DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Gen Z is better at saving than millennials. A new survey says it has a more positive outlook on homeownership, too
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Gen Z is more optimistic about owning a home compared to millennials, per a Redfin survey. Previous surveys found that Gen Z is also ahead when it comes to home purchases. Of the 1,340 members of Gen Z surveyed, around 12% said they believed homeownership would not be possible in their lifetime. Millennials being more concerned about saving up for a home falls in line with studies that found Gen Z is doing a better job of holding on to its savings , per the Center for Generational Kinetic's State of Gen Z report. Gen Zers and millennials both expressed concerns that high home costs and student loan debt, among other factors, would prevent them from being homeowners.

Persons: Gen Z, homeownership, Gen Zers, Z, Redfin, Daryl Fairweather, Zers, millennials, Fairweather, it's Organizations: Service Locations: Wall, Silicon, Kinetic's

☆ The housing market is stuck: Americans can't afford homes, investors aren't buying property, and economists see little relief ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Low inventory, high mortgage rates, and high prices have created a difficult housing market. Low inventory, high mortgage rates, and high prices have put the housing market into a state of unaffordability that's weighing on house hunters, current homeowners, and even real estate investors. AdvertisementAdvertisementAs things stand, roughly one-quarter of homeowners are sitting on mortgage rates of less than 3%, near the highest on record. The seasonally-adjusted data showed prices climbed in every single city in the group's 20-city index. Otherwise said, half the cities in our sample now sit at all-time high prices."

Persons: we've, Craig J, Lazzara, DJI, Daryl Fairweather, haven't, Shay Stein, Realtor.com, Fannie Mae, Bill McBride Organizations: Homeowners, Service Locations: Wall, Silicon, Realtor.com

☆ The housing affordability crisis has boosted migration to areas vulnerable to floods, wildfires, and extreme heat
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

More people are moving into disaster-prone areas than moving out, Redfin reported. Almost half of recently moved Americans think climate risks may impact home prices. The figure for areas at risk of wildfires was 446,000, up 51%, and areas vulnerable to extreme heat saw 629,000 more people come in than leave, a 17% rise. Such regions have ample housing availability, but are more exposed to dangers such as hurricanes and wildfires. According to a previous report that also observed the migration trend to disaster-prone areas, climate-fueled risks are expected to tick up, forcing further movement.

Persons: Redfin, That's, Daryl Fairweather, It's, DeltaTerra's Capital Dave Burt — Organizations: Service, Redfin, DeltaTerra's Capital Locations: Wall, Silicon, Florida , Texas, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana

☆ Australia's Titmus smashes world record in women's 400m freestyle
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

FUKUOKA, Japan, July 23 (Reuters) - Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus of Australia set a world record in the women's 400 metres freestyle event, powering to the gold medal in a time of three minutes, 55.38 seconds at the swimming world championships in Fukuoka on Sunday. Titmus eclipsed the mark set by Summer McIntosh earlier this year and finished 3.35 seconds ahead of silver medallist Katie Ledecky of the United States. New Zealand's Erika Fairweather edged out McIntosh to grab the bronze. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ariarne, Titmus, Summer McIntosh, Katie Ledecky, Erika Fairweather, McIntosh, Shrivathsa Sridhar, Jan Harvey Organizations: Thomson Locations: FUKUOKA, Japan, Australia, Fukuoka, United States, Bengaluru

☆ Titmus shatters world record to win 400m freestyle gold at worlds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FUKUOKA, Japan, July 23 (Reuters) - Reigning Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus of Australia smashed the world record as she blazed to victory in a battle royale for the women's 400m freestyle title on the opening day of the swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships on Sunday. New Zealand's Erika Fairweather edged McIntosh to grab the bronze, finishing 4.21 seconds behind Titmus. Earlier, Australia's Sam Short won the men's 400m freestyle race a year after his compatriot Elijah Winnington prevailed. The women's and men's 4x100m freestyle relays will bring an end to the day's proceedings at the Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru Editing by Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ariarne, Titmus, Summer McIntosh, Katie Ledecky, Ian Thorpe, Pieter van den Hoogenband, Michael Phelps, Erika Fairweather, McIntosh, Australia's Sam Short, Elijah Winnington, Ahmed Hafnaoui, Germany's Lukas Martens, Winnington, France's Leon Marchand, Carson Foster, Jacob Whittle, Shrivathsa Sridhar, Toby Davis Organizations: Paris, Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall, Thomson Locations: FUKUOKA, Japan, Australia, Athens, Tunisia, Budapest, British, Bengaluru

