New Luxury Markets to Watch in 2020

The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing is recognized as a leading source for providing statistical data and analysis on the luxury real estate market.

In the recent release of their annual Luxury Report, Coldwell Banker Global Luxury partnered with The Institute to garner clearer insights on the state of the luxury real estate industry during 2019. The overall trend showed that affluent buyers had started to actively look beyond traditional luxury hotspots for communities and markets that offered better home values, a closer sense of community, and a better quality of lifestyle.

The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing identified five luxury housing markets that saw notable home sales and price growth during 2019 as well as ongoing potential and opportunities for affluent homeowners in 2020.

After analyzing economic factors such as job and population growth against annual metrics including sales-price-to-list-price ratios, days on market, median list price and inventory, it was determined that Boise, Charlotte, Colorado Springs, Cincinnati and Fort Worth were among the strongest performing housing markets to watch in the year ahead. These markets and their statistics are showcased in more detail on pages 56 – 67 of The Report.

Boise, Ida.Boise experienced a growth spurt in 2019 with its population expanding to over 750,000, and was also listed in Realtor.com®’s top markets to watch in 2020. The lower house prices and expanding job opportunities from established companies such as Micron Technology, Paylocity and Hewlett Packard attracted a younger demographic to the city as well as many returning locals.

Migration to this “City of Trees” has mostly stemmed from California, but there was also a growing number of people moving from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Entrepreneurs, second homeowners, and real estate investors created the demand for higher-end properties. This growing luxury market also provided a good mirror to the new preferences and home choices currently being made by today’s affluent buyers—find out more on page 64 in The Report.

Charlotte, N.C.In 2019, more than 60 people per day moved to Charlotte; it is now the 16th largest city in the U.S. Between 2017 and 2019, North Carolina’s largest city not only saw a growth of over 13,000 residents, but also a substantial increase in both its home prices and sales.

Recent urban revitalization created an infusion of new restaurants, rooftop bars, galleries, museums and sports complexes. Discover how this city adapted to this growing demand and the developments happening in its historic and inner-city neighborhoods on page 60 of The Report.

Companies such as Honeywell, Lending Tree, SunTrust, BB&T and Trust Bank created opportunities for higher-paid salaries, which contributed to the growth of Charlotte’s luxury real estate market.

Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati has become known as a city of surprises, with its visitors and new residents quickly learning about its incredible depth and variety when it comes to sports, arts, culture, history, and culture. Ohio’s 3rd largest city boomed into a Tier 2 market, and is now at a crossroads, riding a wave of expansion and revival.

Medical and banking businesses continued to entice investment. Fortune 500 companies, including GE, Procter & Gamble and Macy’s, attracted young professionals seeking a progressive, open-minded city. This assisted in an LGBTQ community and immigrant population putting down local roots.

Demand was at its highest for renovated properties incorporating smart home tech and eco-friendly features. Energy efficiency, turn-key, move-in ready and refurbishment of existing materials were high priorities for Cincinnati buyers.

Colorado Springs, Colo.Between 2016 and 2019, Colorado Springs saw a 1,300 percent increase in luxury sales. The contributing factors were a strong local economy, more tech companies and out-of-area buyers desiring the Colorado lifestyle.

Tech companies such as Apple, Facebook, Google and Lyft set up shop in Denver and Amazon opened a campus in Boulder, just 27 miles away. These companies brought a younger workforce to the area, but due to the lower price points in Colorado Springs, many purchased properties here while accepting the need to commute. Check out luxury home prices on page 59 of The Report.

But there is more to Colorado Springs that just a commuter town, resting at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. This charming town drew in many new residents with its uniqueness, privacy, breathtaking views and incredible outdoor lifestyle.

Fort Worth, TexasOur last city is Fort Worth, which has transformed over the last decade while managing to keep its sprawling acreages and cattle. The city integrated global headquarters and upscale hotels, and is quickly coming out from under the shadow of its sister city, Dallas.

According to the U.S. Census, the city grew 20.2 percent since 2010, outpacing Texas’ 14.1 percent and becoming the country’s 13th most populous city in 2018. Stanley Black & Decker has relocated here, Panoramic Doors and Chip 1 Exchange are moving their operations from California, and Charles Schwab is moving its headquarters here too, while American Airlines and BNSF Railway already call Fort Worth home.

