Tag Archives: Chappaqua Luxury Real Estate

NAHB builder confidence survey drops into contraction | Chappaqua Real Estate

NAHB chief economist says Fed policy & high construction costs will cause first decline in housing starts since 2011.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • For the first time since May 2020, the monthly NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Index fell below the break-even measure of 50.
  • Roughly one-in-five (19%) home builders in the HMI survey reported reducing prices in the past month to increase sales or limit cancellations,.
  • Meanwhile, 69% of builders reported higher mortgage interest rates as the reason behind falling housing demand.

Builder confidence is sinking like a stone, in part the result of what an economist for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) now calls a “housing recession.”

NAHB today released the results of its monthly survey of home builders, which found that builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell for the eighth straight month in August, amid continuing supply-chain problems, high materials prices, and falling home affordability.

In fact, for the first time since May 2020, the monthly NAHB/Well Fargo Housing Index fell below the break-even measure of 50, declining six points to 49, the NAHB said.

“Tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve and persistently elevated construction costs have brought on a housing recession,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “The total volume of single-family starts will post a decline in 2022, the first such decrease since 2011.”

Dietz noted, however, that “as signs grow that the rate of inflation is near peaking, long-term interest rates have stabilized, which will provide some stability for the demand-side of the market in the coming months.”

The latest report on inflation, released last week, showed that the Consumer Price Index in July was unchanged from June, and had dipped to 8.5% year over year from 9.1% in June.

NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter, a home builder and developer from Savannah, Ga., said the survey shows ongoing increases in construction costs and mortgage rates continue to weaken market sentiment for single-family home builders. “And in a troubling sign that consumers are now sitting on the sidelines due to higher housing costs, the August buyer traffic number in our builder survey was 32, the lowest level since April 2014 with the exception of the spring of 2020, when the pandemic first hit.”

Roughly one-in-five (19%) home builders in the HMI survey reported reducing prices in the past month to increase sales or limit cancellations, the NAHB said. The median price reduction was 5% for those reporting using such incentives. Meanwhile, 69% of builders reported higher mortgage interest rates as the reason behind falling housing demand, the top impact cited in the survey.

All three HMI components posted declines in August, with each falling to their lowest level since May 2020. Current sales conditions dropped seven points to 57; sales expectations in the next six months declined two points to 47; and traffic of prospective buyers fell five points to 32.

Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast fell nine points to 56, the Midwest dropped three points to 49, the South fell seven points to 63, and the West posted an 11-point decline to 51.

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has conducted for more than 35 years, the HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index, for which any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

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gageprofessional.com

Housing construction activity declines, mortgage applications fall | Chappaqua Real Estate

Housing starts (chart) for April dipped 0.2% month-over-month (m/m) to an annual pace of 1,724,000 units, below the Bloomberg consensus estimate of a 1,756,000 unit pace, and compared to March’s downwardly-revised pace of 1,728,000 units. Building permits, one of the leading indicators tracked by the Conference Board as it is a gauge of future construction, fell by 3.2% m/m to an annual rate of 1,819,000, slightly above expectations calling for 1,814,000 units, and compared to the downwardly-revised 1,870,000 unit pace in March.

In other housing news, the MBA Mortgage Application Index fell 11.0% last week, following the prior week’s increase of 2.0%. The index snapped a string of two weekly increases as a 9.5% fall in the Refinance Index was met with an 11.9% tumble for the Purchase Index. However, the average 30-year mortgage rate pulled back from a recent spike, declining 4 basis points (bps) to 5.49%, but is up 234 bps versus a year ago.

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schwab.com

What to do in NYC this fall | Chappaqua Real Estate

17 reasons to go NYC

There’s a lot of fun stuff to do this fall in New York City. Take a look at these openings, concerts, festivals, performances and all-around-good-time events to find out why we’re excited (and be sure to mark down on your calendar whatever strikes your fancy).

