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Equity Gains for Today’s Homeowners

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Today’s homeowners are sitting on significant equity, even as home price appreciation has eased recently.

If you’re a homeowner, your net worth got a boost over the past few years thanks to rising home prices. Here’s what it means for you, even as the market moderates.

How Equity Has Grown in Recent Years 

Because of the imbalance between how many homes were for sale and the number of homebuyers in the market over the past few years, home prices appreciated substantially.

And while price appreciation has slowed this year, that doesn’t mean you’ve lost all the equity in your home. In fact, the latest Homeowner Equity Insights report from CoreLogic finds the average homeowner’s equity has grown by $34,300 over the past year alone.

And if you’ve been in your home longer than that, chances are you have even more equity than you realize.

While that’s the national number, if you want to know what happened in your area, look at the map below from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). It shows on average how much home prices have risen over the past five years, which has been a major driver behind equity growth.

 
 

Why This Is So Important Right Now 

While equity helps increase your overall net worth, it can also help you achieve other goals, like buying your next home. When you sell your current house, the equity you’ve built up comes back to you in the sale, and it may be just what you need to cover a large portion – if not all – of the down payment on your next home.

So, if you’ve been holding off on selling, it may be time to find out how much equity you have and how it can help fuel your next move.

Bottom Line

Homeownership is a long game, and if you’re planning to make a move, the equity you’ve gained over time can make a big impact. To find out just how much equity you have in your current home and how you can use it to fuel your next purchase, connect with a local real estate professional.

Read on.

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How to Keep Your Hardwood Floors Looking Their Best

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Hardwood floors are an investment in your home, and they should be taken care of accordingly.

With the right maintenance and cleaning routine, you can keep your hardwood floors looking beautiful for years to come. Here are five tips you can use to care for your hardwood floors.

Sweep or Vacuum Regularly
One of the most important steps in caring for your hardwood floors is keeping them free of dirt and debris. A simple broom or vacuum cleaner will do the trick. Be sure to use a soft-bristled broom or brush attachment on your vacuum to avoid scratching the wood. Additionally, make sure that you clean up any spills immediately using a soft cloth.

Clean with Mild Soap and Water
If you need to deep clean your hardwood floors, try using a mild soap diluted in warm water. Avoid using harsh chemicals, as these can damage the finish on your flooring over time. Once you’ve cleaned with soap and water, dry off any excess liquid with a soft cloth or towel. If there are still spots remaining, use a little bit of vinegar on the spot and let it sit for 15 minutes before wiping it away with another damp cloth.

Use Furniture Protectors
Using furniture protectors is an easy way to protect both your flooring and furniture from scratches and dents. Place furniture protectors underneath all legs of heavy furniture such as couches, tables, chairs, etc., so that they don’t scratch or scrape against your floors when moved around. Hardwood floors are particularly vulnerable during times of renovation or construction; if possible, cover them up with plastic sheeting during these projects as well as when painting walls nearby.

Avoid Exposure to Sunlight
Direct sunlight can cause fading on any type of wood surface over time due to ultraviolet radiation contained within the light itself. Whenever possible, try to keep curtains closed over windows that get direct sunlight throughout the day so that fading is minimized. In addition, move area rugs around occasionally so that no one spot gets more exposure than another; this helps even out any potential discoloration due to sunlight exposure over time (and also keeps one side from becoming too worn down).

Refinish Every Few Years 
Refinish your hardwood floors every few years (approximately three times per decade) so that their shine stays intact without losing durability from everyday foot traffic wear-and-tear . Because refinishing is somewhat involved process—it requires sanding down existing layers of finish before applying new ones—it’s best left up to professional contractors who know what they’re doing and have the right tools necessary for job completion safely and effectively.