According to the 2019 Texas Relocation Report, nearly half of Texas’ 500,000 annual newcomers moved to Dallas-Fort Worth, so it’s not surprising to hear there is a lot of growth in the purchase of new luxury homes.

For further insights into these five Markets to Watch, as well as other insights, trends and statistical information about the luxury real estate market during 2019, visit THE REPORT: Global Luxury Market Insights.

Additionally, The Institute’s comprehensive, downloadable monthly Luxury Market Reports will give you the insights you need to stay ahead of trends throughout the United States and Canada, and deliver a monthly analysis on over 80 different luxury markets in North America.

Thinking you should probably figure out how to tackle home ownership or make that move you’ve been thinking about? We’re here for you.

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Will smaller cities see a boom from the coronavirus?

Migration looks to benefit small and mid-sized metros in Texas, Arizona and Florida

After the Great Recession, the number of big-city residents boomed. Flush with jobs and thirsting for modern high-rises, young adults and families moved into dense metro areas with amenities at their doorsteps and strips of restaurants blocks away.

But those walkable urban areas have become less affordable in recent years, and the quintessential dream of a single-family home, especially after the coronavirus-induced quarantine, may be multiplying.

In the last few years, population in larger metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago declined, while more people moved into mid- and smaller-sized metro areas.

Now, as local economies and subsequently corporate offices re-open with more leniency on working from home, demographers, Realtors and even companies like Redfin predict that this movement from high-cost-of-living urban cities to more affordable areas – whether suburbs of the same area or smaller metros altogether – will accelerate.

“Redfin is preparing for a seismic demographic shift toward smaller cities,” said Redfin Chief Executive Officer Glenn Kelman in a May 15 press release announcing a new survey of 900 homebuyers and sellers. “The whole narrative of the past 200 years, of the young person moving to the big city, may turn a little upside down in the years ahead.”

In the Redfin survey, 61% of respondents from the New York City metro area said they would consider leaving the metro area if they could work remote permanently, Redfin said. More than 50% surveyed from Boston, San Francisco and Seattle echoed that sentiment. Their top reasons for wanting to move: to live somewhere less expensive or somewhere with more land.

Census data shifts

In the early 2010s, following the Great Recession, populations grew in these big metro areas, including the nation’s three largest – New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to Census Bureau data compiled and analyzed by demographer and Brookings Institution senior fellow William H. Frey. But those cities’ growth slowed over the last decade. The three largest cities, in fact, lost population in the last few years.

Meanwhile, metro areas including Austin, Texas; Raleigh, N.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Phoenix; Nashville, Tenn.; and Las Vegas grew in residents, according to the Census data.

Realtors and real estate associations in mid- and small-sized metros – and economists who track their data – point to common themes among these cities for why they’ve gained new residents in recent years and why they’ll continue to attract more post-coronavirus.

One is an economy buoyed by several industries.

“We’ve always had a diverse economy,” said Kristy Hairston, president of the Greater Nashville Realtors and a native who’s seen the city exponentially expand. “Some places have all of (their) stock in one industry.”

Nashville, which has grown in population every year since 2010, has a mix of education and health services, trade and transportation, business services and leisure and hospitality, Hairston said. It’s benefited from corporations relocating part or all of their operations, such as Lyft, which moved its customer service headquarters from San Francisco, and asset manager AllianceBernstein, which announced its move from Midtown Manhattan two years ago.

Good-paying, stable jobs, and a diversity of them, have also lured new residents to Austin, Texas, from New York, California, Chicago and Florida, Realtor Leonard Guerrero said. Of the top 53 metro cities in the U.S., Austin had the highest population growth every year for the last 10 years, according to Census data.

Guerrero, a manager with JB Goodwin Realtors, pointed to national players like Dell, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and Indeed – all with offices in Austin. Tesla has even chosen the city as a finalist for its new U.S. assembly plant, the Associated Press reported May 15.

“That would be quite a feather for the local market here,” Guerrero, a regional vice president for Texas Realtors, said.

Several Realtor associations, agents and demographic researchers predict that the way state and local governments have reacted to the pandemic will set the tone for residential growth in the coming years.

