Tag Archives: job

Housing Industry Riding Coat Tails of Surging Job Market

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Where the job market goes, the housing industry follows. And with the economy continuing to hum, both sectors are surging further upward in the new year, according to economists from two companies who would know: realtor.com® and job search site indeed.com.

“The news is good. Employers are looking at 2016 as being quite strong,” said Tara Sinclair, the chief economist for indeed.com, during a joint press briefing in Washington, DC, with realtor.com® chief economist Jonathan Smoke.

Both laid out predictions for another year of steady home sales and job growth, particularly in the country’s largest urban centers. New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles, as well as the high-tech hubs of the San Francisco Bay Area, Denver, Seattle, and Austin, all had strong employment gains—and, not at all coincidentally, some of the country’s busiest real estate markets.

It’s a simple equation: Hot job markets attract job seekers, and job seekers need a place to live … read more —>  http://www.realtor.com/news/trends

Fannie Mae Exec: San Diego Poised for Growth

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High wage job growth and millennials forming their own households should pace local demand for apartments in the coming year, a Fannie Mae executive said in San Diego on Monday.

“Just the demographics continue to be in favor of new renters entering the space and with new renters comes demand, and it means that vacancy rates are low and will continue to be low,” said Jeff Hayward, who heads the government-sponsored enterprise’s multifamily mortgage business. “All the fundamentals at the moment are in line for us to have a great 2015.”

Hayward said millennials, those between 24 and 35, are beginning to rent apartments. Additionally, more people are moving into San Diego than leaving because of broad-based job growth. In all, it makes for an increase in demand for rental units. Hayward, speaking to reporters at the Commercial Real Estate Finance Multifamily Housing Convention at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, said these factors are indicative of the real estate market now going through some of the best times it’s going to have.

The pickup began in the latter parts of 2014, which Hayward said started slowly. Investors got off the fence when interest rates fell toward the end of the year, he said. Fannie Mae, which securitizes mortgages into mortgage backed securities, therefore increasing the number of lenders, announced Monday that it provided $28.9 billion in financing to the multifamily market in 2014. That’s up about $100 million from 2013, and well above the $17 billion the activity bottomed out at in 2010, just after the Great Recession.

“If you look at anybody’s forecast, the market will be a pretty large market this year,” Hayward said. “And as long as our lenders are there sharing risk with us we’re going to be there with them.”

In San Diego County, the roughly 4,500 building permits for multifamily units about doubled those for single family homes, census data shows. Hayward said Fannie Mae’s economists are finding that more people want to live in walkable urban areas, such as downtown San Diego. Hayward said the region is poised for continued growth in multifamily housing.

“You’re still going to have job growth here even though in the defense sector you’re going to have some cutbacks,” he said. “This really is a pretty robust economy. There’s net in migration, so there’s more people coming to this area. Anytime you have more people coming to the area you’re going to have a bit more demand, so I think this is really the classic supply-demand, there’s not as much supply as maybe need be.”

With the higher demand and lower vacancy rate, the average rents in the county are expected to increase. Last year, CBRE projected the average rent would rise 19 percent through 2019 to $1,830 per month.

courtesy of:  http://www.utsandiego.com/news/

Mom-and-Dad Banks Step Up Aid to First-Time Home Buyers

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The Bank of Mom and Dad is playing a growing role as lender of last resort for a housing recovery struggling to provide more traction for the U.S. economy.

Last year, 27 percent of those purchasing a home for the first time received a cash gift from relatives or friends to come up with a down payment, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. That’s up from 24 percent in 2012 and matches the highest share since the group began keeping records in 2009.

Those numbers will probably keep growing this year as younger Americans remain constrained by student debt, tough entry into the job market and stricter mortgage-lending rules that require more cash up front. At the same time, rising stock and property values give their baby boomer parents the ability to assist those wanting to lock in near record-low borrowing costs …. read more —> 

courtesy of:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/

3 Major “Need to Know’s” About The 2014 Housing Market

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The following list was put together by a veteran housing economist, asked by HousingWire for his opinion on the near-term future of the markets we cover daily.

(David Berson is the chief economist at Nationwide. He leads a team of economic analysts delivering economic forecasts and analyses that are used to inform and strengthen the organization’s business strategies and operating plans. Prior to joining Nationwide, David served as the chief economist at The PMI Group and for Fannie Mae.)

Here’s David Berson’s take on the 3 things you need to know about housing in 2014.

No. 1: 2014 should prove to be the strongest year for housing activity since before the Great Recession.

Housing activity (home sales and housing starts) has increased modestly over the past several years, but is still at levels well-below sustainable trends. For both economic and demographic reasons, 2014 should be the year when activity reaches the highest level since 2006/2007.

