Daily Archives: September 17, 2014

What millennials want in a home | Chappaqua Real Estate

 

Millennials aren’t in a rush to buy their own homes. Heck, many of them aren’t in a rush to move out of their parents’ houses.

That doesn’t mean, however, that they’ll remain renters—or freeloaders in mom and dad’s basement—forever. And the housing and mortgage industries can’t wait.

“The story line has been that millennials are not forming households, they’re living with mom and dad,” said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for Realtor.com. But this group’s usage of mobile real estate applications and websites is on the rise, Smoke says, up 61% year-over-year as of July based on his analysis of comScore data of people between the ages of 25 and 34. More than one-third of millennials used a mobile device in July to look at real estate data, he said.

That says to Smoke that millennials are at least thinking about buying or renting a home, and researching the market to learn their options.

What’s more, a recent Redfin survey found that 92% of people in this age group who don’t have a home want to buy one in the future, said Nela Richardson, the real-estate company’s chief economist. And there are some clear preferences in what they want in a home.

 

 

 

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-millennials-want-in-a-home-2014-09-15

Scotland Without the Pound Seen as a Threat to Housing | Armonk NY Real Estate

 

A vote in favor of Scottish independence tomorrow threatens to weigh down a booming housing market should thousands of homeowners become debtors of foreign lenders.

Political leaders in the U.K. are sparring over whether an independent Scotland would keep the pound, with the outcome having major consequences for the economy and housing. If Scottish homeowners eventually have to repay pound-denominated loans in a foreign currency, they would face the risk of higher costs and possible default.

Prime Minister David Cameron warned on Sept. 14 the breakup would be akin to a “painful divorce,” and said the U.K. won’t share its currency with an independent Scotland. Independence leaders dismiss the government’s threat, insisting that Scotland and the rest of the U.K. would form a currency union to benefit both nations.

 

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-17/scotland-without-the-pound-seen-as-a-threat-to-housing.html

Fresh mortgage price war breaks out | Pound Ridge Real Estate

A fresh mortgage price war has broken out with a string of major lenders slashing their rates in recent days.

Metro Bank, Halifax, Barclays, Nationwide Building Society, HSBC, Virgin Money, Skipton Building Society and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society are among those who have sharpened up their ranges.

The tussle for homeowners’ business has seen several lenders once again drop their rates below 3% for people looking for a five-year fixed rate mortgage.

Meanwhile, Virgin Money has taken the unusual step of launching a new range which allows people to fix in for one year longer than the usual five-year deals and protect themselves against the prospect of interest rates rising for a prolonged period.

Virgin’s new six-year fixed rate deals, which are available at the same price as its five-year fixes, include a product available for people with a 30% deposit with a rate of 2.99% and a fee of £995. Alternatively, people can opt to go fee-free and pay a higher rate of 3.59%.

Metro Bank also slashed its five-year fixed rates today. The new products, which carry a fee of £999, include a five-year fix at 2.99% for someone with a 40% deposit and one at 3.79% for a borrower with a 15% deposit to put down.

The announcements came as Norwich and Peterborough Building Society unveiled a 0.20% interest rate reduction on first-time buyer deals.

The society has shaved a fee-free two-year fixed rate deal for people aspiring to get on the property ladder down from 5.19% to 4.99%, as well as chopping product rates for people with 25% and 35% deposits.

 

 

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https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fresh-mortgage-price-war-breaks-124034052.html#5iZUafw