In addition to Austin, several Texas cities such as Houston, Dallas and San Antonio grew in population in recent years. The business-friendly regulations and affordable corporate taxes that have drawn companies and their jobseekers throughout Texas will continue even more post-coronavirus, said Cindi Bulla, Texas Realtors’ chairman of the board.

The state government has been “laser-focused” on safely lifting stay-at-home orders and reopening businesses, and has “open arms” for small business owners from other states to move in, she said.

Post-pandemic

Another theme of migration into some metro areas and out of others is simply housing affordability.

“The cities that people are moving out of are really quite expensive, and there’s been a housing shortage,” said Jessica Lautz, National Association of Realtors‘ vice president of demographics and behavioral insights. “The housing that’s being built in those cities is really the luxury high-end condo that very few Americans can actually afford to live in.”

In particular, Lautz said, NAR recently found that Millennials especially are attracted to smaller urban areas that balance close-at-hand amenities of a big city and the ability to buy a single-family home they can afford.

That’s echoed by Jordan Levine, California Association of Realtors‘ deputy chief economist. While Census data shows that Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area have seen declines in the last few years, “it comes down to an affordability issue,” he said.

“We know pretty consistently, even in good economic times and bad economic times, people still desire homeownership,” Levine added.

He predicts the migration will continue to suburbs and exurbs of larger California cities, particularly as companies permit more employees to work from home permanently or reduce their number of days in the office. Instead of living and working in Los Angeles, for example, workers may commute from San Bernardino.

Redfin cited this example in its recent survey results: The price per square foot in the Seattle area falls from $327 within a 30-minute round-trip commute of downtown to $120 for a 75-minute commute. A worker coming into the office two days a week would then still commute a total of 150 minutes per week versus the 5-day, 30-minute commute.

That’s a trend that Justin Onorato, the chief investment officer for BTI Partners, is anticipating. Onorato said the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based land investor and developer’s strategy has been investing in large tracts of land in Sarasota, Jacksonville and suburban Orlando. The company recently received the first phase of approvals for a 1,400-acre residential community about 25 miles south of Orlando that will have about 4,000 single-family detached homes and townhouses plus multi-family housing.

With rail transportation already planned between Miami, Orlando and Tampa in the coming years, Onorato said he now expects to draw home buyers from higher cost-of-living areas who could then commute into the larger cities.

“Our view is that if you could buy a home for 30 to 50% less (than larger Florida cities), a new home, in southern Orlando and get a yard and have good public schools … really it’s about space,” he said. “Affordability is really just the driver.”

Thinking you should probably figure out how to tackle home ownership or make that move you’ve been thinking about? We’re here for you.

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Weekly Mortgage Applications Point to Remarkable Recovery in Homebuying

If mortgage demand is an indicator, buyers are coming back to the housing market far faster than anticipated, despite coronavirus shutdowns and job losses.

Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose 6% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Purchase volume was just 1.5% lower than a year ago, a rather stunning recovery from just six weeks ago, when purchase volume was down 35% annually.

“Applications for home purchases continue to recover from April’s sizable drop and have now increased for five consecutive weeks,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist. “Government purchase applications, which include FHA, VA, and USDA loans, are now 5 percent higher than a year ago, which is an encouraging turnaround after the weakness seen over the past two months.”

As states reopen, so are open houses, and buyers have been coming out in force, if masked. Record low mortgage rates, combined with strong pent-up demand from before the pandemic and a new desire to leave urban downtowns due to the pandemic, are driving buyers back to the single-family home market. It remains to be seen if this is simply the pent-up demand or a long-term trend.

Buoying buyers, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of up to $510,400 decreased to 3.41% from 3.43%. Points including the origination fee increased to 0.33 from 0.29 for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.

Low rates are not, however, giving current homeowners much incentive to refinance. Those applications fell 6% for the week but were still 160% higher than one year ago, when interest rates were 92 basis points higher. That is the lowest level of refinance activity in over a month.

“The average loan amount for refinances fell to its lowest level since January — potentially a sign that part of the drop was attributable to a retreat in cash-out refinance lending as credit conditions tighten,” said Kan. “We still expect a strong pace of refinancing for the remainder of the year because of low mortgage rates.”

