Found 145 blog entries tagged as demand.

Realtor.com reports, "the number of homes for sale for each renter household in the U.S. remains near record lows, highlighting the supply crunch that first-time buyers face in the current housing market.

Currently, there are about 30 renter households for each available home for sale, up from less than 10 in 2006, according to Freddie Mac’s latest market outlook report.

The supply shortage dates back to the Great Recession, which dealt a major blow to new home construction. Since then, construction has slowly increased, but failed to keep pace with demand, resulting in a shortage of at least 1.5 million homes.

“Therefore, not only do people seeking to buy their first home have to navigate an expensive market, but they also have to compete…

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Austin Business Journal writes, "The Federal Reserve may have cut interest rates last month, but homebuyers still face a challenge when assessing the current market for real estate: home prices.

Prices were up 5.9% in the third quarter this year over the same three-month period in 2023, according to data from Fannie Mae. While that increase is down from a 6.4% spike in the second quarter, it’s still a substantial jump for buyers who are looking for a home.

Mark Palim, Fannie Mae senior vice president and chief economist, said the “robust” growth is because of a lack of supply. Many current owners don’t want to sell their homes and give up the low interest rate they obtained earlier only to step into a high-interest rate environment.

“Even though…

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Realtor.com writes, "homebuyers might be relieved to hear that down payments are finally dropping from recent historic highs.

A new report by Realtor.com® shows that the median down payment homebuyers plunked down from July to September of 2024 was an average of 14.5%—or $30,300.

That’s a $2,400 savings from last quarter’s historic peak of $32,700 (14.9%).

So why are down payments dropping? Fewer homebuyers are out there, which gives those who do brave today’s market more leverage, according to Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones.

“The annual decline in down payments is the result of less buyer competition in the third quarter,” Jones says. “Easing demand and increasing inventory gave buyers more flexibility last…

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Rental homes in Tricon Bryson come in three- and four-bedroom floor plans. CHAD DAVIES

Austin Business Journal reports, "A new build-to-rent neighborhood is opening in one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in Leander.

Tricon Residential Inc., part of Blackstone Real Estate’s portfolio, is opening Tricon Bryson — a build-to-rent neighborhood consisting of 155 single-family homes — within Leander's wider Bryson development, according to an announcement. The new neighborhood will add to the region’s rental housing supply in Leander, where the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population has more than tripled since 2010.

“There’s a tremendous need for more housing overall, and every day it’s harder and harder to get a new neighborhood approved and permitted and ready to go, whether for rent or for sale,” said Andy Carmody, senior…

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Texas needs hundreds of thousands more homes to meet demand, research shows. Shortages are particularly severe in low- and middle-income housing. (Courtesy Adobe Stock)

Community Impact reports, "Texas’ population growth has outpaced homebuilding since 2020, according to the state comptroller’s office, resulting in a widespread housing shortage. Up For Growth, a national housing policy organization, reported that Texas needs about 306,000 more homes to meet demand.

High home prices, steep mortgage rates and limited supply are driving some potential homebuyers out of the market, said Clare Knapp, a housing economist for the Austin Board of Realtors. Texas also had the sixth-highest property tax rate—1.68%—in 2021, according to research from the Tax Foundation.

Home prices shot up during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Knapp added, as remote work policies allowed more people to move to Texas.

In 2019, the median home…

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RealEstateNews.com shares, "While the market remains tepid overall, starter homes are drawing more interest as mortgage rates trend lower and inventory rises.

Pending sales for starter homes jumped more than 10% in July year-over-year, according to the latest Redfin report, reaching the highest level in nearly two years. That's in stark contrast to pending sales for all other tiers, which fell by between 6-10% over the same time period. 

Sale prices of entry-level homes were also up, but increased at a slower pace than other home segments, a sign that inventory and demand are more balanced in the lower price tiers. Redfin defined starter homes are those with a sale price in the 5th-35th percentile. 

Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar…

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Realtor Magazine reports, "Home affordability conditions are improving slightly, which helped to fuel more real estate transactions in July. Existing-home sales, which account for completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, saw their first uptick in about four months, rising 1.3% in July compared to June, NAR’s latest housing report shows.

“Despite the modest gain, home sales are still sluggish,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, adding that sales are still down 2.5% from a year ago. “But consumers are definitely seeing more choices, and affordability is improving due to lower interest rates.”

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.49% as of Aug. 15, down from 7.09% a year earlier, which is…

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Forbes Advisor writes, "The housing market might finally be entering a transitional phase.

Summer sales have been tepid thus far, but there are signs that activity could heat up by the end of the summer as mortgage rates edge down and much-needed resale inventory continues to enter the market, giving buyers more options.

Other good news for home shoppers is the ongoing decline in the median price for a new home—now below the median resale home price—even as builders continue offering buyer incentives.

Nonetheless, experts say the housing market will only see renewed momentum once mortgage rates drop enough to ease affordability challenges and incentivize homeowners locked in at low rates to move so inventory grows substantially to meet…

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The Colony is one of several master-planned developments building homes in the Bastrop area. (Xorin Aeronautics/Community Impact)

Community Impact writes, "A rise in housing options and interest rates has led to an increased number of houses available to potential buyers in Bastrop and Cedar Creek.

The population in Bastrop County was 106,000 as of 2022, a 20% increase from 2019, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. In the same timeframe, the number of housing units in the county increased by over 27% from 31,085 to 39,539.

“I think we can attribute this [population growth] to several factors—the rise in remote work options, competitive home prices compared to our nearby markets, and the ease of commuting from most of the Bastrop-Cedar Creek area into Austin or other areas,” said James Beck, Bastrop County Board of Realtors president and owner of Centum Oak Realty.

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Bankrate.com writes, "Amid an environment of tight inventory and stubbornly high mortgage rates, housing prices in the U.S. continue to rise ever higher. S&P CoreLogic’s latest Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, released July 30, 2024, reports that annual home-price growth increased in May 2024 by 5.9 percent. That marks three consecutive months of hitting a new all-time high.

Case-Shiller Index still rising

In addition to the 5.9 percent overall increase, May numbers increased annually for both of Case-Shiller’s composite indices as well, with the 10-city index up 7.7 percent and the 20-city index up 6.8 percent.

“Our home price index has appreciated 4.1 percent year-to-date, the fastest start in two years,” said Brian D.…

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