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☆ Beware, Florida homeowners. The worst is yet to come.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Dan Latu | James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

They were paying $750 a month for the lot in a mobile-home park and couldn't fathom paying $7,200 a year for homeowners insurance, let alone additional protections for floods. (Flood insurance costs an average of more than $600 a year in Florida and can stretch even higher in high-risk areas.) But just 57% of those homes are covered by flood insurance, a Bank of America analysis of data from CoreLogic and the National Flood Insurance Program found. Some owners may not even know that they need a separate insurance policy for flooding, assuming it's covered by their homeowners insurance. Roughly a dozen firms that provide homeowners insurance in Florida have gone under in the past two years, The Washington Post reported.

☆ High mortgage rates, tight supply and economic uncertainty: Here's what's happening with home prices
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Yet home prices are still higher compared with a year ago, and it's unlikely they will fall too steeply. While that has some buyers pulling back, and some sellers lowering what they're asking for, strong demand and tight supplies are supporting prices. Black Knight, a real estate software, data and analytics firm, reported the second straight month of declines in August, with prices down 0.98% from July. Put together, these mark the largest monthly declines in more than 13 years and the eighth largest since at least the early 1990s, Black Knight said. That skews prices higher.

Average 30-year U.S. mortgage rates have hit 6.7%, the highest level since 2007, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday. There remains a large dispersion in rates, Freddie Mac said, with some lenders having breached 7%, according to Mortgage News Daily, representing a 20-year high. This time last year, mortgage rates were at less than 3%. If bond yields continue to move higher, mortgage rates will, too, said Matt Graham, the founder and CEO of MBS Live mortgage data group. "We may already be looking at the ceiling levels for mortgage rates unless Treasuries manage to press significantly" higher, Graham said in an email.

☆ Australia's house prices fall, interest rates soar but analysts say there's no crash yet
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Su-Lin Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Mortgage rates have fallen to below 2% in recent years, but interest rates are rising rapidly in Australia. Home prices fallNational house prices have fallen for a fourth straight month as demand for homes start to slide due to higher costs of borrowing, according to Corelogic. In Sydney, Australia's biggest city, home prices have fallen over 7% since prices started unwinding at the start of the year, just before interest rates lifted. Since hitting peak prices earlier this year, house prices in Melbourne have fallen nearly 5%. Since hitting peak prices earlier this year, house prices in Melbourne have fallen nearly 5%.

☆ The US housing market slowdown will last longer that originally expected as pending home sales fall off a cliff, says the top economist at the National Association of Realtors
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Here's what Yun expects for mortgage rates, home sales, and home prices in 2023. A one percentage point rise in mortgage rates may not sound like much, but it's a monumental shift. And while it's not his base case, Yun said that 8% mortgage rates can't be ruled out if already-high inflation "gets out of hand." "If mortgage rates moderate and the economy continues adding jobs, then home buying should also stabilize." Expensive markets like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle are among the cities that are most sensitive to higher mortgage rates, Yun said.

Hurricane Ian is speeding toward the Gulf Coast of Florida at a perilous time for property owners in the state, who have been weathering an insurance crisis that the Category 3 storm could now exacerbate. “Florida’s property insurance market was the most volatile in the U.S. before Hurricane Ian formed and will most likely become even more unstable in the wake of the storm,” said Mark Friedlander, a director at Insurance Information Institute in Florida. These issues have created problems in the market that have shepherded many insurers toward closure or left them on precarious financial footing. A dozen insurance companies operating in Florida have gone out of business since January 2020. The insurance crisis is largely the result of countless roofing scams in which contractors and attorneys file numerous fraudulent damage claims on behalf of homeowners and force insurance companies to settle, NBC News previously reported.

☆ Home Prices Suffer First Monthly Decline in Years
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Nicole Friedman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. home prices slid in July from June, the first monthly decline in years and the latest sign that higher mortgage rates are starting to weigh on home prices in many of the country’s biggest markets. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures the average change in home prices across the nation, fell 0.3% in July from June, the first month-over-month decline since January 2019. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the national index fell 0.2%. That was the first monthly decline in more than a decade by this measure.

☆ Home-prices growth slowed by the most on record in 'forceful deceleration' in July, S&P Case-Shiller says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Growth in house prices slowed at the fastest rate on record in July, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index released Tuesday. Mortgage rates have jumped to more than 6% this year as the Fed raises interest rates. "Although U.S. housing prices remain substantially above their year-ago levels, July's report reflects a forceful deceleration," Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI, said in the report. "The -2.3% difference between those two monthly rates of gain is the largest deceleration in the history of the index." The Fed last week raised interest rates by another 75 basis points to bring the fed funds rate to a range of 3% to 3.25%.

☆ Home prices cooled in July at the fastest rate in the history of S&P Case-Shiller Index
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. home prices cooled in July at the fastest rate in the history of the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index, according to a new report out Tuesday. Home prices in July were still higher than they were a year ago, but cooled significantly from June gains. Prices nationally rose 15.8% over July 2021, well below the 18.1% gain in the previous month, according to the report. "The -2.3% difference between those two monthly rates of gain is the largest deceleration in the history of the index." Home prices are dropping because affordability has weakened dramatically due to fast-rising mortgage rates.