Taking care of hardwood floors may seem like an intimidating task at first, but it doesn't have to be! With regular sweeping/vacuuming combined with occasional deep cleans using mild soap and water solutions (followed by drying!), along with adding furniture protectors and avoiding direct sunlight exposure wherever possible, taking good care of your hardwood flooring becomes much easier over time. Additionally, make sure you're getting them professionally refinished every few years -- this will help maintain their beautiful luster while also preserving their longevity. Following these steps will ensure that your hardwood floors stay looking beautiful for years to come!

Get more like this on RIS Media.

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America’s Hot Mess of a Housing Market Just Got a Little Bit Uglier—Here’s Why

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Make no mistake, today’s housing market has plenty of homes for sale, but very few buyers are biting.

According to a new report by Realtor.com®, the overall number of homes for sale in the U.S. increased by a whopping 67.8% in February. That amounts to 234,000 more homes on the market than there were during this same month last year.

The problem, though, is that most of these listings are stale—ugly ducklings that have been sitting online for weeks or even months with no takers. Homebuyers and sellers all know that a real estate listing garners the most excitement in the first few days after it hits the market, so when a home lingers (and lingers), buyers get suspicious, wondering: What’s wrong with this house?

As for fresh listings, those were down in February, with 15.9% fewer home sellers entering the market compared with a year earlier. This lack of new homes for sale is even starker when you compare these numbers with pre-COVID-19 levels from 2017 to 2019, when fresh listings were 27% higher than they are now.

The growing problem of stale listings—at higher prices

Adding insult to injury is that, on average, most of this growing morass of picked-over, passed-up listings now cost more than they have in the past.

In February, listings hit a median asking price of $415,000—down from June’s all-time record high of $449,000, but nonetheless creeping up from January’s $406,000. Plus, this number is likely to tick up as we approach spring’s homebuying rush.

Piling onto a buyer’s financial hardships are mortgage rates, which have been rising since the past year and averaged 6.5% for a 30-year fixed-rate loan for the week ending Feb. 23, according to Freddie Mac. This means buyers typically fork over about $630 more per month for a house than they did just one year earlier.

This unsettling combo of steep mortgage rates, high home prices, and stale listings has more or less caused winter’s real estate market to grind to a halt. In fact, in February, homes spent a median of 67 days on the market—23 days longer than this same month last year.

The seller-as-buyer dilemma

What this market needs to get moving again is a fresh injection of new listings.

“Even though inventories are less constrained now than they were last year, I think buyers and the total sales figures will both benefit from an increase in sellers,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist of Realtor.com.

So what’s stopping sellers from listing right now? Many don’t want to give up their locked-in low mortgage rates—that ranged between 2% and 3% in 2021—and become buyers who’d now have to get a new mortgage at nearly double that rate.

“Lower mortgage rates would benefit buyers and especially seller-buyers who are trying to both buy and sell a home at the same time,” observes Hale.

Unless rates subside, she says, “I expect sellers in many markets will have good reason to stay put and hold onto mortgage rates that are still much lower than is available to today’s shoppers.”

Johnny Chappell, owner and broker of Chappell Real Estate in Raleigh, NC, agrees.

“It seems like we’ll be working with more buyers and sellers who need to move and fewer who simply want to move,” adds Chappell.

Read the full blog on Realtor.com

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New home sales continue to climb in 2023

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January’s annual sales pace of 670,000 was the strongest since March 2022.

New home sales started off 2023 on a positive note, rising 7.2% from December to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 670,000 homes, according to data published by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Friday. This marks the second consecutive month of increases and the strongest sales pace since March 2022.

On a year-over-year basis, however, new home sales are still down 19.4%.

“January marked a surge of people signing contracts to buy new homes. The increase in contract signings can be attributed to a decline in mortgage rates in January after a run-up in rates in October and November,” Holden Lewis, NerdWallet’s home and mortgage expert, said in a statement. “Rates have bounced higher since January, which likely is acting as a drag on new home sales in the meantime.”

The uptick in the sales pace resulted in just 439,000 new homes remaining on the market at the end of the month, representing 7.9 months of supply at the current sales pace, down from 8.7 months in December.