☆ US home prices are nearing new record highs as inventory drops to all-time low
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The median sale price clocked in at $426,056 in June, just 1.5% below the all-time-high. That's as the inventory of available homes for sale dropped to a record low last month. It marks the slowest decline in home prices the housing market has seen in five months. Buyers, meanwhile, have grown used to elevated mortgage rates, which has exacerbated the inventory shortage. With home prices back near record highs, buyers are also less worried that they'll buy a house that'll plunge in value."

Persons: That's, Daryl Fairweather, they'll, Robert Reffkin, Freddie Mac Organizations: Service, Mortgage, Association, Homeowners Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Quiet quitting hits the housing market: Tight inventory and still-high mortgage rates keep would-be buyers sidelined
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Today we're talking housing — but before we get to that, the big thing to watch today is President Joe Biden's meeting with congressional leaders. Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesThe housing market seems to be taking a page from the labor market's playbook right now. Daryl Fairweather, Redfin's chief economist took to Twitter last week to describe the sluggish sector:"Homeowners are quiet quitting the housing market." In effect, more and more homeowners are choosing to stay put with their low mortgage rates locked in, rather than trying to finance a new home at rates that are hovering around 20-year highs. That's due mostly to high rates causing homes to sit on the market longer than usual, which leads to accumulating inventory.

☆ More Gen Zers are achieving a dream that was largely out of reach for millennials when they were young: They're homeowners
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Redfin report found that 30% of Gen Zers owned homes at age 25 in 2022. Gen Zers were greeted by a stronger labor market as they established their careers. So how did Gen Z gain the competitive edge? It all comes down to a healthy labor market, Daryl Fairweather, the chief economist at Redfin, told Insider. "It has a lot to do with the timing of when Gen Z entered the labor market versus when millennials did," Fairweather said.

☆ Home prices see largest decline since 2012 as banking crisis hits demand: 'There's this fear that everything will crash'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"That killed the buyer momentum that had been building, and brought us right back to where we were last year when mortgage rates shot up. For example, prices in Boise surged a record 40.9% in May 2021 amid low mortgage rates, the remote-work trend, and relative affordability. But since then, mortgage rates have soared amid Federal Reserve rate hikes. While they have come off last year's peak of 7%, the 30-year-fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.54% in March, up from 4.17% a year earlier. Meanwhile, the higher mortgage rates are keeping buyers and sellers on the sidelines, and March saw new listings drop 23.3% year over year, Redfin said.

☆ Today's homebuyers have their mortgage rate tipping point, and it's artificially low
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Today's homebuyers are exceptionally sensitive to mortgage rates with house prices so high — and they've found their tipping point. After years of government intervention following the great recession and the first years of the Covid-19 pandemic that kept mortgage rates artificially low, today's buyers have a skewed view of what "normal" mortgage rates are. In addition, 62% of buyers said they believed that a "historically normal mortgage rate" was below 5.5%. "Today's homebuyers are extremely sensitive to fluctuating interest rates, and a significant drop in mortgage rates would likely make the market more competitive." Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they've had to reduce their housing budgets due to the current level of mortgage rates.

☆ Looking to buy a house? Follow these 7 tips to ensure you get the best deal, according to economists at Redfin
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some tips include asking for concessions, buying new, waiting, and buying in cash. In a recent post, Redfin economists shared their top tips for homebuyers right now. 7 tips for homebuyersThe first tip from Chen Zhao, Redfin's economics research team lead, is to wait if you can. Considering how high mortgage rates are, a rate buydown is a concession that could help shoppers buy themselves some time for rates to fall. One counterpoint to this is that home values just about everywhere have also climbed since the start of the pandemic.

