Housing News
Could home values be heading for the triple dip? Some say yes
Home values to drop again?
According to financial analytics company Fiserv, home prices have not quite hit bottom yet and they expect them to fall another 3.6 percent by June 2012 which would put them at 35 percent below the 2006 peak, marking a new low and a triple dip in home values.
In 2011, we have reported that despite NAR and other entities saying that we are not in a double dip, there are nearly a dozen economic indicators to prove otherwise. Home prices broke records this summer and we showed you evidence of a double dip this spring, most notably this chart:
What will ultimately hold back the housing market
Some try to note the double dip isn’t real while others (like Fiserv) are predicting we will hit a third dip prior to recovery. High unemployment remains a problem and consumers and in a recent study, half of all consumers polled indicated that saving up for a down payment was the most serious financial obstacle blocking their home purchase while a third noted that not having a stable job was prohibiting their homeownership.
This will continue to be a problem along with rising foreclosures and the shadow inventory of bank owned homes that haven’t made it through the foreclosure process yet, as many banks have frozen parts of their foreclosure processing voluntarily or as ordered by the state and have laid off staff which has, in essence, kinked the hose which will eventually open back up.
Foreclosures and unemployment continue to plague housing, and if Fiserv is right about a continued slide in home values, we’re looking at the third dip since the market crashed.
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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.
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Sheila Rasak
November 1, 2011 at 8:08 pm
History is repeating itself. I believe we will see a lull with the holidays rapidly approaching in actual seizures, but come January I think we'll be seeing a large push again.