Village Halloween Parade. Photo: Joe Buglewicz

1. The City’s biggest costume party hits the streets. The Village Halloween Parade of costumed revelers and larger-than-life spooky puppets makes its way through the West Village on Halloween night. Thanks to a crowd that’s often as dressed up as the parade goers, this downtown tradition takes people-watching to the next level. —Brian Sloan

2. Dogs, too, will be decked out. Brooklyn’s annual Great PUPkin canine costume contest and parade is certifiably the cutest and fluffiest way to celebrate Halloween. —Gillian Osswald

NYC Fashion Week. Photo: Marley White

3. Speaking of daring fashion… Spring/Summer Fashion Week is your chance to see all the world’s top designers debut runway looks. Expect standout shows from Tom Ford, Anna Sui and Marc Jacobs. —Christina Parrella 

NYC Marathon. Photo: Julienne Schaer

4. The NYC Marathon is back. Sporting events don’t get much bigger than this November 4 race, during which nearly 50,000 professional and amateur runners run through all five boroughs. There are plenty of great viewing spots along the route, but you’ll see the most action at the finish line in Central Park near Tavern on the Green. —Jonathan Zeller

New York Giants. Photo: Evan Pinkos

5. And don’t forget the other sports. The Yankees look like they’re in good shape for a return to baseball’s playoffs, so go see Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Severino and company during the stretch run. The Mets season hasn’t panned out as they hoped, but September offers the chance to cheer on Jacob deGrom as he aims for the National League Cy Young. Football’s Giants and Jets start up the same month; come October, the season kicks off for the NBA’s Knicks and Nets, and for the NHL’s Rangers and Islanders—JZ

6. But you can have sports fun even if you don’t make it to the park. The Museum of the Moving Image takes a look back at six decades of sports video games —giving you the opportunity to test your chops at a few dozen of them. We’re personally hoping to see Vs. Tennis and Punch-Out. Look out, Glass Joe! —Andrew Rosenberg

7. The concert schedule is packed. Big shows include Jade Bird at Bowery Ballroom (September 26), Florence and the Machine at Barclays Center (October 9), Justin Timberlake at Madison Square Garden (October 22 and 24), Garbage at Kings Theatre (October 27), Violent Femmes at Brooklyn Steel (October 28), Justin Courtney Pierre at Bowery Ballroom (November 6), Spin Doctors at Brooklyn Bowl (November 8) and Tennis at Le Poisson Rouge (November 13). Bring your earplugs and have a good time. —nycgo.com staff

8. There’s an open-door policy. Hundreds of buildings and landmarks take part in Open House New York, a fall weekend (October 12–14) that marks your chance to see the inner workings of structures sometimes off-limits. Unusual places like La Guardia’s Marine Air Terminal and the super-futuristic looking Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant have been part of past programs. —AR

9. You can get a taste of Japan in Sunset Park. Industry City’s new Eataly-style food fun house, Japan Village, will pack 20,000 square feet with ramen, sushi, soba, mochi and everything else you’d ever want to eat from the Land of the Rising Sun. It should be up and running in October. —GO

10. We believe in life after love. Or, at least, a musical about life after 50-plus years in show business. If you do too, check out The Cher Show, a new Broadway extravaganza covering Cher’s life, times and loves. It takes three actresses to play the title role. —BS

“Green Coca-Cola Bottles” (1962), Andy Warhol. Courtesy, Whitney Museum

11. Warhol will get surveyed. The pop artist’s famous works—and some less familiar ones—will be the subject of Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again at the Whitney Museum. —CP

12. So will some of his collaborators. You gotta run, run, run to see the ambitious exhibition covering the origins, music and influence of the Velvet Underground, due in the West Village in October. —AR

Courtesy, Brooklyn Comedy Festival

13. We like to laugh. Alternative comedy’s big fall event is the Brooklyn Comedy Festival (September 17 –23), whose lineup includes Kevin McDonald, Jo Firestone and Nimesh Patel. The New York Comedy Festival (November 5–11) brings huge acts like Tracy Morgan, Yvonne Orji and Bill Burr. In non-festival news, club headliners will include the likes of Leslie Jones (September 5–8), Norm Macdonald (September 13–16) and Tom Green (September 21–22). Enjoy! —nycgo.com staff

14. The Coen Brothers’ latest hits the big screen. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs has its North American premiere at Lincoln Center as part of the New York Film Festival. Originally intended as a limited series for Netflix, the movie has been reconfigured into a feature-length anthology that tells six stories of the old West; the cast includes Tyne Daly, Tom Waits and James Franco. —BS

