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☆ Homeownership gap between Black and White owners is worse now than a decade ago
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The Black homeownership rate saw a modest annual uptick to 44.1% in 2022 from 44% in 2021, but remains significantly behind the White homeownership rate of 72%, the report found. A stubborn racial homeownership gapEven with some improvement in the Black homeownership rate, the change has done little to close the yawning gap between Black and White homeownership. Over the past decade, the gap between the two groups’ homeownership rates has worsened, expanding from 27 points to 28 points. Other states with high Black homeownership rates include South Carolina and Delaware, each at 55%. Plus, the median household income for Black Americans was $47,800 in 2022, while the median income for White Americans was $75,700.

Persons: Sharan White, Jenkins, “, ”, ” White, Black, homeownership, Jessica Lautz, Black homebuyers, ” Lautz Organizations: DC CNN, National Association of Realtors, American, Survey, Census Bureau, NAR, Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, Black, White Locations: Washington, Jamaica, Queens, New York City, Virginia, Brooklyn, Queens , New York, Wyoming, North Dakota, Mississippi, Black, South Carolina, Delaware

☆ The housing market capped off its worst year of sales since 1995. Here's how affordability, inventory, and demographics have changed in 3 decades.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewHigh mortgage rates, lofty prices, and low inventory kept the US housing largely frozen in 2023, and home sales slumped to their lowest mark since 1995. Current owners have been reluctant to move off lower mortgage rates secured in prior years, stifling both buying and selling activity. AdvertisementAnd it's worth noting that even as mortgage rates in both years hovered around 7%, affordability has still worsened by a significant margin. NAR deputy chief economist Jessica Lautz highlighted in a note Monday that incomes have less power today compared to decades ago, as reflected in the real estate group's Housing Affordability Index. National Association of Realtors"All these factors have changed dramatically with limited housing inventory and the continual rise in home prices," she continued.

Persons: —, it's, hasn't, Jessica Lautz, Lautz, Zillow, Redfin Organizations: Service, Business, National Association of Realtors, NAR, National Association of Home Builders

☆ Here are the top 10 hottest housing markets in 2024 — and why you may consider other options
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Ana Teresa Solá | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Buffalo, New York, made the top of the list, as the area is slated to see increased job growth compared with the number of approved construction permits for new homes. The list is based on an analysis of home value appreciation, how long it takes to sell a home and job growth relative to housing supply. What a 'hot' market means for buyers"Market heat" refers to the level of competition among buyers; when you have more buyers than sellers, you have a hot market, Divounguy said. "They're looking into warmer areas, favorable tax conditions and better housing affordability." Where the housing market is cooling

Persons: Grace Cary, Orphe Divounguy, Divounguy, Jessica Lautz Organizations: Finance, National Association of Realtors Locations: South, Northeast, Midwest, Buffalo , New York, Florida

☆ Move over, millennials: Gen Zers are coming for boomers' houses
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

After all their economic misfortune, they'll still face a turbulent housing market and potentially tens of thousands of dollars' worth of necessary updates to boomers' aging houses. In his 2022 paper, "Who will buy the baby boomers' homes when they leave them? ", Engelhardt argued that mass aging would send ripples through the housing market but fail to push down prices significantly. After that point, demand for home purchases will once again outpace supply as millennials buy more homes and younger generations, like Gen Z and Gen Alpha, file in behind them. The timing of boomers' exit will mostly benefit younger generations, like Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who should find themselves on steadier footing than their predecessors.

