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Homes in the Rental Housing Stock | Cross River Real Estate

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While renting a home is often associated exclusively with apartment living, there are many types of homes in the rental housing stock. Renting a home, regardless of structure type, can provide a housing option for individuals and families who are on a budget, saving to purchase a home, or who expect to change locations in the near-term. And while builders have accelerated their pace of multifamily construction to meet rising rental demand, it is useful to understand the composition of the current rental housing stock.

Based on the Census Bureau’s 2013 American Housing Survey, the rental stock increased 1. 4 million from 2011 to 2013 to a total of 40 million residences. Contrary to popular expectations, most rental homes are smaller properties, single-family homes and multifamily buildings with 2 to 4 units.

Single-family detached homes made up the largest individual share of the rental housing stock, 29 percent of the entire rental market in 2013. Combining that portion of the market with the share of townhomes (single-family attached), all single-family residences accounted for 35 percent of the occupied rental stock.

The second largest share of rental stock was multifamily homes with 2 to 4 units (19 percent).

Slide1

It is the case that rental housing tends to be located in urban areas. 85 percent of rental homes were located in metropolitan areas (MSAs), with 43 percent in central cities and 42 percent in suburbs. Multifamily dominated the housing rental market in both central cities and suburbs, largely due to the high land costs. Single-family rental homes were most popular in non-metropolitan areas.

Slide2

The share of rental homes increased moderately almost across all structure types from 2011 to 2013, except for townhomes. The rental share of single-family homes, including both detached and townhome rental properties, increased three percent from 2011 to 2013, compared to only a one percent increase in multifamily rental share. However, the increase for single-family rental inventory was not due to initially built-for-rent purposes, but came from formerly owner-occupied to rental homes.

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2015/09/what-kind-of-homes-are-in-the-rental-housing-stock-2/

U.S. Home Prices Remain Flat in June, Case-Shiller Says | Cross River Real Estate

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U.S. home price growth remained largely flat in June, according to a report released Tuesday, a further indication that the housing market is holding steady after years of turbulence.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, covering the entire nation, rose 4.5% in the 12 months ended in June, slightly greater than a 4.4% increase in May.

The 10-city index saw a slightly lower gain of 4.6% from a year earlier, compared with a 4.7% increase in May. The 20-city index gained 5% year-over-year, compared with a 4.9% increase in May.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected a 5% increase to the 20-city index.

This month’s Case-Shiller numbers are being closely watched after Monday’s stock market plunge has some investors eyeing real estate as a more stable investment. Another important indicator, sales of new homes in July, is also set to be released Tuesday.

But economists cautioned that the report reflects the state of the housing market a couple of months ago. It doesn’t take into account whether there will be any impact from the latest market news.

“If you’re uncertain about the economy you’re not going to take your money and buy a house,” said Steve Blitz, chief economist at ITG Investment Research. “It’s just a question mark that we didn’t have before.”

David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, pointed to a major stock market drop as one potential factor that could cool off the housing market in the coming months.

“A stock market correction is unlikely to do much damage to the housing market,” he said. “A full-blown bear market dropping more than 20% could present some difficulties for housing and other economic sectors.”

Month-over-month home price gains were modest, according to the report. Not seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Index rose 1% from May to June. The 10-city and 20-city indexes saw a 0.9% and 1% change over the month respectively.

 

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http://www.wsj.com/articles/home-prices-remains-flat-in-june-case-shiller-says-1440507733

Mortgage Rates average 3.94% | Cross River Realtor

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Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates reversing course and nudging higher for the first time in four weeks.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.94 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending August 13, 2015, up from last week when it averaged 3.91 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.12 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.17 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.13 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.24 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.93 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.95 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.97 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.62 percent this week with an average 0.3 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.54 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.36 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for theRegional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quote
Attributed to Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“The jobs report for July showed that the economy added 215,000 jobs, in line with expectations. Wage growth remains modest at 2.1 percent compared to the same time last year, and another solid if not stellar employment report leaves a potential Fed rate hike on the table for September. However, this year’s theme of overseas economic turbulence continues with the focus shifting east to China. Over the past few days the Chinese Yuan has fallen sharply. In the midst of these mixed data mortgage rates inched up, increasing 3 basis points to 3.94 percent. Headed into the fall, we’ll likely see continued interest rate tension, with dollar appreciation weighing against possible Fed rate hikes leaving the rate outlook clouded.”