Coney Island Film Festival. Photo: Norman Blake

15. And there’s plenty more cinema to savor. Foremost perhaps is NewFest, the City’s 30-year-old LGBTQ film festival. Other events celebrating movie magic: the Horror Film FestivalUrbanworldConey Island Film Festival and the Chelsea Film Festival. Don’t sleep on the hip-hop celluloid celebration at the Film Forum, either. —AR

Oklahoma! Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

16. Oklahoma! comes to Brooklyn. Usually the big musical revivals are on Broadway, but this creatively staged and intimate production of a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic is set to play at St. Ann’s Warehouse on the Dumbo waterfront. —BS

17. You won’t have to leave NYC for a day in the country. Celebrate the harvest at the Queens County Fair—which starts on the first official day of fall, September 22. Located deep in the borough on Queens’ last working farm, the fair features carnival rides, hayrides, pie-eating contests and an actual corn maze.

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nycgo.com

Did LeBron James tip his L.A. arrival through real estate? | Chappaqua Real Estate

The Los Angeles Lakers finally reeled in its prized free agent over the weekend when four-time league MVP LeBron James agreed to a four-year deal with the team.

The addition of James, who leaves behind his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers, is a major coup for the Lakers, but should it come as a huge surprise? Not if you consider his business and real estate ties to the L.A. area.

Some began to predict that James would eventually land in Los Angeles in 2015 after the basketball superstar’s production company SpringHill Entertainment inked a deal with a Burbank studio to create television, film and other digital content. The company has since built up a strong portfolio of projects, including the Disney series “Becoming,” an upcoming “House Party” reboot and a rumored “Space Jam” sequel starring James.

The arrival of SpringHill wasn’t the only one that year. Months after the production company set up shop, James purchased his first home in the area, paying about $21 million for a gated estate in Brentwood.

The Traditional-style home, designed by Ken Ungar, was built in 2011 and has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms and nearly 9,500 square feet of living space. Lawn and a swimming pool and a semi-circular spa/fountain make up the grounds.

Many basketball players own real estate in Los Angeles and spend the off-season there, but James appeared to double down on the area in December when he bought a second home in Brentwood for $23 million.

Sitting up from the street, with city-to-ocean views, the 15,846-square-foot home is furnished with an elevator, a home theater and a custom kitchen with a La Cornue range. A lower level was designed for entertaining and holds a home theater, wine cellar, cigar room and onyx-lined wet bar.

The second house has a total of eight bedrooms and 9.5 bathrooms. A spa with a steam room, sauna and massage room are among other features.

Similar to James’ own purchases and investments, those of his inner circle also offered clues. One by one, his closest advisors and friends have joined the 14-time all-star out West.

Two years ago, Rich Paul, a longtime friend and agent to James, bought a newly built house in the Beverly Grove area for $3.47 million. James’ business manager, Maverick Carter, also owns a home in the Hollywood Hills, which he recently put on the market for $4.695 million.

Now that he has settled on a home base for the next four years, the next question is whether his two Brentwood estates will be enough home for the King.

In Akron, Ohio, his hometown, James resides in a massive 30,000-square-foot mansion that has six bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, according to Busted Coverage. The property, which reportedly boasts a two-lane bowling alley and a casino, is two to three times as large than either of his Brentwood properties and has more square footage than both homes combined.

In other words, perhaps L.A.’s top real estate agents should get ready to bring their A-game.

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http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hotprop-lebron-james-real-estate-los-angeles-20180702-story.html

Americans haven’t been this optimistic about house prices since just before the crash | Chappaqua Real Estate

House prices are soaring and, despite warnings from some analysts, most Americans believe they will continue to soar.

A majority of U.S. adults (64%) continue to believe home prices in their local area will increase over the next year, a survey released Monday by polling firm Gallup concluded. That’s up nine percentage points over the past two years and is the highest percentage since before the housing market crash and Great Recession in the mid-2000s.

The level of optimism is edging closer to the 70% of adults in 2005 who said prices would continue rising. That, of course, was less than one year before the peak of the housing market bubble in early 2006, which was largely fueled by a wave of subprime lending. (Roughly one-quarter of respondents in both 2005 and 2018 said they believed house prices would remain the same.)