Propelling home sales are job growth and housing affordability. The latter reflects the interplay of household income, mortgage rates and house prices. In 2013, while housing activity picked up, it was a year when job growth remained low and virtually unchanged from the previous year.  Moreover, affordability, while still high, fell sharply in the second half.

Most economists expect an improved job market in 2014, with employment growth accelerating and the unemployment rate continuing to decline. That jobless rate drop will reflect more of a pickup in employment than further declines in the labor force participation rate. This will be the key factor improving housing demand this year, even if mortgage rates rise and affordability declines. While the housing market tends to do especially well when the job market improves and mortgage rates decline simultaneously, that combination of events occurs only rarely.

More often, either job gains accelerate while mortgage rates rise, or job gains decline while mortgage rates drop. Typically, housing activity expands in the former case and contracts in the latter. People buy homes when their job and income prospects improve – even if it’s more expensive to do so – rather than buy when it is inexpensive to do so but they’re worried about keeping their jobs.

No. 2: Demographics should start to favor housing activity.

The demographic factor most affecting the housing market is household formations. Newly formed households may buy or rent, but they reside somewhere as an independent unit. On average, roughly 1.2 million households form every year in the United States and they each demand a housing unit. Household formations are affected by the job market, as people “double-up” when worried about their job and income-earning prospects. The Great Recession and the modest job recovery in the years following induced many people who might have lived independently to move in together. That’s most noticeable in the rise in the share of young adults living with their parents, primarily because of the weak job recovery.

Reflecting the slow pace of household formations, there is an increasing pent-up demand for households. After all, most of these young adults would prefer the freedom of being on their own (and their parents really don’t want them as full-time residents, either). We estimate the economy is short by more than three million households.

If the economy expands at a faster pace this year, bringing a more rapid rate of job creation, that should translate into more households, raising housing demand. We won’t see all three million missing households return to the housing market at once. (That wouldn’t be a good thing for the housing market anyway, since that would be on top of the 1.2 million households that normally would develop this year; such a surge would swamp the existing housing supply). Beginning in 2014, the pace of household formations should accelerate to an above-trend pace for several years, pushing up housing demand.

No. 3: Mortgage availability shouldn’t worsen and may improve.

Mortgage credit isn’t nearly as easy to get as it was during the housing boom, and it shouldn’t be.  Still, compared with recent years, mortgage availability has increased slightly. And reasons exist for mortgage availability to be no worse in 2014 than in the past few years. Actually, it may be somewhat easier to get a mortgage loan.

With the dislocations in mortgage lending since the housing bubble popped, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have increased their share of the mortgage market significantly. When combined with lending from the Federal Housing Administration and the Veteran’s Administration, the government or government-sponsored share of mortgage lending has climbed to more than 90 percent in recent years. That is an untenable situation in the long run, but is unlikely to change much this year.

The good news is that new Qualified Mortgage lending rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau exempt home mortgages that qualify for purchase or securitization from Fannie and Freddie. As a result, mortgage lenders won’t have to tighten their mortgage-underwriting requirements in response to QM as long as they sell their loans to the GSEs.

Additionally, the rise in mortgage rates already has reduced mortgage origination volumes as refinance activity declines. If mortgage rates rise further this year, as expected, then refinance activity will fall still more. In response, mortgage lenders probably will ease lending standards to the extent possible under the QM rules to boost lending activity by increasing purchase originations. As a result, the increase in new households expected to be created this year, spurred by a stronger job market, should find that qualifying for a mortgage loan will be somewhat easier in 2014 than in prior years.

courtesy of:  http://www.housingwire.com/

16 ‘To-Dos’ for Your Next Move from USAA

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Moving is a lot more than getting your stuff from point A to point B.  It’s a major life event.

Without proper planning, a move can squeeze your savings — and challenge your sanity. To help keep costs and headaches to a minimum, get organized early. Follow this checklist of moving tips to help make your relocation go as smoothly as possible:

1. Save Before You Go.  Even when the military or another employer covers some costs, moving expenses can set you back thousands of dollars. Shipping charges, personal travel costs, temporary housing expenses and start-up fees at your new residence can add up. So, as soon as you know you’re going to move, figure out your out-of-pocket costs. Then, set aside some cash each month for the move.

2. Do It Yourself?  If you’re in the military, you usually can choose whether to let a military moving contractor pack and transport your belongings, or manage the move on your own. Formerly called a DITY move, this option is now referred to as a “Personally Procured Move.” The government will pay an incentive to service members who move themselves.

3. Look for Work.  While you may have a career waiting for you, don’t assume that your spouse will easily find a new job. Start reviewing the job boards and calling on personal contacts before you go.