Federal regulators this week changed lending guidelines for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, allowing refinances on loans that were or still are in the government’s mortgage bailout, part of the coronavirus relief package. Those loans can be refinanced once borrowers have made at least three regular monthly payments. Given tough economic conditions and rising unemployment, more borrowers may be looking to save money on their monthly payments.

Weaker refinance demand pushed total mortgage application volume down 2.6% for the week. 

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 64.3% of total applications from 67% the previous week. The share of adjustable-rate mortgage activity increased to 3.2% of total applications.

To read more, go to CNBC.

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People are Turning to RVs to Save Summer Amidst the Coronavirus

Thousands of travelers are turning to RVs and campers as the tourism industry tentatively steps into a new way to holiday. RV makers, suppliers and campground hosts are reporting a wave of first-timers who changed gears because they’re reluctant to get on planes or visit resorts and hotels. 

A survey of 4,000 U.S. and Canadian residents released last week by the world’s largest network of private campgrounds, Kampgrounds of America, Inc., showed the pandemic sparking interest in camping, especially among first-timers and younger generations. 

“Once it is safe to travel, it’s likely the camping market will get a greater share of leisure travelers’ trips in 2020,” reads the May 11 report measuring the effects of COVID-19 on the campground industry. (The study showed camping drawing 16% of leisure travelers for the rest of 2020, up from 11% before the pandemic.)

In March, as RV buyers evaporated and manufacturing plants — mostly in Indiana — closed, the RV industry pivoted toward crisis management. Dealers and manufacturers sent vehicles across the country for use as isolation units, housing for critical health care workers, command centers and mobile testing units. 

California ordered 1,309 to house the sick should hospitals be overwhelmed. Louisiana state police ordered nearly 100 for command posts. A dealer in Texas sent RVs across the state to municipalities. Florida health officials retrofitted RVs as rolling testing labs. 

The 418 businesses that make up the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association pushed federal and state lawmakers to keep RV manufacturers and dealers open as essential businesses to meet this new demand. That ask was easier than persuading lawmakers to keep RV campgrounds open for housing the ill and traveling health care workers. 

“That campground one has been a harder issue and there’s definitely a patchwork of rules across the country, where in some places they are allowed to remain open and other places they are not,” said Monika Geraci with the industry association. 

Now the industry is turning back to consumers and lobbying rulemakers to open campgrounds to social-distancing vacationers. As states craft plans for phased openings, the RV industry is pushing for campgrounds to open in the first or second phases, not later. 

The generally accepted plan for reviving the country’s tourism industry starts with people traveling closer to home. It’s not likely vacationers will be jumping in planes anytime soon, so the RV industry is hoping more people start looking at self-contained campers as a way to vacation while distancing and controlling their own environments. 

Private campground owners are preparing for wary visitors by scripting specific plans for cleaning, disinfecting and maintaining distancing. Communal facilities — like pools, gyms and game rooms — are largely closed.

“In states that are opening, we are hearing from our members on a daily basis that they went from no reservations to booked solid in no time,” Basler said. “As restrictions start to loosen, we are not going to see people cruising cross-country or flying but they are looking at how they can get outside, closer to home and be as safe as possible. The RV is a self-contained way for them to do that.”

Read more about how people in the US are turning to the RV life.

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How to Remove Wallpaper by Yourself

Finally ready to tackle that ugly old wallpaper? The first thing you should know is that if you’re dealing with wallpaper that has been in place for years, or possibly decades, you’ll need to have patience.

Advice on how to remove wallpaper from old walls can vary. Some will present it as a veritable cinch; others as a laborious process. The reality is probably somewhere in between. Depending on the type of wallpaper you’re working with, it can take up to a day per room to remove. If you’re up for taking on the challenge yourself, then keep reading.

Know the wallpaper you’re removing

There are three main types of wallpaper, according to Kristen Chuber, a certified color consultant and senior marketing director at Boston-based home-painting company Paintzen: peel and stick; vinyl (traditional); and coated backing/adhesive. Peel and stick is the easiest to remove, vinyl a little more difficult, and coated backing/adhesive the hardest.

How do you tell the difference? Chuber breaks it down (though you may have to tug a bit at the edges to discover what you have):

• Peel and stick replicates the feel of contact paper and is easy to remove.

