Housing News
Survey shows first time buyer sentiment trending positive
First time buyers’ sentiment
In a survey conducted in March by national brokerage Century21, just over 700 first time buyers and sellers were surveyed online with 80% responding that they believe now is a good time to buy a home and that the market is more affordable now than at this time last year.
Even better news for real estate agents is that 60% of respondents said they don’t feel that they have “a good handle on the real estate process” and 85% believe that using a real estate professional is important.
The survey noted that the top three skills valued in Realtors (by buyers and sellers alike) are knowledge of the area, trustworthiness and responsiveness.
First time buyers rated the three most influential factors in their decision to enter the market and buy a home as current housing prices (66%), the home buyer tax credit (63%) and low interest rates (60%), showing a high number of respondents that acutely aware of general market conditions like the tax credit and interest rates.
First time sellers’ sentiments
Home prices were the reason given for 50% of first time sellers to move up and the reason for 37% to change neighborhoods, and 53% of sellers believe that home prices will go up within the next year.
87% of first time buyers and 85% of first time sellers feel that getting a mortgage today is either somewhat difficult or very difficult.
This data appears mostly consistent with the Fannie Mae survey of current homeowners, showing sentiment is currently positive toward real estate buying and selling and the Campbell/Inside Mortgage survey finding first time buyer activity on the rise.
The full first time buyer and seller survey:
CC Licensed image courtesy of monkeyjenn 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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Joe Loomer
April 22, 2010 at 7:07 am
“the home buyer tax credit (63%)” – does this mean 63% of First Time Homebuyers won’t buy a home after 1 May? With statistics from all sources showing 1st Timers making up 48%-52% of all sales, what does this hold for the summer selling season with the expiration looming? Does that number fall back (naturally) to the 38%-42% level of a “normal” market? Will repeat buyers make up the difference? Either way, my opinion is this isn’t necessarily good news – although it is somewhat edifying to see the reliance on advice from a real estate professional receiving good props.
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
Benn Rosales
April 22, 2010 at 11:22 am
This survey is packed with messaging opportunities for agents and is a fantastic survey. It’s to bad that most agents won’t use this tool to retool their marketing.