Persons: Xers, they've, Zers, they'll, Odeta Kushi, Kushi, Gary Engelhardt, Engelhardt, Issi Romem, Meredith Whitney, Boomers, Gen Zers —, Gen, who've, millennials, boomers, Jessica Lautz, Nicole Bachaud, They've, Redfin, Alpha, they're, Lautz, savvier, Zoomers, James Rodriguez Organizations: millennials, Syracuse University, Boomers, Federal Reserve, Alpha, National Association of Realtors Locations: granny, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas

☆ A city famous for its beaches is helping residents age in place. What to know if you want to stay in your home
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

About 10,000 baby boomers are expected to turn age 65 every day until 2030. An estimated 70% of those individuals will need long-term care services at some point, according to Genworth Financial. 'Forever grateful' for communitySylvia Bradshaw, an 84-year-old Laguna Beach resident who moved to the city in 1983, describes it as "paradise." "Anything that I've needed, I've gotten help," Bradshaw said. That has included help sorting through insurance choices, legal advice, transportation assistance and classes and social events, said John Bradshaw, Sylvia's son.

Persons: Laguna Beach , California Luciano Lejtman, Jessica Lautz, Lautz, Sylvia Bradshaw, Bradshaw, it's, Redman, I've, John Bradshaw, Sylvia's, John, Carolyn McClanahan, McClanahan, Tom West Organizations: Getty, National Association of Realtors, Laguna Beach, Planning Partners, Signature Estate, Investment Advisors Locations: Laguna Beach , California, Laguna, Ireland, Laguna Beach, Jacksonville , Florida, Tysons Corner , Virginia

☆ How much the typical first-time home buyer puts toward a down payment and where they get the money
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The typical first-time home buyer made a down payment of 8% and relied on their savings to do so. Why has the typical down payment for first-time buyers reached an over two-decade high when the housing market is so expensive? In part, it's because wealthier first-time buyers — who can more easily afford a higher down payment — have been particularly active in the housing market. In 2023, the typical first-time homebuyer had a household income of $96,000, up from $71,000 in 2022. Last year, the share of first-time homebuyers reached 26% , the lowest level since the survey began in 1981.

Persons: —, homebuyer, Jessica Lautz, it's, homebuyers Organizations: Service, National Association of, NAR

☆ Baby boomers got rich off real estate and they are in perfect position to do it again
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Cork Gaines | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Nearly one-fourth of that was built through real estate equity. With less pressure from interest rates, they can take advantage of the current real estate market, too. They're also in the perfect position to help themselves by taking advantage of the current real estate market. However, boomers can make stronger bids on homes for sale because of their savings and real estate equity. AdvertisementMeanwhile, more than one-third of house purchases in September were all-cash, according to the real estate broker RedFin.

Persons: —, They're, Jessica Lautz, RedFin, Jeremy Grantham, Grantham, David Rosenberg, Rosenberg, Merrill Lynch Organizations: Service, National Association of Realtors, NAR, Brigade, Census Bureau, Federal, Rosenberg Research, North, Federal Reserve Locations: North American

☆ Here’s how much you need to make to afford a home in America
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“First-time buyers tiptoed back into the market this year with less competition and fewer multiple-offer scenarios,” said Lautz. The age of the typical repeat buyer also dropped slightly to 58 from an all-time high of 59 last year. In comparison, the typical downpayment for repeat buyers was 19%, which is the highest share since 2005, when the typical downpayment was 21%. First-time buyers increased their reliance on financial assets this year, which grew to 24% from 20% last year. Of recent homebuyers, 7% were Latino, 7% were Black, 6% were Asian or Pacific Islander and 6% identified as some other race.

Persons: ”, Jessica Lautz, today’s, homebuyers, downpayment, Homebuyers, “ Organizations: DC CNN, National Association of Realtors, Census Locations: Washington, United, United States

☆ US second home sales slide in pandemic-era vacation hot spots
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Amina Niasse | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

And as secondary home activity dwindles, some smaller housing-related businesses in leisure hot spots say they are feeling the pinch as well. “Services for existing rentals has grown, but services for larger ticket remodeling work on new vacation rentals has stopped," said Tim Allen, owner of Kopa Home Services, based in Flagstaff, Arizona. Allen has had to decrease unit prices in his separate vacation rental business, Local Vacation Team, to keep occupancy figures above market. For Flagstaff, that figure is 14%, according to data from AirDNA, a short-term rental data provider. "With the acceleration of the creation of vacation rentals during the pandemic, now if visitors are at 1,000, there are 3,000 rentals available,” he said.

