The Funny Side of Tight Inventory

The Funny Side of Tight Inventory

Realtor.com® revealed their 2017 ad campaign today—which will include TV spots, interactive digital video experiences, and social integration—featuring Elizabeth Banks. The Emmy-nominated actress, producer, and director is returning as the brand’s spokesperson for a third year.

The TV ads feature home buyers who are being tailed by their “not-yous”: doppelgangers who have similar tastes in properties but who are “non-users” of realtor.com®. The scripts capitalize on Banks’ cheeky, chummy humor; new homeowners happily share with her their success in the real estate transaction as the not-yous express their jealousy and frustration in humorous ways.

The campaign comes in response to conditions of low inventory in much of the country. “The idea for the not-yous came out of an insight that, particularly in a seller’s market, you really have to have an advantage over everyone else who is ultimately looking for something very similar to you,” says Andrew Strickman, head of brand and chief creative for realtor.com®.

The intent of the campaign is both to increase brand awareness and capitalize on recent traffic gains; realtor.com® attracts an average of 50 million unique users every month. “We want to increase top-level awareness, but then we want to entice someone to take an action,” says Ryan O’Hara, CEO of Move Inc. and realtor.com®, noting that each spot ends with a clear call-to-action to use the site. “Both the brand and the product are really integral to making the consumer experience better.”

Though the ad campaign is targeted tightly on the consumer experience, O’Hara says the company is continually focused on the impact their success has on NAR members looking to stand out in a crowded field. “A strong REALTOR® brand is really important for realtor.com®, and a strong realtor.com® brand is really important for the REALTOR®. It’s a symbiotic relationship,” he says. “We both do better if we grow together and support each other.”

The TV campaign launches today on CBS and HGTV and will run across major broadcast networks and cable channels. The social media integrations will begin to roll out next month and the digital video series featuring Banks will be online in July. Later in the summer, the brand will roll out humorous gifs that real estate pros can use to congratulate clients upon closing, as well as online-exclusive video segments where Banks helps the not-yous move on after defeat.

The campaign is part of a larger strategy, which includes technological improvements to the user experience at realtor.com®. One such upgrade, announced last Thursday, brings Matterport 3D virtual home tours to listings on the realtor.com® iOS app.

“We’ve grown in a major way in usage in the last two years… Part of that is the branding campaign and part of it is the improvements to the technology,” O’Hara says. “If we’re able to continue that amount of investment, it makes the REALTOR® brand stronger.”

—Source Meg White, REALTOR® Magazine

‘No Knock’ Registry Is a Jab at Real Estate

‘No Knock’ Registry Is a Jab at Real Estate

Longtime Jersey City, N.J., homeowners say they’ve been harassed by real estate solicitations in recent months. They’re hoping the city’s new “No Knock” registry will put an end to the door knocks inquiring if they want to sell their home.

The Jersey City Council recently unanimously passed a resolution creating an antisolicitation program, dubbed the “No Knock” registry. Residents who sign up will receive “No Knock” decals for their front doors. Any violators will be fined up to $2,000 and sentenced to 90 days of community service.

Jersey City’s population has surged between 2010 and 2015, blooming by 6.7 percent in that time, according to Census data. As such, demand for housing has grown too, as have home values. Median home prices have surged 17 percent in the last six years, reaching $305,000 in 2016, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate data provider.

Longtime homeowners say they’ve been bombarded with constant offers from real estate investors and developers. Assunta Folcarelli, who has owned her Jersey City home for 35 years, told The Wall Street Journal that she started getting calls six years ago from real estate professionals asking to buy her home.

“They keep on calling up, they want my house. I say, ‘Wait a minute, where am I going to go?” says Folcarelli, 57.

Other New Jersey towns, such as Jackson and Toms River, also have established “No Knock” registries.

Source: “Jersey City Creates ‘No Knock’ Registry as Relief From REALTORS®,” The Wall Street Journal (March 28, 2017) [Log-in required.]

What Has Mortgage Lenders So Upbeat?

What Has Mortgage Lenders So Upbeat?

Mortgage lenders’ optimism reached a high in a first-quarter survey, even as lenders expressed pressing challenges to their profit margins, according to Fannie Mae’s 2017 Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey.

Lenders say they’re most upbeat about the direction of the economy and home prices. They also continue to report modest easing of credit standards across all loan types, with plans to continue to do so over the next three months.

“This quarter, lenders’ optimism toward the overall economy and home price appreciation hit survey highs, mirroring the consumer confidence seen in our February Home Price Sentiment Index,” says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. “However, lenders’ profit margin outlook remains significantly less positive than this time last year and two years ago.”

Lenders cite competition from other lenders and a market shift from refinance to purchase as the top reasons for the weak profit margin outlook, Duncan notes.

“With mortgage rates expected to rise, we expect refinance activity will fall and purchase affordability will tighten, increasing competitive pressure in a shrinking mortgage market,” he says. “Lenders may choose to adjust their production capabilities and staff resources given their profitability outlook.”

Lenders surveyed reported a sharp decline in demand expectations for purchase mortgages, mostly due to rising mortgage rates. The share of lenders who expect an increase in purchase mortgage demand over the next three months for conventional mortgages dropped to the lowest level recorded in any first quarter in the survey’s history, Fannie Mae notes.