In 2009, during the depths of the Great Recession, only 22% of Americans believed house prices would rise. But optimism about the housing market has made a slow recovery—along with the market itself—in the intervening years. Today, only 10% in the Gallup survey believe prices will fall. That compares to 5% who felt similarly pessimistic in 2005, just two years before the crash.

 

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https://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-havent-been-this-optimistic-about-buying-property-since-just-before-the-housing-crash-2018-05-07

Single-family housing starts, permits hit 10-year high | Chappaqua Real Estate

U.S. single-family homebuilding and permits surged to more than 10-year highs in November, in a hopeful sign for a housing market that has been hobbled by supply constraints.

Builders have struggled to meet robust demand for housing, which is being fueled by a labor market near full employment. Land and skilled labor have been in short supply, while lumber price increases have accelerated.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that single-family homebuilding, which accounts for the largest share of the housing market, jumped 5.3 percent to a rate of 930,000 units. That was the highest level since September 2007.

Pointing to further gains, single-family home permits rose 1.4 percent to a pace of 862,000 units, a level not seen since August 2007. The jump in groundbreaking on single-family housing units suggests housing could contribute to gross domestic product in the fourth quarter.

Investment in residential construction has declined for two straight quarters, weighing on economic growth. A survey on Monday showed confidence among homebuilders soaring to near an 18-1/2-year high in December, amid optimism over buyer traffic and sales over the next six months.

Prices of U.S. Treasuries remained at session lows after the data while the dollar .DXY pared declines against a basket of currencies. U.S. stock index futures were mixed. Last month, single-family home construction in the densely-populated South shot up 8.4 percent to the highest level since July 2007 as disruptions from recent hurricanes continued to fade and communities in the region replaced houses damaged by flooding.

Single-family starts in the West increased 11.4 percent to their highest level since July 2007. They were unchanged in the Northeast and fell 11.1 percent in the Midwest.

Overall housing starts increased 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.297 million units. While that was the highest level since October 2016, October’s sales pace was revised down to 1.256 million units from the previously reported 1.290 million units.

 

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https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-economy-housingstarts/single-family-housing-starts-permits-hit-10-year-high-idUSKBN1ED1NQ

Holiday home repairs before your holiday |

This is no time for major updates, so stick with simple tasks to make for a festive celebration. To make your home feel more festive, put on a smart light to add some cool light effects to your house, aside from its cool color effects, you can also control it with your smart phone.

Hosting a holiday gathering can be a lot of fun, but perhaps a bit intimidating, too. You want your house to look its best, but now isn’t the time to undertake any major updates.

Chances are, you’re busy enough just preparing for the event. So, focus on just the areas of your house where your guests will spend time.

Whether you’re a first-time party host with a few jitters, or an old pro looking for some new ideas, these tips will help you ensure that your home is ready for any gathering.

Light the way

The sun sets early this time of year, so it’s important to make sure the entrance to your home is clean and well-lit.

Courtesy of Bill Fry.
Courtesy of Bill Fry.

If you have a large front yard, try to focus on just the front entryway and the path leading up to it. Install porch lights, or replace the bulbs on existing lighting. Cut back any shrubbery that is obstructing the walkway.

On the day of your party, open the blinds on the front windows so your guests can see into your warm, festive-looking home as they approach. If you have any broken blinds you can buy blinds online here. It’s a great way to create a sense of welcoming anticipation.

Pro tip: The easiest possible way to create instant lighting for walkways and paths is with the solar lights that you just stick into the ground. The sun does the rest of the work!

A small leak can turn into a big headache

Regular roof maintenance can catch a small leak before it becomes a big problem. Our full-time repairs and maintenance staff is ready to help with repairs, maintenance recommendations, or to respond to an emergency.

A small leak isn’t just annoying – it’s a sign of a bigger issue that’s only going to get worse. It can be difficult to find the source. Water entering your home or business can follow a circuitous path, appearing as a drip or stain some distance away from the source. Don’t delay getting a leak professionally inspected before it grows into an expensive situation, learn How to avoid future roof leaks.

