Millennials: They ARE Buying & Selling Houses

Courtesy of Keeping Current Matters/the KCM Blog


A recent study by the National Association of Realtors, Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends, revealed that Millennials are a much higher percentage of the overall housing market than the public may realize. Here are the breakdowns:

BUYERS

SELLERS

Bottom Line

Contrary to what many believe, Millennials make up the largest percentage of all buyers and a substantial percentage of all sellers.

Highlights of National Association of REALTORS® Report:

• Gen Y comprises the largest share of home buyers at 31 percent, followed by Gen X at 30 percent, and both Younger (16 percent) and Older Boomers (14 percent) at 30 percent. The Silent Generation has the smallest share of home buyers at nine percent.
• Gen Y has the largest share of first-time buyers at 76 percent. The share of first-time buyers declines as age increases. Among the Silent Generation only two percent of buyers are first-time buyers.
• Among all generations of home buyers the first step in the home buying process is looking online for properties for sale. Gen Y is most likely among generations to also look online for information about the home buying process, while the Silent Generation is most likely to contact a real estate agent.
• More than half of Gen Y and Gen X buyers used a mobile device during their home search. Among those who did, 26 percent of Gen Y and 22 percent of Gen X found the home they ultimately purchased via a mobile device.
• Younger buyers were predominately referred to their agent through a friend, neighbor, or relative, while older buyers were more likely to use an agent again that they previously used to buy or sell a home.
• Overall 88 percent of recent buyers financed their home purchase. Nearly all (97 percent) of Gen Y buyers financed compared to just 55 percent of Silent Generation buyers.
• Among the generations, Gen X (29 percent) is the largest group who are recent home sellers followed by both Older Boomers (22 percent) and Younger Boomers (21 percent).
• Younger sellers are more likely to use the same real estate agent or broker for their home purchase than older sellers, as they are typically moving closer to their previous residence.

Banks are offering home-equity loans again

Source: AZCentral/The Arizona Republic
Article by Catherine Reagor
June 20, 2014

Home values have recovered enough for banks to begin offering home-equity loans again. It pays to be informed before you sign up for one.

Those offers from lenders are starting to arrive in the mail to metro Phoenix homeowners again. The area's home values have recovered enough for banks to begin offering home-equity loans.
The number of home-equity loans climbed 20 percent last year compared with 2012, the biggest increase since the housing crash, according to financial research firms Equifax and Moodys. U.S. homeowners signed up to tap more than $92 billion in equity during 2014. Lenders say the upward trend continues this year.

Metro Phoenix's home values are up more than 65 percent from the crash, and only 20.6 percent, or about 186,500 Valley homeowners, now are underwater, according to real-estate research firm CoreLogic.

During the crash's low point for home prices in 2011, nearly 50 percent of Phoenix-area homeowners owed more on their mortgage then their home was worth.

Banks trying to drum up more revenue are offering more home-equity loans or credit lines but so far are being much more cautious about the terms. A decade ago, borrowers could take out home-equity loans, also known as second mortgages, for as much as 125 percent of their house's value. A lot of homeowners defaulted on those loans during the crash.

When home prices started falling in the Valley during 2009, many homeowners had their home-equity lines yanked or reduced by lenders and were left without funds they had counted on to pay for college, trips, cars and investment houses.

Now most banks are offering deals to allow consumers with good credit to borrow as much as 85 percent of their house's value.

Most borrowers now are using home-equity financing to fix up their houses, which likely will improve their value.

If a home-equity offer tempts you, here are some tips and facts:
• Most home-equity loans have fixed rates and terms that usually span 10 to 15 years.
• Home-equity lines of credit, called HELOCs in the financial industry, can have variable rates, and that means required payments can go up and down.
• Watch out for balloon payments.
• Typically, home-equity loans are approved more quickly than regular mortgages.
• Check out rates at credit unions as you shop for the best deal.
• And, of course, monthly payments are required.

Reach the reporter at catherine.reagor@arizonarepublic.com.

Daily Observation by Michael Orr

Courtesy of Michael Orr / The Cromford Report

Michael Orr, Director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University shares this Observation today... 
 

June 23 - Currently Greater Phoenix homes buyers and sellers seem to have all the enthusiasm of English football supporters at the World Cup. Supply, demand and the spirit of English football are all well below normal and still going down.

Usually when demand is weakening, supply increases, so exacerbating problems for sellers. Since April, the rate of new listings being added has instead been dropping and so far during the second quarter new listings have totalled 27,068 which is 0.7% below the same period in 2013. Meanwhile demand has been bumbling along well below normal and showing little sign of building any momentum. In summary we have a subdued and quiet market for single family and condo purchasing, while rentals and multi-family development are getting the bulk of the attention.

