According to the Financial Times, such losses were largely attributed to a large number of natural disasters along with rampant inflation and population growth in at-risk cities and other areas that happen to be more prone to natural disasters. According to the U.S. Census, about half of the country’s population growth in the 2010s came in six U.S. states all prone to severe weather conditions, including California and Texas.

As a result of the surge in underwriting losses, insurance companies that cover residential properties are withdrawing from markets where natural disasters and spiking costs of living are increasingly prominent. Alternatively, many are hiking their insurance premiums and adjusting their policies and areas of coverage, causing major concern for some homeowners located in these affected areas.

The post U.S. Home Insurers Incur Biggest Loss of Century to Date appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Despite large-scale migration to southern states including Florida and Texas, the region does not have a supply shortage, with housing availability potentially assisting to push down prices, particularly in the post-pandemic market. According to PulteGroup CEO Ryan Marshall, the ample property supply in Florida and Texas has decreased the need for the company to build new homes in those states. New home orders for the company declined by 9% in Florida and 8% in Texas during the second quarter, Marshall noted.

“These markets are now in the process of finding the new clearing price needed to work down any excess inventory,” the PulteGroup CEO revealed to analysts. In Texas specifically, investors appear to be looking to exit the property market, Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones observed. 13.6% of Texas property sellers are investors, higher than the 8.4% average for the state from 2017 until 2019.

The post New Homes Up for Sale in U.S. South Hit All-Time High appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Zillow reported that in 2020, a household with an income of $59,000 per year could afford a home priced at around $240,815. This was less than the median income of $66,000. Now, households need an income of $106,000 in order to afford a median-priced home of $342,941.

“Incomes needed to purchase a home are just much, much higher than the typical household income,” Zillow chief economist Orphe Divounguy observed. Furthermore, mortgage rates for a typical US home have nearly doubled over the past four years.

The post Home Prices Surge By 42% Since 2020 appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

In terms of the settlement, the agents’ commission will no longer be included in listings placed on multiple listing services. This move is expected to push home prices lower, with the abolishment of the current homebuying model where sellers pay both their broker and the buyer’s broker.

With prices expected to fall, TD Cowen Insights reported that real estate commissions are set to fall between 25% and 50% following the decision to bring an end to 6% commissions. Real estate shares slumped following the decision, with Zillow and Compass both sinking by more than 13%. Real estate brokerage Redfin declined by 5%.

The post Ending of Sales Commission Expected to Boost Homebuying appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

This trend is leading to a shortage of home inventory, with the prospect of higher mortgage rates dissuading homeowners from parting ways with their existing homes. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales hit a 30-year low last year, a testament to this “lock-in” effect where homeowners refuse to let go of their cheaper mortgage rates.

Of those born between 1946 and 1964, 40% have remained in their homes for at least 20 years, Redfin found. A further 16% have been in their current homes for 10 to 19 years. According to the study, this appears to be a generational trend rather than a broader market one, with only around 7% of millennials staying in their homes for 10 years or longer.

The post U.S. Homeowners Remain In Homes Longer Than They Did 20 Years Ago appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Data from December was revised up to a rate of 1.054 million units from an initially reported 1.027 million units. While homebuilding in the Midwest, South, and the West was down, it did rise in the Northeast in January.

Because of a shortage of previously owned homes on the market, homebuilding is expected to rebound in the coming months. There was also a rise in new building permits issued in January, suggesting that a rebound could be underway.

The post U.S. Homebuilding Slumps Amid Cold Weather Conditions appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Bright MLS chief economist Lisa Sturtevant insisted that while economic conditions remain tight, steep mortgage rates are not solely to blame for slower home sales. “We can’t blame high mortgage rates for the deficit in transactions last year. In reality, demand for housing — and homeownership, in particular — has remained high, despite higher rates,” Sturtevant explained, continuing, “Prospective homebuyers have been shut out of the market by a lack of inventory. If there had been more listings on the market in 2023, we would have had more home sales.”

Prices have also dissuaded buyers, the NAR reported. While the median home price in 1995 was $114,600, the median home price in the current market is around $389,800.

The post Existing Home Sales Fall to Slowest Pace in 30 Years appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Economists at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs polled by Bloomberg also reversed the direction of their housing price forecasts as a result of this market unpredictability. According to the latest data from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index, home prices have risen 4.8% year over year, thereby making JPMorgan’s James Egan the strategist with the most accurate prediction, forecasting a 4% rise.

“The housing market has proven even more resilient than we had expected,” Goldman Sachs fixed income strategist Vinay Viswanathan reflected. “While we are cognizant of the tailwind from tight housing supply, we expect affordability will likely stay poor, ultimately pushing prices lower in 2023.”

The post Housing Market Proved Unpredictable in 2023 appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

“With mortgage rates down roughly 50 basis points over the past month, builders are reporting an uptick in traffic as some prospective buyers who previously felt priced out of the market are taking a second look,” NAHB Chairwoman Alicia Huey observed, reflecting on the easing market conditions.

In October, the average rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage surged to a two-decade high of 7.9% before retreating to 7.07% last week, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed. This is another sign of easing inflation, with investors becoming more confident that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates early in 2024.

The post U.S. Homebuilders More Confident as Interest Rates Ease appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) showed that home remodeler confidence fell during the third quarter. “While there is still demand for remodeling, we are seeing some customers pull back a bit, especially for larger projects, due to higher prices and increased interest rates,” NAHB Remodelers Chair Alan Archuleta observed.

Over the course of 2020 and 2021, the pandemic pushed interest in home improvement upward, especially with people spending more time in their homes. That interest has since started to return to pre-pandemic levels.

