Price Increases in the Past Year

 

World of Statistics

@stats_feed

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May 14

US price increases in last year: gas: +44%

airline tickets: +33%

used cars: +23%

hotels: +23%

suits: +22%

eggs: +22%

bacon: +18%

oranges: +17%

tires: +16%

furniture: +15%

milk: +15%

coffee: +14%

deliveries: +14%

bread: +14%

new cars: +13%

baby food: +13%

cereal: +12%

wine: +5%

Mans Best Friend

 

Lawn Mowest

 

Question: We are concerned about this housing market. Is housing going to crash soon?

While no one can 100% predict the future, many experts believe a housing crash will not happen anytime soon.

Here are some stats you may have not seen from the National Association of Realtors: In the past 120 days, we have seen the highest increase in mortgage rates. 

Mortgage rates are the highest in a decade. The job market is good, there are a lot of jobs out there.

Housing inventory is very low. Compared to a year ago, Active listings are down 14.1%.                        

New contracts signed are down almost 11%.                                                                                               

Pending listings (those homes that have sold, but not yet closed), are down almost 10%.                        

New listings are down 3.4%.  And homes are selling faster now then they were a year ago.

90 million Millennials (ages 19-39) are storming the market. Around 30% of the market is first time homebuyers.

The average family would need $30,000 more income than they would’ve needed a year ago, in order to purchase a median average priced home.

The market is so hot that 20% of the buyers make an offer immediately.                                                   

 82% of buyers are willing to compromise the move into an up-and-coming neighborhood, and             

71% would buy a smaller home if necessary. Remember, these are the buyers, not the sellers.

87% of the homes are sold in 30 days or less.

So rest easy, we are not close to a housing bubble and crash like in 2007. The way they wrote mortgages back then is completely different than the underwriting of today. Plus, there was an over supply of houses on the market. We do not have any of this today and job availability today is strong.

$6 trillion in home equity gains have accumulated in the past 2 years, according to the NY Times.

Congratulations! If you currently own a home, part of that $6 trillion is yours!

Keep Things in Perspective

 

Should I get an appraisal before putting my home on the market?

Answer:  

Even if you’re new to this whole selling-a-house thing, chances are good you’ve heard of a home appraisal. And if you know just a little about the process, you know that the appraisal—a value put on your home by an objective third-party expert—can make or break your home sale. So, with so much riding on this step of the home-selling process, you might be wondering: 

What does it hurt to go ahead and get an appraisal before you list?

While an appraisal is an important step in selling your home, there’s a reason it typically doesn’t happen until much later in the process.

Simply put, home appraisals are meant for the buyer’s lender more than any other party. If a buyer needs a loan to purchase your home, the lender will require an appraisal toward the end of the loan application process just to make sure the home is actually worth its declared value. The collateral for the loan is the home, so lenders require an independent appraiser to inspect it and advise on its value.

The market value is what someone is willing to pay for a property—often influenced by emotion and how competitive the area is. If someone really wants a property, they won’t care what the appraised value is, they simply want it no matter what.

While both real estate agents and appraisers use comparable sales (also called “comps”), and the two values often end up being similar, the market value is the one you should be most concerned with as a seller.

Real estate agents will use comps to pull recent data on other houses (that are similar to yours) to arrive at a market value. Agents will also do a walk-through of your property and talk with you before arriving at a number you both feel comfortable listing at.

The only good reason to get an appraisal in advance, would be if you have a unique property where similar properties (to compare to) are unavailable.

Appraisals are expensive, usually in the $300 to $500 range, and if you own a lot of land or a very large house, you may end up paying a lot more.