May 25, 2018 Property Shortage Reduces April Home Sales New Home Sales dropped 1.5% in April with a 662,000 unit selling pace. On the upside, sales were 11.6% higher than a year ago. The median sales price in April was $312,400, which is 0.4% higher than a year ago. It would take 5.4 months to exhaust the available supply, which is an indicator of a market that’s roughly balanced. Existing Home Sales dropped 2.5% in April to 5.46 million units. While the number of previously owned homes for sale increased 9.8% to 1.80 million units in April, but housing inventory was still down 6.3% from one year ago. This is the 35th consecutive month that housing inventory has declined. At April’s sales pace, it would take 4.0 months to clear the current inventory, down from 4.2 months a year ago. The median house price increased 5.3% from one year ago to $257,900 in April, which is the 74th straight month of year-on-year price gains. .realestate Domains Available In Sept The National Association of REALTORS® is launching a new top-level internet domain, .realestate. The new domain will be available to members of NAR starting in September and then offered to the general public in late November. Real estate professionals and firms will be able to market properties, geographic areas, and their personal brands using the .realestate web address. NAR members who already have an active .realtor domain will be eligible to participate in a presale of the .realestate domain on Sept. 18. Renters Under 50 Want To Buy A Home The New York Federal Reserve recently published the results of their Survey of Consumer Expectations, which covers a wide range of topics including inflation, labor market, household finance, credit access and housing. One of the many questions asked in the housing section of the survey was: Assuming you had the financial resources to do so, would you like to OWN instead of RENT your primary residence? Over three-quarters of respondents under the age of 50 said that they would prefer to own their home, rather than rent, while only 52.6% of those over 50 would prefer to own. When renters were asked what the average probability of owning a primary residence at some point in their future was, 66.4% of those under 50 believed that they would eventually own their home, while only 23% of those over 50 did. With increasing rental rates making more financial sense to purchase a home in many U.S. cities, it’s a great time to target your marketing to attract potential homebuyers. Certainty Home Loans offers numerous loan programs to help first-time homebuyers get into the market with a low down payment. Contact me to get your buyers prequalified before they start house hunting. Why Builders Are Designing More Homes For Single Women Behind married couples, single women are the second largest segment in the entire home-purchase marketplace, accounted for 18% of all home purchases last year compared with just 7% by single males. Home builders have picked up on the trend and increasingly are designing homes and subdivisions to appeal to women’s preferences, including singles. While many first-time female buyers prefer low maintenance condos, one North Carolina home builder noticed that a significant percentages of the homes — upward of 50% in one case — were purchased by single women in their 30s, 40s and older, who are tired of living in apartments and now feel confident enough to buy a new home. Roofing Industry Sees Slow But Steady Growth In New Products Incremental changes in roofing products have focused on solar reflectivity, impact resistance, and enhanced appearance. While asphalt still dominates, with 75% of all sales in residential roofing, metal’s market share now approaches 10%. Roofing manufacturers have been concentrating on the basics—roofing that can take a beating from the weather, products that increase energy efficiency by lowering cooling loads, particularly in the West, and improving aesthetics that give synthetic materials a more natural appearance are on just about every maker’s list. Other notable new products include photocatalytic shingles that turn air pollutants into harmless salts that wash off the roof and solar tiles that produce electricity.

Information Courtesy of Jason Browning – Certainty Home Loans