☆ Lumber prices fall to a new 2022 low as housing market cools and mortgage rates approach 7%
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The essential building commodity has been rocked by soaring mortgage rates and a slowing housing market. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate inched closer to 7%, according to Mortgage News Daily. "Although U.S. housing prices remain substantially above their year-ago levels, July's report reflects a forceful deceleration," S&P DJI managing director Craig Lazzara said. "The lumber market continues to be in a state of overall malaise as buyers anticipate lower overall demand going forward. But until that happens, it's not difficult to see lumber prices trading in the pre-pandemic range of $200-$600.

☆ US home prices climbed in July, but showed a 'forceful deceleration'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But the market showed signs of cooling as rising mortgage rates pushed more prospective buyers to the sidelines. On a monthly basis, prices fell 0.2% from June, the first month-over-month decrease for the national index since February 2012. Tampa notched the biggest gains, with home prices rising 31.8% in July from the year before. Higher mortgage rates cooled demandThe home price reports highlight the cooling effect of rising mortgage rates. As investors see or anticipate rate hikes, they often sell government bonds, which sends yields higher and mortgage rates rise.

☆ US home prices climbed in July, but showed a ‘forceful deceleration’
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

☆ The Truss tax plan cushions the wealthy while pushing borrowers toward a financial cliff
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

That’s because the Bank of England is now widely expected to hike interest rates even further to tackle inflation that will be exacerbated by the government’s sweeping tax cuts. That means many as 1.8 million borrowers are now hurtling toward a financial cliff as they prepare to refinance next year, when the mortgage rate may well have doubled. The vast majority (nearly two-thirds) of the tax gains go to the wealthiest one-fifth of households, according to one think tank estimate. According to the US Treasury, tax cuts reduced federal revenues by about 9% in the first couple of years. However, Congress eventually decided the sweeping tax cuts were unsustainable and, with Reagan’s approval, raised taxes by a lot in 1982.

☆ As Storm Season Accelerates, Here’s Where Past Hurricanes Have Hit the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Carl Churchill | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The U.S. Atlantic coast gets hit by one to two hurricanes a year on average, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that tracks storms since the mid-20th century. Major hurricanes appear at least once every decade and can cause billions of dollars in damage. Some counties can expect a hurricane every five to seven years, and a major hurricane (Category 3 or greater) every 15 to 20 years. Florida receives more direct hurricane strikes than any other state in the U.S. Of the U.S. metro areas with the most potential financial risk from a hurricane, six of the top 10 are in Florida, according to a 2021 report from CoreLogic Inc.

☆ Developers rush to convert run-down hotels and offices into shiny new apartments as the costs of new construction and borrowing money soar
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Some real-estate developers are increasingly targeting offices and hotels for conversion into apartments because, they say, these projects are the only ones that make financial sense right now. The company spent a total of $14.2 million to acquire the properties, which Hubbard described as "on the run-down side." With conversions, developers are also hoping to capitalize on the increased demand for rentals as buying a home becomes less affordable. By extension, the value of office space is declining — making conversion projects more profitable when financing can be secured. The program includes zoning reforms designed to make the conversion projects easier and funding from the federal American Rescue Plan, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

☆ Single-family rent increases cool for the third straight month
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Rents for single-family homes were 12.6% higher in July compared with the year-earlier month, but the gains continue to shrink from the record high seen in April, according to a new report from CoreLogic. Most major metropolitan areas are seeing the same cooling, even in the Sun Belt which saw rents soar the most during the first years of the pandemic. Miami continues to see the biggest gain, with rents up nearly 31% from the year before, but that's actually down from 41% growth seen in March. Phoenix rents were up 12.2% in July, but down from an 18% gain in March.

☆ Some Gen Zers are hoping for a housing market crash so they can afford to buy a home
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

According to their results, 78% of respondents think we'll soon face a housing market crash and nearly half believe it will happen in 2023. Indeed, 84% of the survey's respondents born between 1996 and 2015 said they wanted a market crash. "Gen Z was the generation most likely to want a housing crash or correction so they could buy a home," researchers wrote. "Despite their hopes for a cooler market, Gen Zers have the least saved for a home." Do you feel a housing crash — or a less dramatic slowdown — would make it easier for you to buy a house?

☆ The housing markets could crash in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. They're 3 cautionary tales for the US.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-09 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Global real estate markets have been in overdrive during the Covid-19 pandemic. The US housing market shares some of their problems, and it's a cautionary tale for us. In countries across the globe, rapid home price growth fueled by lackluster housing supply and robust investor activity have distorted local housing ecosystems — especially in Canada, New Zealand and Australia. As New Zeleand's housing crisis escalates, The Guardian reports that less and less of the nation's young buyers can afford home purchases. Economic volatility stunts buyer demand in AustraliaAustralia has not escaped the housing slowdown gripping global real estate markets.

☆ Consumers spent big on having fun in 2021
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-09 | by ( Alicia Wallace | Cnn Business | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Minneapolis (CNN Business) After spending 2020 cooped up as a fast-spreading, deadly virus limited most aspects of everyday life, American consumers splurged in 2021, shelling out an average of $3,568 on entertainment, according to data released Thursday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's up 22.7% from 2020, and surpasses 2019 levels by just over 15%. The amount that US consumers spent on items like campers, boats, concert tickets, sporting events, pets, toys and televisions is the highest on record and the biggest gain among spending categories. The amount consumers spent on housing was also the highest on record, up more than 9% from 2019. Overall spending for the year outpaced income growth with spending levels 9.1% above 2020's and 6% higher than in 2019.

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