue reading
Residential property cash sales in the US falling, latest data shows
Cash sales in the United States made up 34.8% of total home transactions in September 2014, down from 37.2% a year ago, according to the latest data to be published. The year on year share has fallen each month since January 2013, making September the 21st consecutive month of declines, the data from real estate firm Core Logic. Month on month, the cash sales share ticked up by 1%, however, the firm points out that cash sales share comparisons should be made on a year on year basis due to the seasonal nature of the housing market. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales averaged approximately 25% with a peak in January 2011 when cash transactions made up 46.4% of total home sales. Real estate owned (REO) sales had the largest cash sales share in September 2014 at 58.1%, followed by re-sales at 34.4%, short sales at 32.4% and newly constructed homes at 16.8%. While the percentage of REO sales that were cash transactions remained high, REO transactions made up only 7.8% of total sales in September and, therefore, did not have a large influence on the overall cash sales share. In January 2011, when the cash sales share was at its peak, REO sales made up 23.9% of total sales. A breakdown of the figures shows that Delaware had the largest share of any state at 57.4%, followed by Florida at 50.8%, Alabama at 49.6%, New York at 44.4% and Idaho at 43.3%. Of the nation's largest 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida, had the highest share of cash sales at 56.2%, followed closely by West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, also in Florida at 55.9%. Then came Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, in Florida at 54.8%, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, also in Florida, at 54.7% and Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, in Michigan at 53.1%. The data also shows that Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C. had the lowest cash sales share at 16.2%. Continue reading