Home Prices are now only 6.5 Percent below Peak | Cross River Real Estate

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In terms of national averages, the recovery has raised prices within a hair of their highest peaks reached during the boom nearly ten years ago, but on a market-by-market basis, median prices in fewer than half of the nation’s larger markets have fully rebounded from the housing crash.

At $251,000, US home prices are now just 6.5 percent off June 2006 peak of $268,000, and up over 25 percent from the market”s bottom, according to May data released today by Black Knight Financial Services.  Black Knight reported that its HPI index rose 1.1 percent in May over April and 5.1 percent over May 2014.

However, on a market-by-market basis, only 47 percent of the nation’s top 300 markets have met or exceeded their peaks in 2007. Homes.com, which tracks price rebounds by market, reported that in May 139 of the nation’s 300 largest markets had achieved full price recovery.

Homes.com reported that:

  • Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (115.17% rebound percentage), Austin-Round Rock, TX (113.15%), and Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO (113.04%) led the nation’s top 100 markets  in rebound percentage in May.  In fact, nine of the top ten leading rebound markets were in the West.
  • Three of the nation’s beste online casino largest markets had at least a 7% increase yearly while seven markets had an annual percentage increase of at least 6%. Five markets are from California which is the most from a single state.
  • The West was home to nine of the top ten markets achieving the greatest year over year price appreciation in May.

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http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/07/home-prices-only-6-5-percent-below-peak/

Homeownership rate drops to 48-year low | Cross River Real Estate

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The homeownership rate in the United States in the second quarter declined to 63.4%, the lowest it has been since 1967, according to data from the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau.

Further, the steady decline since 2009 continues.

Click to enlarge

(Source: Census Bureau)

On a quarterly basis, the rate was 1.3 percentage points (+/-0.4) lower than the second quarter 2014 rate (64.7%) and 0.4 percentage points (+/-0.4) lower than the rate last quarter (63.7%).

For the second quarter 2015, the homeownership rates were highest in the Midwest (68.4%) and lowest in the West (58.5%). The homeownership rates in the Northeast, Midwest, South and West were lower than the rates in the second quarter 2014.

Click to enlarge

(Source: Census Bureau)

National vacancy rates in the second quarter 2015 were 6.8% for rental housing and 1.8% for homeowner housing.

“The flipside of such strong rental demand is that the homeownership rate fell once again in the second quarter,” said Ed Stansfield, chief property economist at Capital Economics. “This suggests that homeownership has not kept pace with the cyclical rebound in household formation which is now underway, and gives weight to the idea that first-time buyers in particular are still struggling to gain a foothold in the market.

“However, foreclosure rates are declining steadily, employment and incomes are growing at a healthy pace and credit conditions are gradually loosening,” Stansfield said. “What’s more, there is no evidence of a fundamental shift in homeownership aspirations. Accordingly, we expect that the homeownership rate will soon find a floor.”

 

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http://www.housingwire.com/articles/34596-homeownership-rate-drops-to-48-year-low

Why Our Credit Scores Are Improving | Cross River Real Estate

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As of March 2015, credit scores have never been higher! In fact, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that the average credit score was 699. It is even predicted that if present trends continue, the average credit score could cross the 700 threshold within coming months.
The increase in the average credit score can benefit consumers by increasing their flow of credit. This in turn encourages more people to apply for new credit. Additionally, with increasing scores, banks are more willing to lend to the consumer.
Before 2008, getting approved for a new line of credit or for a loan from a bank was relatively easy. However, after the banking crisis, this ‘easy credit’ that consumers were so used to changed drastically. Banks were no longer willing to give out loans unless borrowers had a stable income they could document and could afford the loan they were applying for. This forced consumers to reduce their bad debt by deleveraging and to start paying attention to how credit scores work.
Some articles suggest that increasing credit scores are due to time frames that have gone by since the banking crisis. A recent article in Forbes stated that since the crisis occurred in 2008 and negative information on credit comes off after 7 years, this is why credit scores will continue to rise. There may be a certain amount of individuals that have seen higher scores due to time passing from the crisis, but many began experiencing losses years after the crisis hit and continued to have damaged credit. Individuals lost employment as well as their homes over many years, so it is highly doubtful that scores are on the rise due to the time passing from the banking crisis and the time frames for negative information to remain on credit.
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Rotterdam to consider trialling plastic roads | Cross River Real Estate

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Dutch city could be first to pave its streets with recycled plastic bottles, a surface claimed to be greener, quicker to lay and more reliable than asphalt

Plans unveiled for recycled plastic roads are being considered by Rotterdam city council.
Plans unveiled for recycled plastic roads are being considered by Rotterdam city council. 