☆ In this volatile housing market, here's how to know when the bottom is in
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

"People for the most part have come to terms with interest rates." No return of 2008, or 3% mortgage rate The biggest reason why housing prices aren't plunging like they did after 2008? At current levels, the Housing Affordability Index says the median buyer can afford the median U.S. home — but barely. Having seen 6 percent interest rates when she bought her first place in 2007, she's not daunted by today's rates, she said. "People have wrapped their heads around where interest rates are, and they have adapted," Fisher said.

☆ The 11 U.S. cities where rent prices fell the most in January
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Mike Winters | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. renters are finally getting a break on their rent, with prices dropping in 11 major markets in January, according to new data by online realtor Redfin. Median asking rent dropped to $1,942 last month, down from a 2022 peak of $2,053. Only four cities posted double-digit rent growth in January 2022, compared with 38 in January 2021. The number of cities with price drops also continues to climb, from just two a year ago to 11 in January. January rent prices for this study are based on 20,000 apartment listings from Rent.com for the 50 largest metro areas in the country.

☆ Uncertain Economy Spurs Growth in AI-Powered Office Automation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Corporate technology leaders are leaning on artificial intelligence and other software automation tools to help companies grow without hiring additional workers anytime soon. Diogo Rau, chief information and digital officer at Eli Lilly. The reports are often filled with scientific terms that require professionals to decipher, Mr. Rau said. Similarly, Mr. Rau is applying natural-language models to produce in-house clinical reports, replacing on-staff medical writers. All told, Gartner expects global enterprise spending on AI and other software automation systems this year to reach $728.9 billion, up from $643.3 billion in 2022.

☆ Three Friends Pooled Their Finances and Bought a Queens House Together. Which One Did They Choose?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Debra Kamin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

“We were thinking, what can we find within our budget?” said Mr. del Castillo, 40. Mr. Loy, 42, was eager to move out of his cramped one-bedroom rental on the East Side of Manhattan. “Suddenly I was like, ‘Well, this is tenable,’” said Mr. del Castillo, a retail logistics manager. If, say, Mr. Loy brought a partner into his home, he would continue to pay his full portion of the mortgage. If Ms. Russo and Mr. del Castillo had a baby, Mr. Loy said he would be eager to babysit.

☆ The most honest man in real estate thinks the housing market isn't going to crash
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Here's how Miller, who doesn't think the housing market is going to crash, became a beacon of trust. The call was from a journalist at an international paper asking for Miller's comment on the US housing market for a story. The 62-year-old founder of the real-estate-appraisal and data firm Miller Samuel is probably the most-quoted man in real estate, with some 2,469 news citations, according to the database LexisNexis. Today, Miller Samuel has replaced Scantrons with iPods, iPhones, and a CoreLogic appraisal software called A La Mode. Today, there's much more data than there was when he started Miller Samuel, but also a lot more "crap," Miller said.

☆ The share of American homes bought with all cash reached the highest level in 8 years as people wary of high mortgage rates and a looming recession turned to hard real-estate assets instead
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Higher mortgage rates push people to pay all cash for homes to save on interest, Redfin said. Rising interest rates and persistent inflation increased fears of a recession in 2023. Cleveland saw its share of all-cash offers grow from 32% last year to 42% in October, while Philadelphia's grew from 29% to 37%. Selma Hepp, the interim chief economist at CoreLogic, told Insider in November that mortgage rates could go as low as 5.5% by the end of next year. "For homebuyers, it's good to be aware that you can avoid paying high interest rates by paying in cash," Fairweather said.

☆ If you're considering buying or selling a home, you might want to wait until next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The fight against inflation has led to a surge in mortgage rates. An increase in interest rates led to a run up in mortgage rates, which has slowed home sales and therefore price growth. It all comes down to the fact that the higher mortgage rates rise, the less affordable homeownership is for borrowers. Indeed, homebuying activity is slowing the higher that mortgage rates rise. According to the organization's researchers, if a recession were to materialize "mortgage rates would fall around 30 basis points from the baseline forecast level of 5.2%."