“The backlog of new construction homes continues to emerge into the market just in time for the spring shopping season,” Nicole Bachaud, Zillow’s senior economist, said in a statement. “Many home builders are offering incentives to buyers, sweetening the deal just enough to bump sales from the month prior.”

As a result of incentives such as price drops, the median new home sales price dropped from $465,600 in December to $427,000 in January, despite the increase in demand.

Regionally, on a month-over-month basis the sales pace was down in the Northeast (25,000 homes), Midwest (67,000 homes), and the West (127,000 homes), with the Northeast recording the largest drop at 19.4%.

The South (451,000 homes) was the only region to rise on a monthly basis, jumping 17.1%. On a yearly basis, all regions recorded drops in annual sales pace, with the West recording the largest drop at 46.9%.

Looking ahead, experts are optimistic about the spring selling season for new construction.

“There is still a large chunk of new construction homes currently under construction, and when those homes hit the market, especially over the next few months, we will see spring home buyers – those who can afford the higher new construction price tags – having more options and opportunities to break into homeownership,” Bachaud said.

Read more on Housing Wire.

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FHA To Cut Mortgage Insurance Premium By 30bps

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White House announces reduction; will take effect on March 20.

Big news for those considering FHA loans! Mortgage insurance cost will be decreasing an average of $800 per year. Read on to read the details and be sure to reach out to one of our incredible Streamline Loan Officers with any questions!

Homeowners will save an average of $800 per year following the Biden Administration’s announcement Wednesday that it will reduce by 30 basis points the annual mortgage insurance premiums charged on loans via the Federal Housing Administration.

In a news release, the White House said Vice President Kamala Harris and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge will announce the change during a news conference in Bowie, Md.

HUD, through the FHA, will reduce its annual mortgage insurance premium from 0.85% to 0.55% for most new borrowers. The mortgage insurance premium is the monthly fee homeowners with FHA-insured mortgages pay to insure their mortgages. The fee is paid on top of the monthly principal and interest payments.

The premium reduction will take effect on March 20, and will be reflected in the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget, the White House said.  

The reductions will save homebuyers and homeowners with new FHA-insured mortgages an average of $800 per year, the White House said, adding that it will lower housing costs for an estimated 850,000 homebuyers and homeowners in 2023.

The announcement is an important step in making homeownership more attainable, the administration added.

“Homeownership is currently the principal source of wealth creation for most American households,” the White House said in a statement. “But due to a nationwide shortfall in the supply of affordable homes and shifting demand for housing during the pandemic, first-time homebuyers have struggled in recent years to achieve homeownership. First-generation homebuyers and first-time homebuyers of color — who are less likely to have sufficient resources for a sizeable down payment due to a longstanding gap in intergenerational wealth transfers — have been particularly affected.”

FHA-insured mortgages, which accounted for 7.5% of home sales in the third quarter of 2022, are targeted at homebuyers who otherwise may not be able to achieve homeownership. 

Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit praised the announcement, calling it “a move we have strongly encouraged since 2021.”

“The lower premiums will expand homeownership opportunities by lowering mortgage payments for qualified FHA borrowers, providing critical relief from the steep rise in mortgage rates and home prices just in time for the spring buying season,” Broeksmit said. “This will especially help minority homebuyers and low-and moderate-income households who are predominantly served by FHA loans.”

FHA insures loans with a small down payment and more flexible underwriting, enabling families to begin building wealth through homeownership earlier than they otherwise might and providing an open door to credit-worthy borrowers. More than 80% of FHA borrowers are first-time homebuyers, and over 25% are homebuyers of color. 

The average home purchased with FHA-insured mortgages cost around half the price of the overall national median home and have an average mortgage amount of less than $270,000.

“Ensuring a robust FHA program that protects taxpayers and offers affordable homeownership opportunities for families in underserved communities is important,” Broeksmit said, “and we will work with the Biden administration and Congress on policies that have the greatest impact on borrower affordability and sustainability.”

Learn more.

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