FHFA Says Home Prices Up 4.8% Year-Over-Year

Brad BeckettNotes

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), home prices were up 4.5% from January 2024 to January 2025, after rising 0.2% in January.  The FHFA HPI is the nation’s only collection of public, freely available house price indexes that measure changes in single-family home values based on data from all 50 states and over 400 American cities that extend back to the mid-1970s. Click here to read the full report at the FHFA.   The post FHFA Says Home Prices Up 4.8% Year-Over-Year appeared first on Real Estate Investing Today.

68% of Condos Sold Below List Price in February—the Highest Share in 5 Years

Lily KatzNotes

The condo market has been slowing due to surging insurance costs and HOA fees, which have priced many buyers out. It has also become more common for townhouses and single-family homes to sell below list price as buyers gain negotiating power amid rising inventory and high housing costs. Roughly two-thirds (68.4%) of U.S. condos that sold in February sold for less than their original asking price, up from 63.3% a year earlier and the highest February level in five years.  The share of townhouses selling for below their original asking price also hit the highest February level in five years, rising to 59.4% from 54.7% a year earlier—but that’s smaller than the uptick for condos. The share of single-family homes selling for less than list price hit the highest February level in two years, climbing to 64.2% from 61.2% a year earlier—also smaller than the uptick for condos.  Across all …

Spring Brings Record-High Monthly Housing Costs, Keeping Pending Home Sales at Bay

Dana AndersonReal Estate

Soaring housing payments are keeping many homebuyers on the sidelines, but new listings are ticking up and there are signs some house hunters are emerging as we enter spring.  Housing costs are at an all-time high. The typical U.S. homebuyer’s monthly payment hit a record high for the second week in a row, reaching $2,802 during the four weeks ending March 30. Sale prices are up 3.4% year over year, and the weekly average mortgage rate is 6.65%, near its lowest level since December but more than double pandemic-era lows.  Pending home sales are declining. High costs are keeping a lid on sales; pending home sales fell 2.3% year over year.  But there are signs more house hunters are hitting the pavement. Mortgage-purchase applications are at their highest level in over two months. Home tours are rising twice as fast this year than they were at this time last year …

America’s Renter Population Grew 1% in Q4 2024

Brad BeckettReal Estate

We recently posted the Census Bureau’s Homeownership & Rental Vacancy numbers for Q4 2024.  In that vein, Redfin says the number of renter households in America increased 0.8% year over year to 45.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 – the slowest growth since Q1 of 2023.  In addition, they found that the number of homeowner households rose 0.8% to 86.9 million—a growth rate that’s little changed from recent quarters.  To get their report, Redfin analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data going back to 1994.  See the interactive map below for more data. !function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}}))}(); Click here to read the full report at Redfin.   The post America’s Renter Population Grew 1% in Q4 2024 appeared first on Real Estate Investing Today.

New Tariffs Likely to Result in Volatile Mortgage Rates, Higher Construction Costs

Chen ZhaoReal Estate

Chen Zhao Chen Zhao leads the economics team at Redfin, where she produces research on the housing market for public and internal audiences. Previously, she was an executive director leading housing finance and financial markets research at the JPMorgan Chase Institute. Prior to joining JPMCI, Chen was an economics consultant at Analysis Group, Inc., where she worked on financial litigation cases and led teams conducting health economics and outcomes research on behalf of pharmaceutical companies. While in graduate school, Chen was with the Center for Economic Studies and the Social Economic and Housing Statistics Division at the US Census Bureau, where she conducted applied microeconomics research using large scale restricted-access linked survey-administrative data. She started her career at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, where she focused on labor and health economics. Email Chen

Mastering Mobile Home Investments

Brad BeckettReal Estate

On a recent episode of the AZREIA Show, Marcus Maloney & Michael Del Prete talk with mobile home expert, Adrian Smude, about the world of mobile home investments. Adrian recounts his journey from being a problematic tenant to becoming a successful investor specializing in buying and renting single-unit mobile homes in Central Florida.  Adrian discusses the nuances of mobile home investments, including key differences from traditional homes, the importance of understanding market regulations, and practical tips for those interested in diving into this niche market. Click here to listen.   The post Mastering Mobile Home Investments appeared first on Real Estate Investing Today.

Secret Mortgage Blacklist Is Leaving Homeowners Stuck With Unsellable Condos

Brad BeckettReal Estate

The Wall Street Journal is reporting (reposted on Realtor.com) that a there is a secret mortgage blacklist that is leaving homeowners stuck with unsellable condominiums.  They say since the Surfside condo collapse and insurance crunch, fewer homes can get Fannie Mae-backed mortgages.  Reportedly, the blacklist is maintained by Fannie Mae and includes condo associations that the mortgage finance giant thinks don’t have adequate property insurance or need to make critical building repairs – and, being on this list can potentially make it harder for buyers to obtain a mortgage.  Indeed… Real-estate agent Paul Gangi was days away from closing a sale of his listing in Shadow Ridge, a 440-unit townhouse and condo complex in Ventura County, Calif., in December. That is when his phone rang. “I got a panicked call from the lender saying, ‘Sorry, we’ve just found out Shadow Ridge has been blacklisted,’” he said. The buyer tried several …

New Home Sales Up 1.8% in February

Brad BeckettNotes

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in February, 2025 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 676k, which is 1.8% higher than January’s revised rate and is 5.1% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in February was $415,500 with an average sales price of $487,100.  There were an estimated 500k new houses for sale at the end of February representing a 8.9-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.   The post New Home Sales Up 1.8% in February appeared first on Real Estate Investing Today.

Big City Comeback: Homebuyer Competition Is Rising Fastest in the Bay Area, New York

Lily KatzNotes

57% of homes in San Francisco sold above their list price in February, up from 50% a year earlier—the biggest jump among the top 50 metros. Homebuyer competition slowed fastest in Southern California; over half of homes in San Diego sold for below their list price, compared with just 42% a year earlier. Eight of the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas saw an increase in the share of homes selling for above their original list price in February, and half of those metros are in the Bay Area or New York. In San Francisco, 57.2% of homes that sold went for more than their original list price, up 7.5 percentage points from a year earlier. That’s the biggest jump among the top 50 metros. Next came Nassau County, NY (+4.4 ppts), San Jose, CA (+3.5 ppts), Milwaukee (+2.7 ppts), San Antonio (+2.4 ppts), New York (+2.2 ppts), Portland, OR …

S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Sees 4.1% Annual Gain in January

Brad BeckettNotes

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 4.1% annual increase for January, 2025.  Their 10-City Composite increased 5.3% and their 20-City Composite increased 4.7%, year-over-year. “Rising mortgage rates throughout the year elevated monthly payment burdens, which, combined with already high home prices, pushed affordability to multi-decade lows in many regions. This likely contributed to subdued activity in the back half of the year, with both buyers and sellers exercising caution. Inventory constraints also remain a challenge, particularly in legacy metro areas, where limited new construction continues to restrict supply.”   Said Nicholas Godec, CFA, CAIA, CIPM, Head of Fixed Income Tradables & Commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices. Click here to read the full report at S&P Dow Jones Indices.   The post S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Sees 4.1% Annual Gain in January appeared first on Real Estate Investing Today.