☆ Goodbye, bidding wars. Home sellers are losing some of the power they've enjoyed for the past 2 years.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A surge in mortgage rates have cause buyers to sit on the sidelines. Whatever affordability buyers have gained through sliding prices, they are losing in mortgage rate hikes. As Americans face mortgage rates that are nearly twice as expensive as they were in 2021, more people are putting their homeownership dreams on pause. And that means sellers are not only losing leverage — they are also losing money. "Resourceful sellers understand that the market is intertwined with rising mortgage rates," Sam Chute, a Redfin listing agent said in a housing report on the decline of bidding wars.

☆ Premarket stocks: The housing market is a mess, but this isn't 2008
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But within those reports, investors found ominous clues about the future of the housing market, underscoring fears of an upcoming crisis. “We’ve had a time of a red-hot housing market all over the country,” Fed President Jerome Powell told me in September. “For the longer term what we need is supply and demand to get better aligned so that housing prices go up at a reasonable level…and people can afford houses again. “This is the sharpest turn in the housing market since the housing market crash in 2008,” said Redfin’s chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, last month. What’s next: Investors will next look to housing starts data next week as an indicator of where the housing market is headed.

☆ The new American dream is buying a house with friends: 'It's a co-parenting model, it's a co-economy model, and it's a really great friendship and support model'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-02 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

"It's a co-parenting model, it's a co-economy model, and it's a really great friendship and support model," Pfefferkorn said. It's been "amazing and challenging," Pfefferkorn said, especially as both kids grew up, and one brought a grandchild into the home. "We're at a time now that our expectations for what success looks like is very different," Pfefferkorn said. For Pfefferkorn, the next dream is to buy an eight-bedroom house to turn into a communal retirement home someday. "My friend's mother is selling her house, and she has an eight bedroom house," Pfefferkorn said.

☆ Enjoy your Airbnb — just don’t forget to do the laundry and take out the trash
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Airbnb hosts say there are two reasons for the higher fees and the chore demands: Covid-19 raised sanitation requirements, and — you guessed it — inflation. Airbnb allows hosts to set their own rates and encourages them to avoid cleaning fees if possible. BOTTOM LINEThe social media outrage about cleaning fees and chores is certainly a PR headache for Airbnb, but it’s far from a crisis. Plus, Jon speaks to Redfin’s Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather about what homebuyers need to know about mortgage rates. ), but mortgage rates may keep going up as long as the Fed keeps raising interest rates.

The average 30-year mortgage rate has climbed to 6.02% — the first time the figure has surpassed 6% since 2008, according to new data from mortgage giant Freddie Mac. The new rate level — double what it was this time last year — is an effect of the Federal Reserve's aggressive campaign to raise interest rates as it works to fight inflation. The impact of higher rates will be to reduce housing demand and put downward pressure on home prices, Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said in a statement. “With mortgage rates expected to stabilize near 6% alongside steady job creation, home sales should start to rise by early next year.”The higher rates have caused refinance activity to fall by more than 80% from last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Thanks largely to mortgage rates near or even above 6%, potential homebuyers and sellers are focusing on the back-to-school season and enjoying the last days of summer rather than getting into an uncertain market."

☆ One in five home sellers is now dropping their asking price as the housing market cools
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-02 | by ( Diana Olick | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Home sellers are getting nervous, as the once hot housing market cools fast. One in five sellers in August dropped their asking price, according to Realtor.com. Homes in August sat on the market an average of five days longer than they did a year ago — the first annual increase in time on the market in over two years. The supply of homes for sale is also rising fast, up nearly 27% from a year ago, even as fewer sellers decide to list. “Expect homes to linger on the market, which may lead to another small uptick in the share of sellers lowering their prices.”

☆ Video: Where US rents are rising and falling on CNN Nightcap
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-18 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

Daryl Fairweather, chief economist for Redfin, explains to " Nightcap's " Vanessa Yurkevich why supply and demand has created an "affordability crisis" for renters. For more, watch the full Nightcap episode here

Search resuls for: "Fairweather"

25 mentions found