WAYS HOMEBUYERS CAN LEAP THE DOWN PAYMENT HURDLE

Source: Associated Press 

Saving up for a down payment is the biggest hurdle for many would-be homebuyers, particularly those looking to make the leap from renting to owning.

More than two-thirds of renters consider setting aside money for a down payment the No. 1 obstacle to buying a home, according to a recent survey by real estate data provider Zillow. That edged out other concerns, including job security and a thin supply of homes on the market.

While there are home loans that require as little as 3 percent down, rising home prices, especially in expensive coastal states, keep driving up the amount of money buyers need to come up with for a down payment.

Making sense of the story

• Start saving now. Renters may want to calculate what their extra monthly costs would be as a homeowner and then set aside that amount, minus rent and utilities. This accomplishes two goals: Saving money for a down payment and getting you accustomed to the financial constraints of living with the costs of homeownership.

• The type of home loan you get may determine how much of a down payment you need. For many years, buyers sought to put down 20 percent of the purchase price. That would lower their monthly mortgage payment and allow them to avoid having to pay for private mortgage insurance, or PMI. But as home prices have risen, that trend has waned. Loans that require as little as 3 percent up front have become more common. As a result, the median U.S. down payment has declined to 10 percent the past four years, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

• Borrowers with low or moderate income, and teachers, firefighters or other public service job holders may also qualify for down payment assistance through thousands of federal, state or local programs aimed at helping homebuyers.

• There are more than 2,100 funded programs, many of which help cover the down payment and closing costs through loans that can sometimes be forgiven over time, or paid back only once the buyer sells the home, according to Down Payment Resource, a tracker of homebuyer assistance programs.

Full story

https://apnews.com/959488b475a042babc570ee21110c5fc/Ways-homebuyers-can-leap-the-down- payment-hurdle

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WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Mortgage applications increased 7.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 2, 2017. This week's results included an adjustment for the Memorial Day holiday. 

• The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 7.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 15 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 3 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 10 percent from one week earlier to its highest level since May 2010. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 14 percent compared with the previous week and was 6 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

• The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 42.1 percent of total applications from 43.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 7.4 percent of total applications.

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($424,100 or less) decreased to its lowest level since November 2016, 4.14 percent, from 4.17 percent, with points increasing to 0.34 from 0.32 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

• The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to its lowest level since November 2016, 3.39 percent, from 3.42 percent, with points increasing to 0.43 from 0.39 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

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MILLENNIALS ARE POWERING THE HOUSING MARKET

Source: NBC News 

Millennials were the largest group of home buyers (34 percent) for the fourth consecutive year, according to NAR's 2017 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study. By comparison, baby boomers were 30 percent of buyers.

"Millennials have been fairly slow to get into the market, but we are seeing an uptick in millennial buyers this year — which is a good sign, because as home values rise, we want a wider number of people to participate in this housing recovery," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). "There's a pent-up demand and as the economy continues to improve, we expect to see more people in their early thirties, adults who are still living with their parents — clearly not their idea of the American dream — begin to look for their own housing units."

Research done by the National Association of Homebuilders found that more than 90 percent of millennials say they eventually want to buy a house.

Full story

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/real-estate/who-s-powering-housing-market-surprise-it-s-millennials- n768196

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CALIFORNIA AMONG TOP THREE MARKETS FOR FOREIGN COMMERCIAL BUYERS

Florida and Texas were the top markets on foreign real estate investors shopping lists in 2016.
The National Association of REALTORS® said 20 percent of its commercial real estate members closed a sale last year involving foreign buyers.

Florida, Texas and California were the most popular markets for offshore buyers acquiring small properties for either investment or use, the REALTORS® found in their annual commercial real estate survey.

"Nearly half of REALTORS® reported that they experienced a greater number of international clients looking to buy commercial space over the past five years," NAR's top economist Lawrence Yun said in the report. "Economic expansion has slowly chugged along since the downturn, but in comparison to the rest of the world, the U.S. remains one of the most attractive and safest bets for investors. There's little evidence this will change anytime soon."

NAR found that most of the foreign buyers making a play in the U.S. were from China. Chinese investors accounted for 17 percent of the commercial property sales handled by Realtors.

Full story

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2017/06/06/florida-texas-top-foreign-buyers-property- purchase-list

Read more...

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Mortgage applications increased 7.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 2, 2017. This week's results included an adjustment for the Memorial Day holiday. 

• The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 7.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 15 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 3 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 10 percent from one week earlier to its highest level since May 2010. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 14 percent compared with the previous week and was 6 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

• The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 42.1 percent of total applications from 43.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 7.4 percent of total applications.

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($424,100 or less) decreased to its lowest level since November 2016, 4.14 percent, from 4.17 percent, with points increasing to 0.34 from 0.32 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

• The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to its lowest level since November 2016, 3.39 percent, from 3.42 percent, with points increasing to 0.43 from 0.39 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

Read more...

CALIFORNIA AMONG TOP THREE MARKETS FOR FOREIGN COMMERCIAL BUYERS

Source: Dallas Morning News 

Florida and Texas were the top markets on foreign real estate investors shopping lists in 2016.
The National Association of REALTORS® said 20 percent of its commercial real estate members closed a sale last year involving foreign buyers.

Florida, Texas and California were the most popular markets for offshore buyers acquiring small properties for either investment or use, the REALTORS® found in their annual commercial real estate survey.

"Nearly half of REALTORS® reported that they experienced a greater number of international clients looking to buy commercial space over the past five years," NAR's top economist Lawrence Yun said in the report. "Economic expansion has slowly chugged along since the downturn, but in comparison to the rest of the world, the U.S. remains one of the most attractive and safest bets for investors. There's little evidence this will change anytime soon."

NAR found that most of the foreign buyers making a play in the U.S. were from China. Chinese investors accounted for 17 percent of the commercial property sales handled by Realtors.

Full story

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2017/06/06/florida-texas-top-foreign-buyers-property- purchase-list

Read more...

MILLENINALS ARE POWERING THE HOUSING MARKET

Source: NBC News 

Millennials were the largest group of home buyers (34 percent) for the fourth consecutive year, according to NAR's 2017 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study. By comparison, baby boomers were 30 percent of buyers.

"Millennials have been fairly slow to get into the market, but we are seeing an uptick in millennial buyers this year — which is a good sign, because as home values rise, we want a wider number of people to participate in this housing recovery," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). "There's a pent-up demand and as the economy continues to improve, we expect to see more people in their early thirties, adults who are still living with their parents — clearly not their idea of the American dream — begin to look for their own housing units."

Research done by the National Association of Homebuilders found that more than 90 percent of millennials say they eventually want to buy a house.

Full story:

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/real-estate/who-s-powering-housing-market-surprise-it-s-millennials- n768196

Read more...