This week in rental property, long term mortgage rate edged up to 4.02 percent. Home buyers and sellers heading into the busy summer season have been eyeing mortgage rates wondering how long the good times can last. According to a report release on Wednesday by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, more Americans are renting as homeownership falls for eight straight years. Interestingly, the middle-aged and upper income households are pushing the rental market. Also, according to the Kansas City Federal Reserve, baby boomers will drive the demand for apartments. Fannie and Freddie announced their plans to grow their lending business to affordable housing properties. Then, check out the “Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate” that was given at the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) conference. Lastly, we take a closer look into the trends in residential real estate investing from Inman.com.
TWiRP
Average US Rate on 30-Year Mortgage Edges up to 4.02 Percent.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage edged up to 4.02 percent this week from 4 percent a week earlier. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages slipped to 3.21 percent from 3.23 percent. Mortgage rates have increased in recent weeks, in the midst of the spring home buying season, as the economy has shown signs of improvement: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/average-us-rate-30-year-mortgage-edges-402-32020614
Rising Mortgage Rates to Test Housing Market’s Strength
The housing market could be in for a bumpy ride as mortgage rates climb. Home buyers and sellers heading into the busy summer season have been eyeing mortgage rates wondering how long the good times can last. The national housing market has been gaining strength in recent years as prices rose rapidly in many areas. In the first quarter, 51 metro areas posted double-digit percentage price gains, according to the National Association of Realtors. But economists say that momentum may not outlast higher rates, depending a lot on location: http://www.wsj.com/articles/rising-mortgage-rates-to-test-housing-markets-strength-1434913633
More Americans Are Renting, and Paying More, as Homeownership Falls
The nation’s homeownership rate has been falling for eight years, down to 63.7 percent in the first quarter of this year from a peak of over 69 percent in 2004, according to a new report released on Wednesday by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. The flip side of the decline in homeownership is a boom in rentals and a significant rise in the cost of renting. On average, the number of new rental households has increased by 770,000 annually since 2004, the center’s report said, making 2004-14 the strongest 10-year stretch of rental growth since the late 1980s: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/business/economy/more-americans-are-renting-and-paying-more-as-homeownership-falls.html?_r=0
Blame Middle-Ages Americans for the Red-Hot U.S. Rental Market
Households between the ages of 45 and 64 accounted for about twice the share of renter growth as those younger than 35, according to a new Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies report. In part, that’s unsurprising: It’s a larger age group of adults. What is unexpected is that those older households are historically more likely to own, yet the 55 to 64 age group counted for a larger share of rental growth than any other age group between 2004 to 2014: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-24/blame-middle-aged-americans-for-the-red-hot-u-s-rental-market
Baby Boomers will Drive Demand for Apartments, Fed Study Shows
The volatile U.S. multifamily housing market has returned to pre-recession investment levels, driven largely by millennials putting off home-buying and settling for rentals, but in the long term it will be baby boomers that will drive the market as they downsize, according to the Kansas City Federal Reserve: http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/business/3772523-baby-boomers-will-drive-demand-apartments-fed-study-shows
Fannie and Freddie Reward Affordable Housing Properties
If you own an apartment property where the rents are relatively low, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have an extra motive to offer you competitive financing options. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac face strict federal limits on how much they can lend to apartment properties. But loans to affordable housing assets won’t count towards those caps. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can offer these properties competitive, low rates without worrying that they might lend too much and bump up against their limits for the year. Accordingly, the agencies plan to grow their lending business to affordable housing properties: http://nreionline.com/multifamily/fannie-and-freddie-reward-affordable-housing-properties
10 Real Estate Issues that could Impact Home Sales This Year
Noah Shlaes, chairman of the invitation-only professional association of real estate advisers, spoke to attendees at the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) conference on Wednesday. He covered the association’s annual list of “Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate.”: http://www.inman.com/2015/06/24/10-real-estate-issues-that-could-impact-home-sales-this-year/
Uptick in Residential Real Estate Investing in 2015: Part 1
A healthier real estate market in 2015 has driven the enthusiasm and optimism of investors and encouraged them to buy more, which is contributing to sustained market growth. In an upbeat and healthier market, investors are showing strong optimism and increasingly focusing on properties with a higher price tag: http://www.inman.com/2015/06/25/uptick-in-residential-real-estate-investing-in-2015-part-1/