Persons: Kevin Lamarque, ”, Chuck Tuttle, they’re, ” Tuttle, Tuttle, Tim Allen, Jessica Lautz, Allen, “, Amina Niasse, Daniel Burns, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, National Association of Realtors, William, Hilton, Lake Havasu, Federal Reserve, Mortgage Bankers Association, realtors, “ Services, Kopa Home Services, NAR, Thomson Locations: Island , South Carolina, U.S, Lake Havasu City , Arizona, William Raveis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Lake, Lake Havasu City, Flagstaff , Arizona, Flagstaff, AirDNA

☆ Even as job creation surges, Americans still think the economy stinks. Here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-07 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"You see all these high-level headline numbers, and those numbers don't jibe with your economic reality," said Elizabeth Crofoot, senior economist at labor analytics firm Lightcast. Higher prices have been one problem. Are the jobs numbers really that good? Beyond the housing costs, there's some evidence that the jobs numbers may not be all they're cracked up to be, either. After all, more than a quarter of the job creation for September came from lower-wage occupations in the leisure and hospitality industry.

Persons: Frederic J, Brown, Elizabeth Crofoot, nonfarm, Joe Biden's, Crofoot, millennials, Jessica Lautz Organizations: Shell, Afp, Getty, Labor Department, Reuters, Consumer, University of Michigan, Consumers, National Association of Realtors, NAR, Federal Reserve Locations: Alhambra , California, U.S

Girls and young women want to be homeowners by the time they're 30 — a higher priority even than getting married or earning a lot of money. About half, 52%, of young women ages 7 to 21 want a house by 30, the most of any goal, according to Girlguiding's Girls' Attitude Survey 2023 . To compare, 48% want to be married by age 30, and 39% said it's a goal to earn a lot of money. The organization polled 2,614 girls and young women in the U.K. between the ages of 7 and 21 earlier this year. Lenders look at your debt-to-income ratio to figure out how much mortgage debt you can take on.

Persons: Fannie Mae, it's, Melissa Cohn, William Raveis, Kamila Elliott, Cohn, Jessica Lautz, Elliott, Roth, Lazetta Rainey Braxton, Braxton Organizations: Fannie, William Raveis Mortgage, Federal Reserve, Wealth Partners, National Association of Realtors, CNBC, Partners, IRA, CNBC FA Council, CNBC FA Locations: New York, Atlanta

☆ Most first-time homebuyers don't put down 20%, expert says. Here's how much you may need
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

But you probably don't need as much money as you think. In the following decades, many government-backed mortgages mandated a 20% down payment. The typical house in the U.S. has a median price of around $400,000. Applying the 20% rule would mean you'd need $80,000. Some states, cities and other groups have programs that award grants to homebuyers that bolster their down payment or help cover closing costs.

Persons: SurveyMonkey, Jessica Lautz, Lautz, Freddie Mac, Daniel Brennan Organizations: Istock, CNBC, National Association of Realtors, U.S . Department of Agriculture, Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Bank Locations: U.S, Arizona, Maine

☆ More unmarried couples are buying homes together. What to know before you do
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Ana Teresa Solá | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

'Housing affordability really is a struggle'Many young, unmarried couples live together, often for financial reasons. About 3 in 5 unmarried couples in the U.S. live with their partners, according to a report by the Thriving Center of Psychology. But unmarried couples should carefully approach making a commitment of this scale. To protect their investments in the property, unmarried couples ought to carefully consider how it is titled. Four factors unmarried homebuyers should considerHere are four things that certified financial planner Cathy Curtis, founder and CEO of Curtis Financial Planning, in Oakland, California, says unmarried couples should think about before buying property together: 1.