From Major to Minor, all repairs are important

  • Roofs: Leaks or repairs on all types of residential, commercial, and industrial roofing systems.
  • Shingle Repairs: Asphalt, stone coated steel, wood, tile, slate, or synthetic.
  • Flashing Repairs: Furnace stacks, plumbing stacks, roof vents, chimney structures, skylights, RTU curbs, roof hatches, pitch pockets, walls, edge metal, and coping caps.
  • Siding Repairs: Vinyl, wood, aluminum, composite, and steel.
  • Gutters: Repair, seal, adjust, or clean.
  • Attic Ventilation: Condensation, wind driven rain/snow, or excessive energy costs caused by insufficient or improper attic ventilation.
  • Roof Snow and Ice Dam Removal

Take care of the bottom line

Our mothers used to say this, and it’s true: If your floors are spotless, they make your whole house look cleaner.

Even if you’re unable to do an in-depth house cleaning before your gathering, you will certainly want to make sure that all floors have been cleaned before that first guest steps over the threshold.

Pro tip: If you have carpeting, clean the carpets a minimum of three days ahead of your affair to make sure they have dried fully.

Brighten up your bathroom

If you’re bothered by grimy-looking grout in your bathroom, try this easy, inexpensive, and non-toxic method to get rid of it nearly instantly: Just spray on some full-strength hydrogen peroxide, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then wipe clean. That’s it!

Next, add some flowers, holiday decorations, or pictures on the wall to further spiff up your powder room, and it will be ready for your guests.

Courtesy of Zillow Digs.
Courtesy of Zillow Digs.

Pro tip: Instantly de-clog a slow-moving sink drain with a Zip-It. This inexpensive tool looks like a giant zip-tie. You just work it down into the drain to pull up hair clogs — all the other gunky stuff will come up with it.

Tune up kitchen appliances

Your kitchen appliances will be the workhorses of your holiday party, whether you’re hosting a full family dinner or a cocktail party. You want them to be fully functioning and ready for action.

Make sure all stove burners are working. Now’s the time to clean the oven if you haven’t done that for a while.

Clean out the refrigerator, and make sure that both the fridge and freezer are running at their optimal temperatures.

Make sure your dishwasher is in good working order. You can clean it easily with a dishwasher cleaner that you run through a cycle.

If any appliance is in need of maintenance or repair, make sure you contact an appliance repair company as soon as possible.

Pro tip: Sharp knives will make easy work of preparing the big meal. Make sure all your kitchen knives are newly sharpened. In knives, Japanese knives are considered to be the best knives. Japanese knives have a heritage going back over a thousand years and are born of the legendary samurai swords of days gone by. The secret of the amazing Japanese knife lies in the construction techniques used to forge the blade. In it’s heart lies a core of soft iron which adds flexibility and strength to the blade, and it’s exterior is made from high carbon steel known as Tamahagane which is world-renowned for it’s ability to hold an edge so sharp that is is truly “unforgettable!” .

The first thing you will notice when you unbox your new piece of forged steel artwork, is that it is incredibly light in weight! the truth of the matter is, is that Japanese knives are about half the weight of their European cousins! Because of this, their agility is incredible and you will not tire nearly as fast as you will when using the heavy, clunky Western-made knives! Because of their agility masterful precision is possible, but do keep in mind that Japanese knives do take more time to master, but in the hands of an experienced user, they are untouchable in performance when compared to European knives.

Because of their light weight, they are much safer to use than Western knives. How could they be safer if they are sharper you ask? The fact is, the sharper the blade and the lighter the weight the safer the knife is because you will not slip due to fatigue and the blade will cut safely through the ingredient you are working with instead of sliding off to one side potentially cutting you, the user.

Make your space kid-friendly

If you make your home welcoming for children, you will ensure that their parents have a great time as well.

If you happen to have kids that are the same ages as your young guests, you’re in luck. But if not, consider adding some considerate touches that will make parents more comfortable, and alleviate kid boredom.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Turn a spare room or an upstairs bedroom into a private nursing/changing area for a new mom.
  • Toddlers and younger children will want to be near their parents, so a good idea for them is to set up a corner of your living or dining room with toys, books, a tablet for watching cartoons, and some comfy pillows or throws.
  • One of our favorite strategies for older kids is to turn the dessert course into an activity. For instance, you could bake a huge batch of sugar cookies in holiday shapes, and then put out different colors of icing to let kids (and adults) go to town with decorating their own cookies.