4. Buying or Selling a Home?  Be sure to research home values in your current community, as well as where you’re moving, to get the best possible deal at both ends. Working with a trusted reliable real estate agent can help. Ask for recommendations from friends and family, or take advantage of USAA’s MoversAdvantage® program. This service matches members with real estate agents who understand the military community, and can help you make smart decisions through every step of the selling and buying process.

5. Set a Spending Ceiling.  If you live off your post or base, you should spend only about 85% of your Basic Allowance for Housing on rent or a mortgage payment, says J.J. Montanaro, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM practitioner at USAA. Save the rest for utilities and insurance.

6. Browse Your New Community.  Check out websites for your new city government, chamber of commerce, and convention and visitors bureau. Military personnel should ask about the Relocation Assistance Program, which offers detailed information about military communities worldwide. Military OneSource’s Plan My Move page is a good place to start.

7. Educate Yourself on Schools.  Check school schedules and enrollment requirements. Pick up school records or have them sent to the new schools.

8. Protect Your Belongings.  Obtain appraisals for high-value items. Then, at least 24 hours before you release your belongings to the mover, contact your homeowners insurance or renters insurance company to ensure your possessions will be covered while in transit or storage (you can call USAA at 1-800-531-8722). Make an inventory and take photos of your valuables to have a record if you need to file a claim.

9. Is Your Car Road-Ready?  Take care of auto maintenance and repairs before you make a long trip. And don’t forget to notify your auto insurance company of the move.

10. Move Your Money?  Determine whether your current banking institution will be able to serve your needs after you relocate. Also, get familiar with any smartphone/tablet applications your bank might offer, which can keep you in the know during your move.

11. Turn It On, Turn It Off.  Notify your utilities and local services of disconnect dates. Order utility services for your new address — including Internet and TV services, home phone (if you want one), electricity and natural gas — through the Utility Marketplace.

12. Update Your Address.  Fill out an online change-of-address form through the U.S. Postal Service to ensure important mail will be forwarded to your new home. Also, be sure to send your new address to friends and family, your physician, schools, magazine publishers and providers of financial services.

13. Clean Up.  Properly dispose of flammables such as aerosol cans, cleaning fluids, paint, ammunition, weed killer and acids. Drain oil and gas from your lawn mower or other power equipment. Clean the refrigerator and the freezer; allow them to dry one or two days with the doors blocked open to protect your small children or pets.

14. Hold a Garage Sale.  Put the extra cash toward moving expenses. Consider donating anything that isn’t sold to charity — and keep the receipts for tax deductions.

15. Save Brilliant Deductions.  Some moving expenses may be tax deductible, such as those incurred through travel, a spouse’s job-hunting costs and mortgage points. Look for details in IRS Publication 521 (Moving Expenses) and Publication 3 (Armed Forces Tax Guide). Create a move file to save deductible receipts and other important paperwork.

16. Pack Securely.  Pack a suitcase with items you’ll want to keep close or secure for the move, such as money, jewelry, medicine, books or electronics. If you are traveling by air, do not check this bag.

courtesy of:  https://www.usaa.com/

Billions for San Diego Military Construction Projects!

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Billions for SD Military Projects.pdf

Mary “Peg” Heying
REALTOR® – CA DRE License # 01726709

Prudential CA Realty
890 W Washington St.
San Diego, CA 92103
Cell:  (619) 301-8589

Nationwide New Home Sales Up Mar 2010

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Nationwide New Home Sales Up Mar2010.pdf

Mary “Peg” Heying
REALTOR® – CA DRE License # 01726709

Prudential CA Realty
2830 Shelter Island Dr.
San Diego, CA 92106
Cell:  (619) 301-8589

Why CA Home Sellers Sold Their Home in 2008-2009

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courtesy of:  CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

C.A.R. releases “2009-2010 Survey of California Home Sellers”
Changes in family and employment status as well as adjustments to monthly mortgage obligations played significant roles in homeowners’ decisions to sell their homes in 2009, according to C.A.R.’s “2009-2010 Survey of California Home Sellers.”  According to the report, 67 percent of all sellers in California did so as a result of difficulties related to meeting their mortgage obligation. 

Sellers in 2009 cited difficulty meeting the monthly mortgage obligations (30 percent); job loss (18 percent); and “mortgage payment increased” (15 percent) as primary motivations to sell.  By comparison, in 2008, one in five sellers cited the ability to meet their mortgage payment obligations; while 11 percent sold due to financial difficulties. 
 

Mary “Peg” Heying
REALTOR® – CA DRE License # 01726709

Prudential CA Realty
2830 Shelter Island Dr.
San Diego, CA 92106
Cell:  (619) 301-8589