Tag Archives: shows
US housing market moving further towards stability, says latest Freddie Mac index
The US housing market continues to slowly stabilise with prices just 7% below peak values nationally and price indices in many markets are at all-time highs, according to the latest multi indictor market index. Two additional states, Arkansas and Tennessee, and four additional metro areas, of Omaha, Nebraska; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Chattanooga, Tennessee and Madison, Wisconsin, are now on the outer range of stable housing activity, says the report from Freddie Mac. The national MiMi value stands at 80.3, indicating a housing market that is on its outer stable range, while showing an improvement of 1.33% from May to June and a quarterly improvement of 2.26%. On a year on year basis, the national MiMi value has improved 5.41%. Since its all-time low in October 2010, the national MiMi has rebounded 35% but remains significantly off from its high of 121.7. The data also shows that 28 of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia have MiMi values in a stable range, with the District of Columbia at 101.7, North Dakota at 96.2, Montana at 93.5, Hawaii at 92.9, and California and Utah tied at 89, ranking in the top five. Some 42 of the 100 metro areas have MiMi values in a stable range, with Fresno at 96.8, Austin at 94.9, Honolulu at 93.7, Salt Lake City at 91.7 and Los Angeles at 91.5, ranking in the top five. The most improving states month on month were New Jersey with growth of 2.61%, Florida up 2.6%, the District of Columbia up 2.31%, Connecticut up 2.26% and Nevada and Rhode Island both up 2.18%. The index data also shows that year on year the most improving states were Oregon with growth of 13.59%, Florida up 13.27%, Nevada up 12.38%, Colorado up 10.18% and Rhode Island up 9.32%. The most improving metro areas month on month were Stockton, California, up 3.48%, Cape Coral, Florida, up 3.36%, Sarasota, Florida, up 3.34%, Lakeland, Florida up 3.19% and Tampa, Florida up 2.96%. On a year on year basis, the most improving metro areas were Orlando, Florida with growth of 16.22%, Cape Coral, Florida up 16.13%, Portland, Oregon up 14.57%, Palm Bay, Florida up 14.37% and North Port, Florida up 14.33%. In June, 45 of the 50 states and 95 of the 100 metros were showing an improving three month trend. The same time last year, 33 of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, and 80 of the top 100 metro areas were showing an improving three month trend. ‘Housing markets are the strongest they've been in years with the National MiMi above 80 for the first time since 2008. Nationally, all MiMi indicators are heading in the right direction,’ said Freddie Mac deputy chief economist Len Kiefer. ‘Robust home buyer demand has put total home sales on pace for the best year since 2007 and look for that trend to continue as the MiMi purchase applications indicator remains on the upswing. The West has been especially strong, with… Continue reading
Research paints a generally harmonious tenant/landlord relationship
Tenants in the UK believe that landlords are fair and helpful but there’s room for improvement on safety issues according to new research. Overall a harmonious, friendly and respectful relationship exists between landlords and tenants, with 59% of people surveyed saying they believe they pay a fair price in rent and 48% saying they have a good or very good relationship with their landlord. The research from AXA Business Insurance also shows that only 6% of tenants feel their relationship with their landlord is bad or very bad, and good will and acts of kindness are common between property owners and the people who rent from them. But it also highlights significant room for improvement when it comes to safety and security. Some 43% of landlords have failed to arrange the legally required annual gas safety check, 54% have neglected to install a fire alarm, 68% have not organised an annual electrical safety inspection, and 71% have not organised a carbon monoxide alarm. In addition, 74% of landlords have failed to put locks on all external windows and doors and 78% of landlords have not arranged a door chain or spyhole to keep their tenants secure. Despite these important oversights, people up and down the country generally paint a positive portrait of the person who owns their rented home. Some 30% of tenants most commonly describe their landlords, 23% as helpful, 20% as responsible, 19% as trustworthy and 15% as caring. In the small number of cases where the relationship is more difficult, some 2% of tenants say their landlord is creepy, 3% think they’re seedy and 3% describe them as dishonest. Some 28% of tenants say their landlord has done something ‘nice’ for them and 20% say they have done something ‘nice’ for their landlord in return. Many swap cards on special occasions, while the most common acts of kindness on the landlord’s side include gift giving, forgiving a late payment in difficult times and offering help above and beyond what might be reasonably expected in a tenant’s agreement. In return, tenants are happy to arrange small decorating or DIY jobs and even do a bit of home baking when they expect a landlord visit. And while 35% of tenants admit they’d take more care of a home they owned themselves, most make a special effort to look after the property and aim to have it clean and tidy before the landlord pops round. Cleaning floors and bathrooms, making beds, spraying air-freshener or lighting candles and taking the bins out in advance of a visit are common. Yet even those people who enjoy a positive rental experience recognise that not everyone is as lucky, and 85% agree that the government should do more to protect people who rent from private landlords. ‘There’s clearly a lot of good will between landlords and their tenants and our research shows that rental home horror stories and negative stereotypes… Continue reading
Auctions set to continue as popular means of selling a home in Australia
While housing market conditions remain strong in Australian cities, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, auctions will continue to be a popular way of selling a residential property, new research suggests. Over the past financial year some 25.6% of all properties advertised for sale were taken to auction across Australia’s capital cities, with Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra showing more than one third of all listings being taken to auction, according to data from real estate firm CoreLogic. There were approximately 380,000 dwellings advertised for sale across Australia’s capital cities over the 2014/2015 financial year, of which roughly 84,000 or 26% were advertised as auction sales. The proportion of auction sales has broadly been rising since the 2008/2009 financial year when auctions comprised a much lower 16% of all dwellings listed for sale. According to CoreLogic RP Data research director Tim Lawless, the rise in the proportion of residential properties taken to auction should come as no surprise, considering how hot housing market conditions are in the auction centric cities of Melbourne and Sydney. ‘When market demand is high and buyers are highly competitive, the auction process is likely to provide the best possible price on a property transaction. The opposite is true when housing market conditions are weak, auctions aren’t as popular due to fact that there is less urgency amongst buyers and the competitive bidding environment isn’t likely to be as conducive to finding the best possible price on a home,’ he said. ‘Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra have a well-established auction culture with this sale method well accepted by vendors and buyers. The other capital cities still list the vast majority of homes for sale via private treaty,’ he added. The data confirms that across the capital cities, Melbourne is still the city where auctions are the most popular method of selling a home. Some 39% of all Melbourne's residential property listings over the past financial year were taken to auction, with Sydney and Canberra not far behind at 38% and 36% respectively. However, an examination of the proportion of listings taken to auction across product types, Canberra and Sydney are both showing a larger proportion of auction listings for houses than Melbourne. The remaining capital cities are all showing auctions to be a far less popular method for selling a home. Some 16% of Adelaide listings were taken to auction over the past financial year, while 11% were taken to auction in Brisbane and Darwin and less than 5% of listings in Perth and Hobart were auctions. It is generally the more expensive or unique dwellings in these cities that are taken to auction. ‘With auction clearance rates remaining in the high 70% range across Sydney and Melbourne, as well as values continuing to show a strong rate of appreciation, we can expect the high proportion of auction listings to remain in these cities,’ Lawless explained. Looking across the suburbs, there were five suburbs, all in Sydney, where more than 95% of… Continue reading
