Housing News
Consumers optimistic, unshaken by tax credit expiration
New data released
According to a national survey commissioned by Prudential Real Estate which revealed consumers are optimistic overall regarding the real estate market and see rising value in property, indicating that 65% of current shoppers are unaffected by the expiration of the tax credit and will continue shopping.
Prudential surveyed 800 random consumers online in April of this year, aged 25-64 with annual household incomes over $35,000. Prudential’s data mirrors national data released recently showing an overall optimism in the market which is a drastic change from last year.
The numbers in color:
Rather than cite endless numbers in paragraph format, below are some of the key points as reported by Prudential.
CC Licensed image courtesy of newneonunion via Flickr.com.
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Housing News
Average age of houses on the rise, so is it now better or worse to buy new?
With aging housing in America, are first-time buyers better off buying new or existing homes? The average age of a home is rising, as is the price of new housing, so a shift could be upon us.
The average home age is higher than ever
(REALUOSO.COM) – In a survey from the Department of Housing and Urban Development American Housing Survey (AHS), the median age of homes in the United States was 35 years old. In Texas, homes are a bit younger with the median age between 19 – 29 years. The northeast has the oldest homes, with the median age between 50 – 61 years. In 1985, the median age of a home was only 23 years.
With more houses around 40 years old, the National Association of Realtors asserts that homeowners will have to undertake remodeling and renovation projects before selling unless the home is sold as-is, in which case the buyer will be responsible to update their new residence. Even homeowners who aren’t selling will need to consider remodeling for structural and aesthetic reasons.
Prices of new homes on the rise
Newer homes cost more than they used to. The price differential between new homes and older homes has increased from 10 percent traditionally to around 37 percent in 2014. This is due to rising construction costs, scarcity of lots, and a low inventory of new homes that doesn’t meet the demand.
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Housing News
Are Realtors the real loser in the fight between Zillow Group and Move, Inc.?
The last year has been one of dramatic and rapid change in the real estate tech sector, but Realtors are vulnerable, and we’re worried.
Why Realtors are vulnerable to these rapid changes
(REALUOSO.COM) – Corporate warfare demands headlines in every industry, but in the real estate tech sector, a storm has been brewing for years, which in the last year has come to a head. Zillow Group and Move, Inc. (which is owned by News Corp. and operates ListHub, Realtor.com, TopProducer, and other brands) have been competing for a decade now, and the race has appeared to be an aggressive yet polite boxing match. Last year, the gloves came off, and now, they’ve drawn swords and appear to want blood.
Note: We’ll let you decide which company plays which role in the image above.
So how then, does any of this make Realtors the victims of this sword fight? Let’s get everyone up to speed, and then we’ll discuss.
1. Zillow poaches top talent, Move/NAR sues
It all started last year when the gloves came off – Move’s Chief Strategy Officer (who was also Realtor.com’s President), Errol Samuelson jumped ship and joined Zillow on the same day he phoned in his resignation without notice. He left under questionable circumstances, which has led to a lengthy legal battle (wherein Move and NAR have sued Zillow and Samuelson over allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets), with the most recent motion being for contempt, which a judge granted to Move/NAR after the mysterious “Samuelson Memo” surfaced.
Salt was added to the wound when Move awarded Samuelson’s job to Move veteran, Curt Beardsley, who days after Samuelson left, also defected to Zillow. This too led to a lawsuit, with allegations including breach of contract, violation of corporations code, illegal dumping of stocks, and Move has sought restitution. These charges are extremely serious, but demanded slightly less attention than the ongoing lawsuit against Samuelson.
2. Two major media brands emerge
Last fall, the News Corp. acquisition of Move, Inc. was given the green light by the feds, and this month, Zillow finalized their acquisition of Trulia.
…Click here to continue reading this story…
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Ken Brand
April 28, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Nice work. Interesting. We create our own future, don’t we.
Cheers.
Joe Loomer
April 29, 2010 at 6:00 am
Sorry Tara – beg to differ on your title here – when 1/3rd state they will be somewhat or much less interested in buying, that’s not “unaffected” – and when fully 40% believe the expiration will negatively affect value? There’s a between-the-lines here that’s troublesome to me. I did love the post, though! Great, comprehensive survey with a wide variety of questions!
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
Lani Rosales
April 29, 2010 at 11:05 am
Those numbers all indicate minorities, so I think the title is still accurate, especially given that the majority of Realtors have been screaming bloody murder that sales would stop when the tax credit expires. The study results beat economists’ forecasts for sentiment as well, so I think at the very least it’s a shimmer of hope that this summer might not be as bad as last summer! 🙂
Mark Jacobs
April 30, 2010 at 12:40 am
Great Post, loved the info. Great work
Bruce Dietz
April 30, 2010 at 9:15 am
Great comments.
The statistics are very helpful.
There are still a considerable number of folks that still qualify for the tax credit, at least for another year.
Brian
May 3, 2010 at 1:36 am
definitely some interesting data, thanks for sharing. i still don’t see much substance behind this “recovery” but call me crazy. =)