Source: Fannie Mae

Why Your Agents Still Need a Website

Why Your Agents Still Need a Website

As a broker-owner or manager, you may be getting the question from agents as to whether having a personal business website is still relevant today, and worth the time, money, and effort. Beyond providing a profile for your agents on your company’s site, it is still wise for independent sales associates to establish their own websites, says Desare Kohn-Laski, broker-owner of Skye Louis Realty in Coconut Creek, Fla., as long as agents keep these three tips in mind.

1. Mobile Buyers.

Whereas a decade ago, consumers predominantly used their desktops and laptops to search for their dream houses, today, more than ever, they are conducting home searches from their mobile device. An agent’s site should be mobile-friendly to help establish his or her personal brand, Kohn-Laski says.

2. Business Growth.

Agents with their own site still have the leg up in setting themselves apart from competition. It’s a place to publish engaging content that speaks to the specific market or niche they are trying to reach. It’s also a place to share market expertise through blog posts and videos as well as a tool to capture leads. “While a broker’s corporate website definitely helps, it is still good to identify yourself [independently],” Kohn-Laski says. “Utilize the power of the internet to build a stronger personal brand, to establish expertise, and to stay relevant with the information and service your client needs.”

3. Client Trust.

Finally, a business website is still worth it for agents to prove credibility to potential clients, says Kohn-Laski. You also want to control the dominant source of information about you in the web. “Work on [your site] and it will reciprocate. You’ll see with the results,” she says.

Source: Skye Louis Realty

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This Is the Worst ‘Housing Drought’ Ever

This Is the Worst ‘Housing Drought’ Ever

The number of homes for sale is at the lowest level on record, according to the National Association of REALTORS®, who began tracking inventory 18 years ago. That means many home buyers likely will find fewer options this spring, and the homes that are being listed tend to sell fast and at a premium.

The lack of new-home supply is one culprit. Housing starts are only at about 75 percent of their historical average. Builders are focusing on pricier segments of move-up buyers, leaving a big void in the demand for lower cost homes that appeal to first-time home buyers. Builders blame the higher costs for land, labor, and materials as forcing them to concentrate on the higher end of the market.

Builders aren’t the only ones to blame, however. Investors purchased about 4 million distressed properties—mostly in the lower-priced starter home segment—during the housing crash. They have been holding onto these properties, continuing to rent them out rather than selling.

“Investors came in to get that cash flow, and the cash flow remains very positive,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of REALTORS®. “The price appreciation is just extra gravy that they’re witnessing, and they’re saying they’re going to ride out this price increase.”

That strong price appreciation also may be curtailing home supplies. The more a local market has recovered, the larger the drop in inventory it’s experiencing, according to a new survey by Trulia.

“If you have a lot of equity in your home, that could be great to use to buy another one, but if that other home you might buy is that much more expensive than it was last year, you may stay put and you may renovate instead,” says Ralph McLaughlin, Trulia’s chief economist.

As such, the housing crunch likely isn’t going to let up anytime soon. Some areas are seeing it worse than others. For example, home sales in Southern California in February were 14 percent lower than the average, according to CoreLogic in reviewing 30 years of data.

“San Bernardino County, which has the region’s lowest median sale price and entices many first-time buyers and others priced out of coastal markets, was the only Southern California county to post year-over-year increase in sales this February,” notes Andrew LePage, research analyst at CoreLogic.

Source: “This Is What’s Behind the Severe Housing Drought,” CNBC (March 23, 2017)

Investors Are Unlocking Biggest Profits Here

Investors Are Unlocking Biggest Profits Here

The county offering the highest returns from single-family rental properties so far in 2017: Clayton, Ga., in the Atlanta metro area. That’s according to the first-quarter 2017 Single Family Rental Market report, released by ATTOM Data Solutions. Researchers analyzed single-family returns in 375 U.S. counties, each with populations of at least 100,000, and more than 6,000 U.S. ZIP codes with a population of 2,500 or more.

Other counties offering some of the highest annual gross rental yields in the nation on single-family properties are Baltimore City, Md.; Bibb County, Ga., in the Macon metro area; Monroe County, Pa., in the East Stroudsburg metro area; and Saginaw County, Mich., the report showed.

Among counties with populations of at least 1 million, these areas were offering the highest gross rental yields: Wayne County, Mich., in the Detroit metro area; Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in the Cleveland metro area; Allegheny County, Pa., in the Pittsburgh metro area; Philadelphia County, Pa.; and Franklin County, Ohio, in the Columbus metro area.

The average annual gross rental yield among the 375 counties tracked was 9 percent in 2017. To compute it, ATTOM Data Solutions divided the annualized gross rent income by the median purchase price of single-family homes.

“While good returns on single-family rentals are hard to come by in high-priced coastal markets and in some other housing hot spots such as Denver and parts of Dallas, Austin, and Nashville, solid returns on single-family rentals will continue to be available in many parts of the Southeast, Rust Belt, and Midwest for investors purchasing in 2017,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions. “And single-family rentals should continue to yield strong returns in many parts of the country going forward given the market undercurrents of low rent-ready housing inventory and low homeownership rates.”

Blomquist notes that average fair-market rents rose in 2017 in 86 percent of the markets his team analyzed, even while average wage growth outpaced rent growth in 67 percent of markets—“a recipe for sustainable growth in the rental market.”

Source: RealtyTrac