 

The Netherlands could become the first country to pave its streetswith plastic bottles after Rotterdam city council said it was considering piloting a new type of road surface touted by its creators as a greener alternative to asphalt.

The construction firm VolkerWessels unveiled plans on Friday for a surface made entirely from recycled plastic, which it said required less maintenance than asphalt and could withstand greater extremes of temperature– between -40C and 80C. Roads could be laid in a matter of weeks rather than months and last about three times as long, it claimed.

The company said the environmental argument was also strong as asphalt is responsible for 1.6m tons of CO2 emissions a year globally – 2% of all road transport emissions.

Rolf Mars, the director of VolkerWessels’ roads subdivision, KWS Infra, said: “Plastic offers all kinds of advantages compared to current road construction, both in laying the roads and maintenance.”

The plastic roads are lighter, reducing the load on the ground, and hollow, making it easier to install cables and utility pipelines below the surface.

Sections can be prefabricated in a factory and transported to where they are needed, reducing on-site construction, while the shorter construction time and low maintenance will mean less congestion caused by roadworks. Lighter materials can also be transported more efficiently.

Mars said the PlasticRoad project was still at the conceptual stage, but the company hopes to be able to put down the first fully recycled thoroughfare within three years. Rotterdam, a keen supporter of sustainable technology, has already signalled its interest in running a trial.

Jaap Peters, from the city council’s engineering bureau, said: “We’re very positive towards the developments around PlasticRoad. Rotterdam is a city that is open to experiments and innovative adaptations in practice. We have a ‘street lab’ available where innovations like this can be tested.”

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/10/rotterdam-plastic-roads-trial-netherlands

Employment Situation in June for Housing | Cross River Real Estate

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Strong job gains in April and May were revised downward by 60 thousand and the unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points based on a reversal of the labor market expansion in May. Overall, the employment situation in June was decent, but the recovery from the weakness in March was less vibrant than originally estimated.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that payroll employment expanded by 223 thousand in June. This brings average monthly payroll gains to 208 thousand in the first half of 2015 compared to 239 thousand in the first half of 2014 and 260 thousand for all of 2014. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.3% in June from 5.5% in May despite a decline in employed persons in the household survey and based on a reduction in the labor force of 432 thousand. The labor force expanded by 397 thousand in May.

blog emp 2015_06

 

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2015/07/

Mortgage Rates Average 4.02% | Cross River Real Estate

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Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey(R) (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates little changed from the previous week amid reports of the U.S. housing market strengthening.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.02 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 25, 2015, up from last week when it averaged 4.00 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.14 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.21 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.23 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.22 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.98 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.00 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.98 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.50 percent this week with an average 0.3 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.53 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.40 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for theRegional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quote
Attributed to Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates were little changed this week. The rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 4.02 percent, an increase of just 2 basis points from the previous week. Economic releases confirmed increasing strength in housing. Existing home sales increased 5.1 percent in May to an annual pace of 5.35 million units and new home sales increased 2.2 percent to an annual pace of 546,000 units. Buyers appear anxious to purchase homes before the expected increase in interest rates later this year. Given the tight inventory of homes for sale, a 5.1-month supply at the current sales pace, home prices are being bid up.”

Mortgage Rates at 4% | Cross River Real Estate

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Freddia Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates moving lower from the previous week’s new highs for 2015 while housing data was generally positive.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.00 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 18, 2015, down from last week when it averaged 4.04 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.17 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.23 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.25 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.30 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.53 percent this week with an average 0.2 point, unchanged from last week. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.41 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for theRegional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quotes
Attributed to Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates were down this week while housing data were generally positive. Although housing starts dropped 11.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted pace of 1.04 million units in May, housing permits surged 11.8 percent to its highest level since August 2007. Reinforcing this positive momentum, the NAHB housing market index rose 5 points in June, suggesting home builders are very optimistic about home sales in the near future.”