Tag Archives: united-states
Majority of Americans believe in home ownership and are positive about the market
The majority of people in the United States believe that buying a home is a good financial decision, that now is a good time to buy and that they could sell their home for at least its initial purchase price. The survey from the National Association of Realtors which measures consumers' attitudes and concerns about housing issues in the nation's 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas, found that more than eight in 10 Americans are positive about the housing market. Some 68% believe that now is a good time to buy a home, 71% that they could sell their house for what they paid for it, a jump of 16% compared to 2013, the data shows. When asked for reasons about why home ownership matters to them, respondents’ answers have not changed significantly from past years. Building equity, wanting a stable and safe environment, and having the freedom to choose their neighbourhood remain the top three reasons to own a home. ‘Home ownership is part of the American Dream, and this survey proves that dream is alive and thriving in our communities,’ said NAR president Chris Polychron. The research also found that the number of renters who are now thinking about purchasing a home has increased since the last survey in 2013, up from 36% to 39and 61% said that owning a home is a priority for their future. According to the survey 80% of respondents believe that pre-purchase counselling programmes and classes are very or somewhat important. Indeed, 45% of home owners who said they did not take a counselling programme reported they would have taken part in one had it been easily available to them. Attitudes about the housing market have improved in recent years and 49% of respondents indicated that they feel activity in the housing market has increased in the past year, compared to 44% in 2013 and 12% in 2011. The study shows that 89% expect home sales in their area to either increase or remain the same. Concern about foreclosures has also declined, with only 15% of respondents indicating that foreclosure is a major concern. In addition to improved attitudes about the housing market, survey participants also showed an improved outlook regarding the economy. Only 36% think that job layoffs and unemployment are a big problem, a substantial drop from 45% in 2013. Perceived obstacles to home ownership have remained mostly unchanged compared to recent years and 78% of respondents pointed to college debt and student loans as the main obstacle to making a home purchase affordable. On top of this 76% said they have a full time job but still did not make enough money to purchase a home while 74% believe they do not have enough money for a down payment and closing costs. As the market has improved, concern about the cost of housing has increased. Two thirds of survey participants said that home prices are more expensive than they were a year ago. There is… Continue reading
British PM pledges 200,000 starter homes in next five years
British Prime Minister David Cameron has called for a national crusade to get homes built and promised to change planning rules to boost the number of affordable properties such as starter homes for first time buyers In a speech he said that there will be an overhaul of Whitehall and town hall planning rules which prevent house builders from offering low cost, affordable home ownership. Starter Homes will be sold at a 20% discount to first time buyers under the age of 40 and 200,000 will be delivered by 2020. ‘We need a national crusade to get homes built. That means banks lending, government releasing land, and planning being reformed,’ Cameron said, adding it will be part of a dramatic shift in housing policy. One of the problems, he claimed, has been that until now affordable homes have been for people to rent, not own and developers have been tied by rules regarding what kind of affordable homes can be built. ‘Those old rules which said to developers: you can build on this site, but only if you build affordable homes for rent, we're replacing them with new rules. You can build here and those affordable homes can be available to buy. Yes, from generation rent to generation buy,’ Cameron added. However, the British Property Federation (BPF) has urged the Government to focus on delivery of all housing tenures, not just homes to buy. The organisation has warned that, although initiatives to create more homes for sale are welcome, high house prices and the growing number of private renters in the UK means that more must be done to encourage the purpose built rental sector which it said has £30 billion ready to invest and the potential to deliver a significant number of new homes. ‘Politicians talk about Generation Rent as if it is something to be ashamed of, when this should not be the case. Countries such as Germany and the United States have thriving rental markets, where people happily live in institutionally backed, purpose built, high quality rented accommodation for many years,’ said Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation. ‘While we are not against owner occupation, and see Starter Homes as a welcome initiative, we are aware that such a policy is stoking demand for home ownership, rather than focusing on meeting supply. Build to rent has enormous potential to deliver additional homes to the UK, and government must not overlook this in blind pursuit of making us a nation of home owners,’ she added. According to Mark Hayward, managing director of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) 200,000 new homes is not enough. ‘We first heard this pledge in Cameron’s pre-election campaign, and we still support the sentiment. However, other initiatives such as the Help to Buy scheme still remains in place and it boils down to the fact that we are still waiting to see new homes being built; and whilst we wait capacity remains… Continue reading
Some home markets in the US are still struggling to recover, latest index suggests
More than a quarter of homes across the United States lost value over the past year, despite the ongoing housing market recovery, according to the latest real estate market report. Some markets have already surpassed home values reached at the height of the housing bubble, while other markets are struggling to leave the recession behind, the analysis from real estate firm Zillow shows. Nationally, homes appreciated 3.3% from a year ago, rising to a Zillow Home Value Index of $180,800. However, the national growth rate has levelled off over the past five months, suggesting the housing recovery is ending and the market is returning to normal. Overall some 27.9% of homes lost value over the past year. Before the housing market crashed, an average of 21.2% of homes were losing value and in December 2008 some 81.6% of homes lost value, the highest amount during the recession. Markets on the East Coast and in the Midwest had the highest share of homes that lost value, led by 48.1% of homes in Baltimore which saw prices fall over the past year. Philadelphia with 43.4% and Washington DC at 41.2% also had large shares of homes losing value. Conversely, few homes lost value in hot markets like Denver, Dallas, San Jose, and San Francisco, which all saw double digit home value growth over the past year. Just 1.5% of homes in Denver and 4% in Dallas were worth less in August 2015 than they were a year ago. ‘We're not going in reverse, but we are hitting the brakes a bit in some markets. It's easy to say the recession is over when a third of the biggest markets are more expensive now than ever before, but we're still seeing a number of homes losing value. The reality is there are still areas lagging behind in the recovery,’ said Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell The report suggests that renters looking to become home owners may find more opportunities in slower markets like Philadelphia. According to the January 2015 Zillow Housing Confidence Index when home values there were growing at 2.8% annually, eight percent of renters in the area said they planned to buy within a year. This jumped to 18% in the most recent survey, when home value growth was nearly flat at 0.3%. The index data also shows that rents are still growing faster than home values. The Zillow Rent Index rose 3.8% on an annual basis to $1,381, giving potential buyers another reason to consider entering the market. Continue reading