The post Home Improvement Spending to Tank Amid High Interest Rates appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

According to the Financial Times, such losses were largely attributed to a large number of natural disasters along with rampant inflation and population growth in at-risk cities and other areas that happen to be more prone to natural disasters. According to the U.S. Census, about half of the country’s population growth in the 2010s came in six U.S. states all prone to severe weather conditions, including California and Texas.

As a result of the surge in underwriting losses, insurance companies that cover residential properties are withdrawing from markets where natural disasters and spiking costs of living are increasingly prominent. Alternatively, many are hiking their insurance premiums and adjusting their policies and areas of coverage, causing major concern for some homeowners located in these affected areas.

The post U.S. Home Insurers Incur Biggest Loss of Century to Date appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Despite large-scale migration to southern states including Florida and Texas, the region does not have a supply shortage, with housing availability potentially assisting to push down prices, particularly in the post-pandemic market. According to PulteGroup CEO Ryan Marshall, the ample property supply in Florida and Texas has decreased the need for the company to build new homes in those states. New home orders for the company declined by 9% in Florida and 8% in Texas during the second quarter, Marshall noted.

“These markets are now in the process of finding the new clearing price needed to work down any excess inventory,” the PulteGroup CEO revealed to analysts. In Texas specifically, investors appear to be looking to exit the property market, Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones observed. 13.6% of Texas property sellers are investors, higher than the 8.4% average for the state from 2017 until 2019.

The post New Homes Up for Sale in U.S. South Hit All-Time High appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Zillow reported that in 2020, a household with an income of $59,000 per year could afford a home priced at around $240,815. This was less than the median income of $66,000. Now, households need an income of $106,000 in order to afford a median-priced home of $342,941.

“Incomes needed to purchase a home are just much, much higher than the typical household income,” Zillow chief economist Orphe Divounguy observed. Furthermore, mortgage rates for a typical US home have nearly doubled over the past four years.

The post Home Prices Surge By 42% Since 2020 appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

In terms of the settlement, the agents’ commission will no longer be included in listings placed on multiple listing services. This move is expected to push home prices lower, with the abolishment of the current homebuying model where sellers pay both their broker and the buyer’s broker.

With prices expected to fall, TD Cowen Insights reported that real estate commissions are set to fall between 25% and 50% following the decision to bring an end to 6% commissions. Real estate shares slumped following the decision, with Zillow and Compass both sinking by more than 13%. Real estate brokerage Redfin declined by 5%.

The post Ending of Sales Commission Expected to Boost Homebuying appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

This trend is leading to a shortage of home inventory, with the prospect of higher mortgage rates dissuading homeowners from parting ways with their existing homes. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales hit a 30-year low last year, a testament to this “lock-in” effect where homeowners refuse to let go of their cheaper mortgage rates.

Of those born between 1946 and 1964, 40% have remained in their homes for at least 20 years, Redfin found. A further 16% have been in their current homes for 10 to 19 years. According to the study, this appears to be a generational trend rather than a broader market one, with only around 7% of millennials staying in their homes for 10 years or longer.

The post U.S. Homeowners Remain In Homes Longer Than They Did 20 Years Ago appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Data from December was revised up to a rate of 1.054 million units from an initially reported 1.027 million units. While homebuilding in the Midwest, South, and the West was down, it did rise in the Northeast in January.

Because of a shortage of previously owned homes on the market, homebuilding is expected to rebound in the coming months. There was also a rise in new building permits issued in January, suggesting that a rebound could be underway.

The post U.S. Homebuilding Slumps Amid Cold Weather Conditions appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Bright MLS chief economist Lisa Sturtevant insisted that while economic conditions remain tight, steep mortgage rates are not solely to blame for slower home sales. “We can’t blame high mortgage rates for the deficit in transactions last year. In reality, demand for housing — and homeownership, in particular — has remained high, despite higher rates,” Sturtevant explained, continuing, “Prospective homebuyers have been shut out of the market by a lack of inventory. If there had been more listings on the market in 2023, we would have had more home sales.”

Prices have also dissuaded buyers, the NAR reported. While the median home price in 1995 was $114,600, the median home price in the current market is around $389,800.

The post Existing Home Sales Fall to Slowest Pace in 30 Years appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Economists at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs polled by Bloomberg also reversed the direction of their housing price forecasts as a result of this market unpredictability. According to the latest data from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index, home prices have risen 4.8% year over year, thereby making JPMorgan’s James Egan the strategist with the most accurate prediction, forecasting a 4% rise.

“The housing market has proven even more resilient than we had expected,” Goldman Sachs fixed income strategist Vinay Viswanathan reflected. “While we are cognizant of the tailwind from tight housing supply, we expect affordability will likely stay poor, ultimately pushing prices lower in 2023.”

The post Housing Market Proved Unpredictable in 2023 appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

“With mortgage rates down roughly 50 basis points over the past month, builders are reporting an uptick in traffic as some prospective buyers who previously felt priced out of the market are taking a second look,” NAHB Chairwoman Alicia Huey observed, reflecting on the easing market conditions.

In October, the average rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage surged to a two-decade high of 7.9% before retreating to 7.07% last week, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed. This is another sign of easing inflation, with investors becoming more confident that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates early in 2024.

The post U.S. Homebuilders More Confident as Interest Rates Ease appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) showed that home remodeler confidence fell during the third quarter. “While there is still demand for remodeling, we are seeing some customers pull back a bit, especially for larger projects, due to higher prices and increased interest rates,” NAHB Remodelers Chair Alan Archuleta observed.

Over the course of 2020 and 2021, the pandemic pushed interest in home improvement upward, especially with people spending more time in their homes. That interest has since started to return to pre-pandemic levels.

The post Home Improvement Spending to Tank Amid High Interest Rates appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.