​Source:  The Washington Post

According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average tumbled to 4.63 percent with an average 0.5 point. (Points are fees paid to a lender equal to 1 percent of the loan amount.) It was 4.75 percent a week ago and 3.93 percent a year ago.
The 15-year fixed-rate average sank to 4.07 percent with an average 0.5 point. It was 4.21 percent a week ago and 3.36 percent a year ago. The five-year adjustable rate average slipped to 4.04 percent with an average 0.3 point. It was 4.07 percent a week ago and 3.36 percent a year ago.

Check out the full story here:
www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/12/13/mortgage-rates-plunge-their-lowest-level-three-months/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f04ea196060a

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​Source:  The San Francisco Chronicle

The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced last month that it has expanded a program designed to hunt down tax evaders, drug dealers and other criminals who try to hide cash by purchasing homes through shell companies without a mortgage, thereby avoiding the banking system’s know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering rules.
Under the expanded program, title insurance companies must identify any customer who owns at least 25 percent of a legal entity — such as a limited liability company or corporation — that purchases a home for at least $300,000 in one of 22 counties nationwide including San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara.

Check out the full story here:
www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/Feds-making-it-harder-to-launder-cash-through-Bay-13451150.php  

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​Source:  CNBC

For many millennials, the idea of homeownership is still a big picture dream, with a new study saying 89 percent plan to purchase a home in the future — but simply can't because of student debt.
According to a recent study released by Apartment List, 6,400 millennial renters nationwide were surveyed in regards to their plan for owning a home. Despite the majority of young people wanting to migrate away from renting, 48 percent have nothing saved for a down payment.
One of the leading reasons, according to Apartment List, is because of the staggering amount of student loan debt many millennials carry.
"Student debt is keeping homeownership out of reach for many millennials," the authors of the study wrote. "We estimate that 23 percent of college graduates without student debt can save enough for a down payment within the next five years, compared to just 12 percent of college graduates who are currently paying off student loans."

Check out the full story here:
www.cnbc.com/2018/12/08/student-loan-burden-barring-millenials-from-home-ownership-study.html


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​Source:  Housing Wire

American wage disparity keeps the average American woman making 20 cents less than her male counterpart, but data suggests that when it comes to homeownership—single women take lead.  
LendingTree’s latest analysis revealed that on average, single women own around 22% of homes, compared to less than 13% of single men.
The report utilized data from the United States Census Bureau's 2017 American Community Survey, defining single homeowners as single men or women who live in owner-occupied homes.

Check out the full story here:
www.housingwire.com/articles/47684-single-women-outpace-single-men-on-the-path-to-homeownership

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​Source:  Market Watch

As 2018 winds to a close, the housing market has shown signs of a slowdown, and now the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates. So what does that mean for those in the market to buy a home?
Throughout this year, observers have begun to speculate that the country’s housing market may have hit its peak. Meanwhile, millions of Americans continue to wait on the sidelines. Housing inventory remains incredibly tight, meaning that buying a home is a very expensive and difficult proposition for many. At the same time, expensive rents and low wages have constrained people’s ability to save up for a down payment.
And 2019 appears set to bring more of the same. “I would still rather be a seller than a buyer next year,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at real-estate website Realtor.com.
Check out the full story here:
www.marketwatch.com/story/why-2019-wont-lead-to-a-home-buyers-market-2018-11-28?dist=realestate    

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​​Source:  Curbed Los Angeles, Elijah Chlland

While millions of Los Angeles residents struggle to pay for basic needs like food and housing, a handful of wealthy homebuyers are making the urban area one of the world’s most desirable real estate destinations for the world’s richest residents, according to a new report from Knight Frank.
The global real estate firm finds that the LA area is one of just 17 “ultra-prime” residential markets worldwide, where homes regularly sell for eight-figure amounts.
By Knight Frank’s reckoning, a market can only be described as “ultra-prime” if at least three homes there have sold for more than $25 million in each of the past three years.
Not all that long ago, a sale that costly could have broken local records, but home sales above $25 million have become routine in recent years. According to the report, 51 LA homes have sold for that much since 2015, with 18 selling in 2017 alone.
And that doesn’t even include the 12 homes that have sold for more than $25 million in Malibu since 2015 (Malibu was treated as its own market in the report, and also made the list of 17 ultra-prime destinations).
Los Angeles was one of five American real estate markets included on the list. The others were New York City, Malibu, Palm Beach, and Aspen.