Although there are a few signs here and there of lenders cautiously easing underwriting restrictions, the changes are only small and slow to happen and therefore having only a minor impact on demand. Home Equity Lines of Credit are back in fashion again having been unmentionable a couple of years ago. Mind you, a lot of homeowners still have little to no equity to draw on. Those who purchased between 2009 and 2012 are in the best position to be able to use their home as collateral for a loan.

4 Reasons to Buy Your Home Now!

Courtesy of Keeping Current Matters/The KCM Blog

Posted: 09 Jun 2014 04:00 AM PDT

Here are four great reasons to consider buying a home today, instead of waiting.

1. Prices Will Continue to Rise

The Home Price Expectation Survey polls a distinguished panel of over 100 economists, investment strategists, and housing market analysts. Their most recent report projects appreciation in home values over the next five years to be between 30.8% (most optimistic) and 9.4% (most pessimistic).

The bottom in home prices has come and gone. Home values will continue to appreciate for years. Waiting no longer makes sense.

2. Mortgage Interest Rates Are Increasing

Although Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows that interest rates for a 30-year mortgage have softened recently, most experts predict that they will begin to rise later this year. The Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the National Association of Realtors are in unison; projecting that rates will be up almost a full percentage point by the end of next year.

An increase in rates will impact YOUR monthly mortgage payment. Your housing expense will be more a year from now if a mortgage is necessary to purchase your next home.

3. Either Way, You are Paying a Mortgage

As a recent paper from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University explains:

“Households must consume housing whether they own or rent. Not even accounting for more favorable tax treatment of owning, homeowners pay debt service to pay down their own principal while households that rent pay down the principal of a landlord plus a rate of return. That’s yet another reason owning often does—as Americans intuit—end up making more financial sense than renting.”

4. It’s Time to Move On with Your Life

The ‘cost’ of a home is determined by two major components: the price of the home and the current mortgage rate. It appears that both are on the rise.

But, what if they weren’t? Would you wait?
Look at the actual reason you are buying and decide whether it is worth waiting. Whether you want to have a great place for your children to grow up, you want your family to be safer, or you just want to have control over renovations, maybe it is time to buy.
If the right thing for you and your family is to purchase a home this year, buying sooner rather than later could lead to substantial savings.

70th Anniversary of D-Day Invasion

"On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end, the Allies gained a foot-hold in Continental Europe. The cost in lives on D-Day was high. More than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded, but their sacrifice allowed more than 100,000 Soldiers to begin the slow, hard slog across Europe, to defeat Adolph Hitler’s crack troops." 
- http://www.army.mil/d-day/

Just a few days ago I found a treasure stuck in my old college beer mug... don't know when I put it there or why I didn't treat it with greater honor, but, as it began to crumble in my hands, I realized that I needed to do something to save it. It's a well-worn calendar page that my father saved from June 6, 1944. My dad was a hard-working immigrant who spoke no English when he arrived in the United States in 1930. He loved his new country and was very proud to become an American citizen. Obviously, he recognized the historical significance of D-Day, as he saved this calendar page with a note on the back that read: "The Day. Good Luck."

On this 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, let us take a moment to remember all those who served and all who left their blood on foreign soil so that the forces of evil would be defeated.

President Roosevelt's D-Day Speech: CLICK HERE

Cromford Report/Stats for PV and Scottsdale/Luxury Market & NE Valley Updates

Please visit my website, pookbellini.com, for the following information...

• The Cromford Report® Market Summary for the beginning of June
• The latest stats for PV and Scottsdale 
• Latest updates for the Luxury Market and the NE Valley

This information can be found by clicking on the appropriate pages at the top of the homepage. 

Memorial Day 2014

As we enjoy time with family and friends on this Memorial Day, let us be sure to take time to honor the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms we cherish.

And, as we remember those who died in service to our country, let us give thanks to those who are serving now and to all our Veterans for their past service to our country. 
 

All gave some... some gave all.

  

Memorial Day History 
American Widow Project  
The Origin of Sounding Taps 
You Tube Rememberance:  Buglers at Arlington National Cemetery

Below is a Short History of Memorial Day, Courtesy of The History Channel...
http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history

Early Observances of Memorial Day

The Civil War claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history, requiring the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries. By the late 1860s Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.

Did You Know?  Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time.

It is unclear where exactly this tradition originated; numerous different communities may have independently initiated the memorial gatherings. Nevertheless, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—was chosen because it hosted an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

Decoration Day

On May 5, 1862, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there. Many Northern states held similar commemorative events and reprised the tradition in subsequent years; by 1890 each one had made Decoration Day an official state holiday. Many Southern states, on the other hand, continued to honor their dead on separate days until after World War I.

Evolution of Memorial Day

Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars.

For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees; the change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.