Persons: Gary Burchell, homebuyers, Jessica Lautz, Lautz, Melissa Cohn, William Raveis, they're, it's, Cohn, Cathy Curtis, millennials, Curtis, Roth Organizations: Getty, National Association of Realtors, D.C, NAR, William Raveis Mortgage, Curtis Financial, CNBC Financial Locations: Washington, U.S, New York, Oakland , California

☆ What mortgage rates over 7% mean for the housing market
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Washington, DC CNN —An already miserably unaffordable housing market is getting more expensive. As mortgage rates top 7% — the highest they’ve been in 21 years according to Freddie Mac — home buyers face ballooning costs. “The fact that we are seeing rates at these highs is having an impact on the housing market,” Freedman said. “That’s bad news for mortgage rates which correspondingly may rise to 8%,” he said. “We thought mortgage rates would be much lower by now,” she said.

Persons: Freddie Mac, “, ”, Bess Freedman, Brown Harris Stevens, Freedman, ” Freedman, Buyers, ” Lawrence Yun, Yun, Jessica Lautz, we’d, Melissa Cohn, Cohn, “ Banks, ” Cohn Organizations: DC CNN, Federal, National Association of Realtors, NAR, “, Fed, William, Mortgage, ” Fed, Treasury Locations: Washington

☆ The Golden Girls approach: Buying homes together amid high prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Chris Taylor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Combined, those two factors can make it very challenging to break into the housing market. Currently, it represents about 3% of the housing market, although that rises to 5% among first-time buyers, according to NAR. Imagining a 20% down payment, for instance, may cause potential buyers to throw up their hands in despair. So there is wiggle room, and you might be more equipped to buy on your own than you think.”Nonetheless, the harsh realities of the housing market may dictate more co-buying in future. With high prices and high interest rates, some potential buyers may not have much of a choice – and this relative rarity in the real estate world may soon become more common.

Persons: Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, Sophia, “, I’m, ”, Jacob Channel, Gus Gibbs, Gibbs, Jessica Lautz, Howard Pressman, Lauren Young, Aurora Ellis Organizations: LendingTree, National Association of Realtors, Federal Reserve, NAR, “, Housing Administration, Thomson Locations: Boise , Idaho, Vienna , Virginia

☆ Millennials powered America’s homeownership boom
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Rather, the homeownership rate measures the percentage of all occupied housing owned by the occupants, as opposed to occupied by renters. By 2022, the US homeownership rate was 65.8%, up from 64.6% in 2019. Homeownership rates dipped as low as 63.4% following the foreclosure crisis that began in 2004 and the Great Recession that began in 2008. Homeownership rates have recovered just half of the 5.6% drop in homeownership between 2004 and 2016. Between 2016 and 2019, the homeownership rate increased for buyers under 55, according to the Census Bureau.

Persons: Yue, Chris Parsons, —, ”, Yue Parsons, — Parsons, Parsons, We’re, Jessica Lautz Organizations: Washington CNN, Census, National Association of Realtors, NAR Locations: New York City, Manhattan, United States, homebuying, San Francisco, New York, Austin , Texas, Miami, Phoenix, homeownership

☆ Starter homes may be a thing of the past — millennial and Gen Z homeowners plan to stay put for nearly 2 decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

For millennial and Gen Z homebuyers, purchasing a starter home may be a thing of the past. A starter home is usually the first home a person or family is able to purchase. Currently, nearly two-thirds of all homeowners have mortgage rates at or below 4%, according to Black Knight, a mortgage software and analytics company. Affordable homes are hard to findAs of May, the typical starter home cost about $179,407 nationwide, according to Zillow data provided to CNBC Make It. But between 2017 and 2022, the number of millennials who own their homes increased 64% to 18.2 million.

Persons: Z, Jessica Lautz, Freddie Mac, Black Knight, Jeff Tucker, Zillow, Lautz, Young, Zers, millennials Organizations: National Association of Realtors, CNBC, Bank of Locations: U.S

☆ Mortgage interest rates matter 'less today than they have historically': NAR's Jessica Lautz
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMortgage interest rates matter 'less today than they have historically': NAR's Jessica LautzJessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist, joins CNBC's special 'Taking Stock' and CNBC's Diana Olick to discuss the state of the housing market, real estate pricing and consumer behavior when it comes it home buying.