Check out the full story here:
la.curbed.com/2018/12/12/18138017/los-angeles-world-most-expensive-cities-houses

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Source:  Housing Wire

According to a report by Zillow, the average time it takes for owning a typical U.S. home to make more financial sense than renting that same home is down about one month over the last quarter.  The new average is 1.96 years.  That means it would take roughly one year and 11 months for it to make more sense to own a home in the U.S. than to rent that same home.

Not surprisingly, break-even horizons are longest in expensive coastal markets like Los Angeles, Portland and Washington D.C.  This translates to a roughly two to three-year break-even horizon.  Los Angeles has the longest break-even horizon at 3.7 years.

The shortest break-even horizons are in the Southeast, with Memphis taking first place at 1.32 years.  Birmingham, Tampa and Orlando are other markets with notably short break-even horizons.

Check out the full story here:
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/43426-zillow-rent-vs-buy-breakeven-point-falls-by-a-month-in-q1

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Source:  CAL Matters

Plenty of workers still move West each year for a new job in California.  But the state's high cost of housing may be deterring many other job seekers from moving into the state.

Business leaders up and down the state say California's expensive housing makes it challenging to recruit new workers - and to keep existing employees here.

"You're competing, now, with a low unemployment rate in California, and people have options," said Mary Leslie, president of the Los Angeles Business Council.  In April, the state's unemployment rate hit a record low of 4.2 percent.

"If we don't have the affordable housing, we're not as competitive," Leslie said.

Job recruiters see California's housing crisis from both sides.  They work with employers feeling pressure to raise wages, and they talk with job seekers scared off by median home prices that top $1 million in parts of the Bay Area, and over $500,000 in Los Angeles and San Diego counties.

Check out the full story here:
https://calmatters.org/articles/is-californias-high-cost-of-housing-scaring-off-job-seekers/

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Source:  The Orange County Register

Home prices and sales increased last month in Southern California and across the state, with median house prices hitting their highest levels since the summer of 2007, the California Association of REALTORS reported.

The median price of an existing Southern California house - or price at the midpoint of all sales - was $515,000 for a second straight month in April.  That's the highest median for the region in more than a decade.

The Southern California house price rose $35,000, or 7.3 percent, since April a year ago.

Statewide, the median sale price was $584,000, also a post-recession high and up 8.6 percent year over year.

House sales were up slightly from year-ago levels, rising 1.6 percent in Southern Californiak and 2.2 percent in the state as a whole.

Check out the full story here:
https://www.ocregister.com/2018/05/17/southern-california-house-prices-up-7-3-percent-in-april-realtors-report/

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Source:  CNBC

Today's home-buyers don't need another headwind.  They're already facing one of the tightest, most competitive housing markets in history, with home prices rising far faster than incomes, mortgage rates climbing and the supply of homes for sale continuing to shrink.

Now add higher gas prices to the toxic mix.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas is up 60 cents compared with a year ago, according to AAA.

While there is no specific data on how they correlate specifically to home sales or prices, gas prices definitely play into consumer confidence about personal finances - both going up and coming down.  When prices fell heading into 2015, some claimed that was a boost to the housing market.

At the time, analysts at Deutsche Bank estimated that the 23 percent decline in gas prices added about $100 in monthly income for the average American.  That, in turn, translated to an 11 percent boost in purchasing power on a starter home.

Check out the full story here:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/24/higher-gas-prices-could-hurt-home-sales.html

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