Tag Archives: housing market

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Job Growth to Drive 2014 Housing Market

The housing recovery is expected to remain strong in the new year, driven by economic growth and an improving employment picture, economists say.

In fact, job growth likely will be one key to driving housing growth in the new year. An estimated 2 million or more jobs will be created in 2014, predicts Lawrence Yun, National Association of REALTORS(R)’ chief economist.

As employment picks up, greater demand for housing is expected to occur and a surge in homebuilding activity. Celia Chen, housing economist at Moody’s Analytic, predicts a “homebuilding boom” in 2014 that will spark even more jobs — from construction workers to manufacturers — and bring about greater demand for housing overall.

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Top 10 Housing Bets for Investors

US

Investments in single-family homes for rental properties will remain an attractive venture in many markets in the new year, says Ingo Winzer, president of Local Market Monitor. Winzer notes that Texas and Oklahoma offer some of the best bets “with their low unemployment rates and ability to profit for years from new shale oil and gas development.”

Local Market Monitor and HomeVestors, an investment company that brands itself “We buy ugly houses,” named the following top 10 housing markets for investing in single-family homes for 2014. All of these markets have posted strong appreciation in the past year but are still underpriced by up to 28 percent.

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Boomerang Buyers Expected to Boost Recovery in the New Year

Housing foreclosure authorities LoanSafe.org and YouWalkAway.com have created a new website to help people re-enter the housing market after having been through a previous foreclosure. The website is called AfterForeclosure.com and helps those most affected by the housing crisis take charge of their financial future and own their own home again.

Based on a poll of their combined members, LoanSafe.org and AfterForeclosure.com are confident that these potential buyers will make 2014 the year of the “boomerang” buyer.

Changes in lending guidelines and population shifts make these buyers essential to the recovery of the housing market. Jon Maddux, co-founder of AfterForeclosure.com says: “Alienating this large and growing pool of potential buyers does not bode well for the market in an environment where natural housing advancement has been largely disrupted.”

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Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Climb by Most in Seven Years

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Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose in October from a year ago by the most in more than seven years, signaling the real-estate rebound will keep bolstering household wealth in 2014.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property prices in 20 cities climbed 13.6 percent from October 2012, the biggest 12-month gain since February 2006, after a 13.3 percent increase in the year ended in September, a report from the group showed today in New York. The median projection of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 13.5 percent advance.

A dwindling inventory of foreclosed properties has helped restrict the supply of homes for sale, pushing up prices even as higher mortgage rates cool demand. The real-estate market will probably get its next boost from gains in employment that are lifting consumer confidence in the economic expansion.

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Housing Predictions: How 2014 Will Be Different

Neighborhood

What should you expect for next year’s housing market? Trulia’s Chief Economist, Jed Kolko, dipped into the data to find out. Check out his predictions for the 5 ways that the 2014 housing market will be different from 2013, as well as the top 10 cities to watch as we enter the new year.

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Predictions for the New Year

The coming year is expected to be a little kinder to home buyers. While affordability will continue to be a problem in hot markets like New York and San Francisco, buyers in general may find they have more homes to choose from and more lenders vying for their business.

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NAR Chief Economist Reveals 2014 Predictions

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Speaking at the 2013 Realtors Conference & Expo earlier this month, National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist Lawrence Yun predicted steadiness in existing-home sales over the next year as prices continue to ascend.

Over the past two years, Yun says existing-home sales have shown a 20 percent cumulative increase, while prices have gained 18 percent. Meanwhile, incomes have only barely risen, coming up somewhere between 2-4 percent.

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Experts Shoot Down Housing Bubble Warnings

Several experts at a conference in Miami a couple weeks ago called into question economist Robert Shiller’s recent comments that the housing market was starting to look “a little bubbly.” Shiller, who co-developed the S&P/Case-Shiller Composite 10 Home Price Index, has said he’s concerned some markets across the country may be over-correcting and starting to resemble a housing bubble.

However, a group of housing experts disagreed during the ABS East 2013 conference. Price appreciation is slowing, says Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist. Fleming says that the rapid growth in appreciation in previous months was a correction after an overshoot in prices falling during the housing crisis.

“We are certainly not in a housing bubble,” added Laurie Goodman, who heads the Urban Institute.

Even if interest rates continue to move higher, the housing market would still be OK, say Goodman and Fleming. Goodman says that even with a 6 percent interest rate, affordability would remain at 2000-2003 levels.

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Realty Researcher Expects Housing Rebound to Continue

Money

In a series of weekly blogs, analysts from John Burns Real Estate Consulting remain mostly optimistic about the housing rebound, but raised caution flags about flippers.

“We are advising our clients in areas with a high percentage of flippers to take into account the risk of artificial price appreciation,” stated a company vice president. “While successful flips are more likely to be reported than unsuccessful ones, the profits described to the public wildly surpass the reality of the recovering market.”

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Housing Activity “speeding along,” but Pace Slowing as Seasons Change

September tested the housing market’s resilience around Western Washington with fluctuating mortgage rates, record-setting rains, and persistent inventory shortages in some areas. By month’s end, however, both pending and closed sales outgained the same period a year ago, according to the latest figures from Northwest Multiple Listing Service earlier this month.

Prices also increased compared to 12 months ago, but fell slightly from the previous month. Year-to-date figures through nine months show prices for homes and condominiums that have sold in the 21 counties served by the MLS are up 12 percent from a year ago.

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