For two years, Orange County’s new-home market soared.
Sales of brand new homes climbed to 349 a month in 2014 from a monthly average of 159 units in 2012. The new-home share of all home sales rose from 3 percent in July 2012 to 11 percent two years later.
Continue reading WHERE HAVE ALL THE NEW-HOME BUYERS GONE?
Category: Standard
SHOULD MILLENNIALS RENT OR BUY?
Higher Mortgage Rates Could Spur Renting in California
A tougher call for younger house hunters, especially in California, if mortgage rates rise. Many economists predict that the Federal Reserve Bank will raise interest rates, now near historic lows, by the year’s end. Nationally, rates would have to nearly double to about 6.5% to equalize the buy vs. rent equation for young buyers. Still, an increase of 25-50 basis points could push mortgage rates to 4.15% – 4.4%. That would make the costs of renting about the same as buying in some large California markets.
Continue reading SHOULD MILLENNIALS RENT OR BUY?
MEDIAN HOMEBUYER AGE HAS REMAINED ‘REMARKABLY STEADY’ OVER THE YEARS
Despite rising shares of homebuyers age 50 and over and shrinking percentages of homeowners ages 35 to 50 and under 30, the median age of homebuyers has remained “remarkably steady” in the last decade, according to a commentary from the National Association of Realtors.
Continue reading MEDIAN HOMEBUYER AGE HAS REMAINED ‘REMARKABLY STEADY’ OVER THE YEARS