Persons: Jessica Lautz Jessica Lautz, Diana Olick

☆ Single-family homes built for the rental market jumped 35% to an all-time high last year
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Single-family homes built for the rental market reached a record high in 2022, the National Association of Realtors said. BFR starts also accounted for an 8% share of housing starts, another new record. Such built-for-rent (BFR) housing starts jumped 35% to 81,000 units in 2022, NAR said, citing data from the Census Bureau. Meanwhile, their share of overall housing starts rose to 8% last year from 5% in 2021. Growth in this emerging sector of the housing market comes as the inventory of existing homes remains tight, leaving prospective buyers to look to new homes.

Persons: BFR, —, Jessica Lautz, BFR's, Lautz Organizations: National Association of Realtors, Service, NAR, Midwest

While buying a house can set you up for financial success, renting comes with its own benefits, like flexibility. If you can't afford a down payment or monthly payments, you may want to continue renting for now. Homeownership also costs more than just the monthly mortgage payment. This includes your mortgage, property taxes, mortgage insurance, homeowners insurance, and HOA fees, but not costs like utility bills. If monthly mortgage payments would be a financial strain, it could be better to keep renting for now.

☆ US mortgage giants were placed on credit watch. Here’s what that means for home buyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Washington, DC CNN —The credit ratings of US mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were put on watch for possible downgrade by Fitch Ratings late Thursday. The warning came because the ratings for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are linked to the sovereign rating of the United States. The aim of Freddie and Fannie is to provide liquidity into the mortgage market and enable a reliable flow of affordable funds to mortgage lenders. “The housing GSEs continue to benefit from meaningful financial support from the U.S. government,” the Fitch statement said. “While politics are at play, the ratings watch is a just that — a watch,” she said.

☆ Opinion | The Housing Market Has Cooled, But It’s Not Frozen
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With fewer people selling, some people who might have bought an existing home from a homeowner are instead buying a new home from a builder. Sales of new single-family homes rose in March, the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday. Given those changes, “unless you’re a person who needs to make a move, there’s little incentive” to move now, Vanden Houten told me. Of course, some people still are putting their homes on the market, and Vanden Houten herself was recently one of them. “A lot of people have earned a substantial amount of housing equity,” Lautz said.

☆ Boomers Are Buying up Homes, Blocking Millennials From Housing Market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The housing market is not a generation-versus-generation cage match. "So the fact that they are now trailing behind the baby boomer population just speaks to the difficulty of the housing market today." A lot has changed in the housing market since the NAR's survey period. In a housing market of "haves" and "have nots," equity-rich homeowners have the edge over hopeful first-time buyers. Millennials know that they have time on their side, since boomers will eventually age out of the market entirely.

☆ Gen Z Investing in Real Estate, Buying Homes Early, Learning From Millennials' Mistakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Unlike millennials before them, Gen Zers have grown up during a boom in home prices. In a 2020 survey by Gen Z Planet, a research and advisory firm, 87% of Gen Z respondents said they wanted to own a home in the future, while just 63% of millennial respondents said the same. The survey suggested that 68% of Gen Zers viewed homeownership as a way to build wealth, compared with 60% of millennials. But the ranks of Gen Z homeowners will almost certainly grow in the coming years as they scale corporate ladders and amass savings. All this new technology and information is fueling the real-estate-mogul dreams of ambitious Gen Z investors.

☆ Bad news for millennials: Things have never looked bleaker for first-time homebuyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

For first-time homebuyers like Talej, the outlook has never been bleaker. This unfortunate combination means first-time buyers are waiting longer to purchase homes and winning out with less frequency than ever before. And during that year, first-time buyers accounted for just 26% of all home purchases, the lowest percentage ever, according to the NAR. The percentage of first-time homebuyers who were white hit a two-decade high of 88% last year, up from 83% in 2003. These trends only compound the bad economic news for millennials, who make up the majority of today's first-time buyers.

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