• Vinyl paper will most likely come off in a full sheet. It also feels a little plastic-y to the touch.

• Pre-pasted paper will come off in chunks.

Homeowners can remove peel and stick by simply pulling it off without any special tools or water, Chuber says. For vinyl wallpaper, it’s a little trickier because of the adhesive and/or because that adhesive frequently becomes one with drywall. “The best way to get this stuff off is to use a wallpaper removing solution, such as DIF,” Chuber says.

As for coated backing/adhesive wallpaper, it’s meant to be washable and impervious to water, “so you have to perforate the paper before you can strip it.” Chuber adds that coated backing/adhesive wallpaper is not only difficult to remove, but you can expect damage to the wall after removal, which will require repair or skim coating. Chuber says homeowners may want to hire a professional for this type of removal.

Know the wall too

The paper and the wall are together for a long while—and the wall type determines whether or not the breakup will be especially messy. There are two basic types of wall: plaster and drywall. To find out which one you have, look to the age of your home.

Plaster walls are found mostly in homes more than 50 years old; they are more solid and sound dull and dense if you knock on them. Drywall is more commonly found in younger homes, and is much more hollow and potentially more delicate. So, if you end up using a scraping tool to remove wallpaper on drywall, be careful.

Prep work

Once you know the wallpaper type and wall type, prepare for removal. Remove everything on the wall—paintings, pictures, bric-a-brac, etc. Pull furniture back from the wall toward the center of the room, and cover if possible.

Then remove all of the wall plates from electrical outlets and light switches, and tape over the outlet and switches themselves, per Chuber. This will stop water and moisture incursions, she says. Also, tape any floorboards and wainscoting to prevent damage, and throw down a drop cloth on the floor to catch wet wallpaper and towels on the baseboards (if necessary) to do the same.

Removing peel and stick wallpaper

“Newer wallpapers are strippable, which means they can easily be removed without water or chemicals,” according to Lowes. To see if you’re dealing with peel and stick, pry a small corner loose with a putty knife. If it comes away from the wall easily, then just peel.

Pull slowly at an angle, though, rather than holding it straight or yanking it off. “This will minimize damage,” Chuber says. “If you hit any snags, then we recommend that you continue working around the problem area and then switch over to the techniques for removing traditional wallpaper or laminate wallpaper to finish getting rid of any remnants.”

But that’s it, really: Peel the paper as you would a sticker (only in this case it’s a sticker covering a wall).

Removing vinyl—a.k.a. “traditional”—wallpaper

Things get a little more complicated with traditional wallpaper. Pro tip, per Chuber: Get a clean, garden sprayer, the kind for spraying water or Miracle Gro and fill it instead with a mix of water and wallpaper removal solution. Then spray a segment of the wallpaper that you can remove in no more than 15 minutes, to minimize damage to the wall. Then let it soak for another 15 minutes or more.

After that, start gently pulling away the wallpaper with your hands. “It is definitely important to avoid any scraping because that will damage the wall beneath,” Chuber says. “We suggest that people remove only the paper that comes off easily. Those drop cloths that I mentioned earlier will come in handy as you start to notice wet plops of paper hitting the floor!”

Removing coated back or adhesive wallpaper

This is the most stubborn sort of wallpaper to remove, as it’s generally built to be waterproof (and it’s therefore the one that homeowners may not be able to handle solo). You can start with the same wallpaper-removal solution in the garden sprayer for the vinyl wallpaper removal. Be careful again not to cover too much ground at once.

There’s an extra step as it dries. You’ll want to use sandpaper or a scoring tool on sections of the wallpaper to further loosen it. Then hold a wallpaper steamer against sections for 15 to 20 seconds. After that, begin lifting the wallpaper away from the wall with your hands while it’s loose and coming off more easily.

Follow up

Okay, the bulk of the wallpaper is gone. Now for the cleanup. Chuber says wait a day, and then repeat the above tactics to remove any larger remaining pieces. Smaller remnants or wallpaper glue can be removed with trisodium phosphate (though there are environmental and health pros and cons to working with such a strong cleaning agent). You’ll want to wait another day or two to paint or to make any repairs to the wall.

To read more about wallpaper removal and other home hacks, go to Curbed.com

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