Pro tip: If you don’t already have children, or if yours are older, don’t forget to kid-proof your space. Put away anything expensive, breakable, or unstable. Do some baby-proofing, if necessary. This way you and the parents can relax and not have to worry about safety hazards.

Hopefully these ideas will take some of the worry out of holiday entertaining, and ensure that you and your guests can relax and enjoy each other’s company this season.

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https://www.zillow.com/blog/home-repairs-before-holiday-party-207284/

Builder confidence at a high | Chappaqua Real Estate

Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose two points to a level of 70 in November on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This was the highest report since March. Despite the increase, builders continue to face supply-side constraints, such as lot and labor shortages and ongoing building material price increases.

Nonetheless, demand for single-family housing is increasing at a consistent pace, driven by job and economic growth, rising homeownership rates and limited housing inventory. With these economic fundamentals in place, we should see continued upward movement of the single-family housing market as we close out 2017.

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for 30 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

Two out of the three HMI components registered gains in November. The component gauging current sales conditions rose two points to 77 and the index measuring buyer traffic increased two points to 50.  Meanwhile, the index charting sales expectations in the next six months dropped a single point to 77.

Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast jumped five points to 54 and the South rose one point to 69. Both the West and Midwest remained unchanged at 77 and 63, respectively.

HMI tables can be found at nahb.org/hmi.

 

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2017/11/builder-confidence-climbs-to-8-month-high-in-november/

Builder Confidence Rises in October | Chappaqua Real Estate

Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose four points to a level of 68 in October on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This was the highest reading since May.

This current reading shows that home builder sentiment is rebounding from the initial reaction of concern due to hurricanes in Florida and Texas, including the anticipated effects of repair and restoration work. However, builders need to be mindful of long-term, regional impacts from the storms, such as intensified material price increases and labor shortages.

It nonetheless is encouraging to see builder confidence return to the high 60s levels we saw in the spring and summer. With a tight inventory of existing homes and promising growth in household formation, we can expect the new home market continue to strengthen at a modest rate in the months ahead.

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for 30 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

All three HMI components posted gains in October. The component gauging current sales conditions rose five points to 75 and the index charting sales expectations in the next six months increased five points to 78. Meanwhile, the component measuring buyer traffic ticked up a single point to 48.  Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the South rose two points to 68 and the Northeast rose one point to 50. Both the West and Midwest remained unchanged at 77 and 63, respectively.

 

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2017/10/builder-confidence-rises-four-points-in-october/

 

Millennials are buying homes | Chappaqua Real Estate

Low housing inventory continues to increase competition among homebuyers, but that isn’t deterring Millennials, according to the latest Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker report.

Even in some of the most expensive markets, purchase loans among Millennials continued to increase in April. Purchase loans increased to 89% of the market share in April, up from 88% the month before.

And as purchase loans increased, refinances continued to drop. Closed refinance loans fell to 10% of all loans, down from 11% the previous month.

Millennials even accounted for the majority of closed loans in several metropolitan statistical areas including Bardstown, Kentucky, where Millennials made up 73% of closed loans, Hobbs, New Mexico, with 71%, Dalton, Georgia, with 65%, Victoria, Texas, with 63% and Appleton, Wisconsin, with 63%.

Millennials tend to gravitate toward affordable housing markets in the Midwest and Southeast, however, they are also showing a strong presence in some expensive big cities. Over the past three years, the number of Millennials who closed loans increased in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“This new generation of homebuyers is making its presence felt across the country,” said Joe Tyrrell, Ellie Mae executive vice president of corporate strategy. “Since the beginning of 2016, the percentage of Millennials purchasing homes in the Bay Area has actually increased from 16% to 20%.”

The New York area saw an increase from 19% in 2015 to 24% in 2017. The growth is even higher in areas such as Chicago and Dallas, which increased from 22% to 31% and 21% to 31% for the same time period respectively.

“In this purchase centric market, we anticipate a continued rise in more creative lending products to help increase Millennials’ access to credit and continue to counter concerns that rising interest rates will stifle volume,” Tyrrell said.

 

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https://www.housingwire.com/articles/40374-millennials-undaunted-by-competitive-housing-market?eid=311691494&bid=1780366