CNBC Reveals Three Housing Market Hot Spots

Screen Shot 2015-03-04 at 5.49.32 PM

David Goldberg, UBS analyst, appeared on CNBC’s Power Lunch on Wednesday to explain why Las Vegas, Phoenix and Atlanta are currently the country’s three biggest housing hot spots.

According to Goldberg, all three cities boast good job growth, easy comps and an inventory of available new homes.

“We’ve got some job growth, the mortgage market is opening up incrementally, and that’s going to move housing forward,” Goldberg said.

Image via flickr/Joe Wolf

Continue to original source.

Millennials Seeking Smaller Homes, Greater Details

house

The National Association of Home Builders revealed on Monday that there are several characteristics in a home that will become more and more sought-after as millennials begin to enter the housing market.

For one, desired home will get a little smaller, while laundry rooms and home technology will become more prevalent.

“Builders will build whatever demand calls out for,” NAHB Assistant Vice President of Research Rose Quint said.

Image via flickr/ Krystian Olszanski

Continue to original source.

Report: Millennials Prefer Suburbs Over City Living

suburbs

A new survey released on Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors finally put to rest the debate over whether millennials are likely to remain city dwellers or eventually move out into the suburbs.

According to the findings, 66 percent of individuals born since 1977 want to live in a single-family home in the suburbs, even if they are now reside in the city.

“While you are more likely to attract this generation than other generations to buy a condo or a house downtown, that is a relative term,” said Rose Quint, the association’s assistant vice president of survey research. “The majority of them will still want to buy the house out there in the suburbs.”

Image via flickr/futureatlas.com

Continue to original source.

How Do Oil Prices Affect the Housing Market? Experts Differ

gas prices

How to oil prices affect the housing market? It depends who you ask.

One economist – Freddie Mac’s Frank Nothaft – had quite a positive outlook.

“It has the same impact on consumer spending as a tax cut would,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “It should help to strengthen housing demand.”

Another – Credit Suisse analyst Michael Dahl – wasn’t so sure.

“Overall, we still see modestly better single-family housing growth in 2015 than in 2014, but the expected slowdown to housing construction activity in oil-focused local economies trumps other positive incremental tailwinds in the market,” he explained.

Image via flickr/The_Gut

Continue to original source.

Redfin Offers Tax Tips for Home Sellers

taxes

Redfin writer Scott Kelly shared a new blog post on Tuesday, providing home sellers with a set of four tips to keep in mind, now that tax season is upon us.

In the post, Kelly urges sellers to make sure you don’t owe capital gains tax, and if you do, be sure to calculate your cost basis.

In addition, if you’re moving for a new job, you should keep in mind that you can often deduct your moving expense.

And finally, remember that if you sold your home for less than you owed in 2014, you won’t have to pay any home-related taxes.

Image via flickr/eFile989

Continue to original source.

Small Houses, Big Prices in Palo Alto, Calif.

palo alto

According to CNBC, Palo Alto, California, is considered one of the most highly sought-after communities in the San Francisco Bay area. That, of course, means there’s a huge demand for homes and a fairly low inventory, leading to small houses more aptly defined as bungalows selling for millions of dollars.

In one concrete example, a 990-square-foot home with two bedrooms and one bathroom recently sold for $3 million.

“Given what’s going on with income growth, unless there is a crash in tech, I see this as sustainable in the near term,” Nancy Wallace, a professor at the U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business, said.

Image via Wikimedia Commons/Jawed Karim

Continue to original source.

National Association of Realtors Reveals Most and Least Popular Closing Dates in 2014

calendar

In a new blog post published by the National Association of Realtors, director of housing statistics Danielle Hale and data analyst Hua Zhong outlined the year’s most and least popular closing dates in 2014.

First, the two experts revealed that Fridays and the last business day of the month were the most popular days, with Monday, June 30, taking home the top prize.

“In fact, these days are so popular that the top 25 closing days are expected to account for roughly a quarter of all home sale closings for the year.”

On the other end of the spectrum, it was noted that weekends and holidays are the least popular closing dates, but with those taken out of the equation, Jan. 2 was the slowest day of the year in 2014.

Image via flickr/Dafne Cholet

Continue to original source.

Tax Tips for First-Time Homebuyers

taxes

With tax season upon us, Redfin has just released a series of tips to help out first-time homebuyers when filing their tax returns for 2014.

According to the real estate news site, the main thing to keep in mind is that you may want to itemize your deductions.

“For many non-homeowners, the standard deduction is a no-brainer – it’s easy and you barely have anything you could itemize anyway,” blogger Scott Kelly explained. “Once you own a home, however, the math changes: You can deduct your mortgage interest payments. This deduction, in combination with other deductions, will often exceed the standard deduction.”

Image via flickr/401(k) 2012

Continue to original source.

Increase in Available Rental Units Likely to Slow Down Rent Growth

rent

There’s good news on the horizon for renters: As the number of available rental units continues to the increase, the rate of rent growth is likely to slow down.

“Although an improving labor market with more jobs and faster wage growth should provide landlords with more leverage to increase rents, over time this will be stymied by the sheer number of new units that are going to come online, increasing competition in the market,” economist Ryan Severino told MarketWatch.

According to the news source, contractors have been steadily creating new units as the market prepares for an influx of new renters.

Image via flickr/Charleston’s TheDigitel

Continue to original source.