By Kerry Smith Of the top 10, three are in Fla. NAR says it analyzed 390 commercial real estate markets and found a “robust recovery with positive net absorption and strengthening rents across the multifamily, industrial and retail property markets.” However, the office sector continues to struggle. Compared to one year ago, asking rents climbed for apartments/multifamily (11%), industrial (7%) and retail (2%) properties, but declined for office properties (-0.4%). NEW YORK – The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) identified the top 10 commercial office markets as of the third quarter of 2021 in its monthly Commercial Market Insights report
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By Kerry Smith Consumer sentiment dropped for the second month in a row, though attitudes about personal situations rose – both current outlooks and expectations for next year. GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Floridians’ economic attitudes dropped again in September, the second month in a row for declines. The monthly index released by the University of Florida’s (UF) Bureau of Economic and Business Research hit 76.1 in September, down 2.4 points from a revised figure of 78.5 in August to hit its lowest level in almost 8 years (October 2013, at 69.9 points). “The decline in consumer confidence was largely fueled by
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While overall home sales show signs of cooling as prices rise and buyers step back, NAR Economist Yun doesn’t see that reflected in sales of vacation homes. CHICAGO – The vacation-home market has boomed over the past year and is not likely to slow any time soon, even as the rest of the housing market starts to cool, says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), in an interview for The Escape Home, a newsletter for second-home owners. Even as companies bring employees back to the office, vacation homes will remain in demand, Yun said, though
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By Amber Randall Homeowners have read bidding-war stories and heard about homes selling for thousands of dollars more than asking price. Now they’re becoming sellers and think they can overprice their property, but the market is seeing more price reductions – 9.4% in Aug., says Zillow, up from 8.6% in July. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Some home sellers are getting greedy in the scorching housing market, and it’s backfiring on them. Many are setting their prices too high, trying to squeeze out every dollar from buyers who are willing to pay well over the asking price, often with cash. A
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By Ron Hurtibise Citizens, the state-owned property insurer, is expected to have 1M policies by 2022. It’s looking at new tactics that could force covered owners to get private coverage. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Customers of state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will be forced to spend more to insure their homes if a new state law limits – or eliminates – their ability to just say no to private companies taking over their policies. Citizens is looking for ways to reduce its policy count, which has increased from 420,000 in 2019 and is expected to reach 765,000 by the end of
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By Kerry Smith If Republicans and Democrats fail to reach agreement by Sept. 30, some services – such as NFIP, IRS and more – could slowly shut down, possibly delaying transactions. WASHINGTON – Congress often agrees to continue government funding at the last minute, but a failure to extend the debt limit has, at times, forced the federal government to cut back on services. In general, vital services remain in operation, but a need for tax records could be delayed, and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) could be impacted. Past government shutdowns – 35 days in 2018-2019 and 16
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NAR’s Technology Board made recommendations that will go into effect if approved by a Multiple Listing Service committee and NAR’s board. Among them: Participants can’t represent that their services are free, and listing ads can’t be sorted or filtered based on the level of compensation a cooperating broker offers. CHICAGO – In a meeting this month, the National Association of Realtors®’ (NAR) MLS Technology and Emerging Issues Advisory Board passed a series of motions designed to ensure that association-operated multiple listing services (MLS) are meeting the needs of consumers and broker subscribers. They would: Prohibit MLS participants and subscribers from
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By Matt Ott U.S. Commerce: Sales of new homes last month were up 1.5%, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 740,000 – more than economists expected. SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) – Sales of new homes in the U.S. rose modestly in August as rising prices continue to sideline potential buyers. Sales of new homes last month rose 1.5%, the Commerce Department reported Friday, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 740,000. That’s more than economists had expected and follows an increase in July, which was revised upward to a seasonally adjusted rate of 729,000 houses. July’s jump came after
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By Kerry Smith The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.88% this week, a small increase from last week’s 2.86%. Freddie Mac credits foreign investors for keeping rates low. MCLEAN, Va. – Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage survey found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 2.88%. up from last week’s 2.86%. “The slowdown in economic growth around the world has caused a flight to the quality of the U.S. financial markets,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “This has led to a rise in foreign investor purchases of U.S. Treasuries, causing mortgage rates to remain in place, despite the increasing dispersion
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A Freddie Mac study of 12M appraisals found that 13% of homes in Black neighborhoods were below contract price; in white tracts, it was 7.4%; in Latino it was 9.4%. WASHINGTON – A new analysis from Freddie Mac alleges appraisal values are more likely to fall below the contracted sales price in Black and Latino neighborhoods than in predominantly White areas. The research is based on an evaluation of 12 million appraisals for purchase transactions on single-family homes submitted to Freddie Mac from 2015 to 2020. Nearly 13% of properties in Black census tracts received appraisal values lower than the
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