CALIFORNIA HOUSING MARKET BOUNCES BACK IN FEBRUARY

Source: World Property Journal 

According to the California Association of Realtors, led by the San Francisco Bay region, California home sales registered healthy gains in February 2018 on both a monthly and annual basis after January's weak start.

Making sense of the story: 
• Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 422,910 units in February, according to information collected by C.A.R.

• The statewide annualized sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2018 if sales maintained the February pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

• February's sales figure was up 3.3 percent from the revised 409,520 level in January and up 5.4 percent compared with home sales in February 2017 of a revised 401,060. The year-to-year increase was the largest since March 2017, and the month-to-month increase was the largest since June 2017.

• "February's solid market performance was likely fueled by rising interest rates, which motivated buyers to rush in and close escrow before rates move even higher as they're anticipated to do in the coming months," said C.A.R. President Steve White. "Despite losing ground in January, February's strong sales gain more than covered the loss, resulting in a 1.1 percent increase so far this year."

• While the statewide median price slipped from January, it continued to grow at a strong year- over-year pace and has remained above the $500,000 mark for a full year. The $522,440 February median price was down 1.0 percent from January's $527,780 and was 8.8 percent higher than the revised $480,270 recorded in February 2017. The year-over-year price gain has been growing at or above 7 percent for eight of the past nine months.

Read the full story:
http://www.worldpropertyjournal.com/real-estate-news/united-states/laguna-beach/california- home-sales-report-2018-median-home-prices-in-california-los-angeles-home-sales-san- francisco-home-prices-california-association-of-realtors-10801.php

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FEDERAL RESERVE RAISES INTEREST RATES FOR FIRST TIME IN 2018

Source: Housing Wire

As expected, the Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it is increasing the federal funds rate for the first time in 2018. 

Earlier this year, observers placed the likelihood of the Fed increasing rates by 25 basis points at the end of its March meeting at more than 75%.

And Wednesday, that’s just what the Fed did.

Citing the strength of the economy, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to increase the target range for the federal funds rate to between 1.5% and 1.75%.

Previously, the target range was 1.25% to 1.5%.

“Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising at a moderate rate,” the Fed said in a statement.

Full story:

https://www.housingwire.com/articles/42806-federal-reserve-raises-interest-rates-for-first- time-in-2018

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FREDDIE: ‘ADULTING’ BARRIERS HOLD BACK HOUSING

Source: Realtor Mag

“Adulting” is getting harder for younger generations, which is stymieing the housing market from reaching its full potential, according to Freddie Mac’s latest March Insight report. The report compares young adults to previous generations and the impact to household growth.

“For today’s young adults, ‘adulting’ is hard because the economic environment has been tough in recent years; wage growth has been weak and housing costs have risen rapidly,” researchers note in the report. “On top of that, education and health care costs have skyrocketed.”

Compared to 2000, the average annual expenditures of young adults in 2016 has jumped 36 percent. The average annual expenditures on health care and education have more than doubled, according to the report.

Housing costs and labor market outcomes are the two biggest factors behind the decline in household formation rates among young adults, according to the insight report. From 2000 to 2016, real median home prices rose by 29 percent. However, young adult per capita incomes increased by only 1 percent. Further, the labor force participation rate for young adults has seen a “substantial decline in recent years, particularly for men,” researchers note.

Full story:

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2018/03/20/freddie-adulting-barriers-hold-back- housing

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HOW THE ROLLBACK OF OBAMA-ERA FINANCIAL REGULATIONS COULD AFFECT YOU

Source: Realtor.com

A new banking bill won’t just impact the big banks like Chase and Wells Fargo — if it becomes law, it will impact most Americans too.

The Senate approved a bill last week that will roll back some aspects of the Dodd-Frank banking reform bill, which was passed in 2010 after the financial crisis. It will make many small and midsize banks exempt from parts of Dodd-Frank. The bill was sponsored by Mike Crapo, a Republican senator from Idaho. It will now move to the House, where it could be amended further.

Under the new rules, smaller banks (those with less than $250 billion) won’t have to participate in yearly Federal Reserve “stress tests” that determine where they’re equipped to handle economic and market downturns. Those smaller banks say they would get relief from restrictive rules and that will encourage more lending.

Full story:

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/rollback-obama-era-financial-regulations- affect/iid=rdc_news_hp_carousel_theLatest

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OWNER PERCEPTION OF HOME VALUE DIPS AFTER SEVEN MONTHS OF IMPROVEMENT

Source: Quicken Loans

The gap between an appraisal value and homeowner expectations widened in January – reversing course for the first time in eight months. The National Quicken Loans Home Price Perception Index (HPPI) showed appraisers valued homes an average of 0.6 percent lower than what owners estimated.

Despite the slight difference in perception, the Quicken Loans Home Value Index (HVI) – the only measure of home value change based solely on appraisal data reported climbing home values. On a national level, appraisal values increased 0.46 percent from December to January. The annual growth was even stronger, with home values jumping 7.03 percent from the same month of the previous year.

Full story:
https://www.quickenloans.com/press-room/2018/02/13/owner-perception-of-home-value-dips-after- seven-months-of-improvement/

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WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Nationwide existing home sales decreased in January, seeing the largest annual decline in more than three years, according to the latest release from the National Association of Realtors. 

• Total existing home sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, decreased 3.2% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.38 million, down from a downwardly revised 5.56 million in December. Sales are now down 4.8% from last year, representing the largest annual decline since August 2014 and the slowest pace since September’s 5.37 million. 

• The national median existing home price for all housing types in January was $240,500, up 5.8% from January 2017’s $227,300. This marks the 71st straight month of annual gains. 

• Total housing inventory nationwide at the end of January increased 4.1% to 1.52 million existing homes available for sale, however, this is still down 9.5% from the year before, and has fallen annually for 32 consecutive months. Unsold inventory now stands at a 3.4-month supply at the current sales pace, down from 3.6 months last year.

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CALIFORNIA'S RENTS HAVE RISEN TO SOME OF THE NATION'S HIGHEST

Source: Orange County Register

California’s population is growing faster than builders can add housing, driving up rents. Incomes, meanwhile, aren’t keeping up. As a result, it takes three full-time minimum-wage incomes to afford a two-bedroom apartment. Here’s how rising rents are affecting the state and, in particular, Southern California.

Full story:
https://www.ocregister.com/2018/02/15/california-rent-rates-have-risen-to-some-of-the-nations- highest-heres-how-that-impacts-residents/

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