Solo Home Buyers Re-emerge.

Solo Home Buyers Re-emerge. Image courtesy of phanlop88 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Individual home buyers comprised a quarter of all house purchases last year, according to National Association of REALTORS® data. Single women purchase homes at double the rate of single men, according to the data.

However, solo buyers can face particular challenges in qualifying for a mortgage. During and following the recession, banks tightened their underwriting standards, which also made it more difficult for single home buyers without dual incomes to qualify for a loan.

Between 2010 and 2012, home purchases made by singles dropped 7 percent — unprecedented, according to NAR. Low mortgage rates and high home affordability have drawn more singles back to home buying.

Home purchases are often a means of self-expression for singles, Jennifer De Vivo, a real estate professional in Orlando, Fla., told MSN Real Estate. “It’s a way for singles to express their lifestyles and values,” De Vivo says. “They are able to focus on the exact communities, home styles, and features that cater to their individuality with much less compromise.”

For single buyers who outgrow their first homes, some experts encourage them to keep the properties as investments.

“I always counsel them to try to keep their current home as an investment property and rent it out. It’s a big step toward helping them create long-term financial security,” De Vivo says.

Source: “Solo Homebuyer? You’re not Alone,” MSN Real Estate (May 2013)

10 Cities With the Worst Traffic Congestion

10 Cities With the Worst Traffic Congestion. Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The average American spent a total of 28 hours sitting in traffic last year, according to INRIX, a traffic information group. But residents in some of the nation’s most congested cities spent nearly double that—an average of 42 hours a year—sitting in traffic.

In its 2012 Traffic Scorecard, INRIX compared the average of the drivers’ actual speed on the road during peak hours with the average speed of drivers when there was no congestion.

Here are the 10 cities with the worst traffic, according to the study:

1. Los Angeles

Congestion score: 28.8

Average commute time: 28.6 minutes (15th highest)

2. Honolulu

Congestion score: 26

Average commute time: 27 minutes (the 27th highest)

3. San Francisco

Congestion score: 23.5

Average commute time: 29.2 minutes (tied for 10th highest)

4. Austin

Congestion score: 20.7

Average commute time: 25.8 minutes (45th highest)

5. New York

Congestion score: 19.9

Average commute time: 34.9 minutes (the highest)

6. Bridgeport, Conn.

Congestion score: 19.1

Average commute time: 28.3 minutes (18th highest)

7. San Jose, Calif.

Congestion score: 17.6

Average commute time: 24.8 minutes (65th highest)

8. Seattle

Congestion score: 17.6

Average commute time: 27.6 minutes (22nd highest)

9. Washington, D.C.

Congestion score: 16.4

Average commute time: 34.5 minutes (2nd highest)

10. Boston

Congestion score: 14.7

Average commute time: 29.2 minutes (tied for 10th highest)

Source: “10 Cities With the Worst Traffic,” USA Today (May 4, 2013)

Are Underpriced Homes Fueling Bidding Wars?

Are Underpriced Homes Fueling Bidding Wars? Image courtesy of satit_srihin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The number of homes for sale is at the lowest point in more than 10 years, but with buyer demand still high, many markets are seeing bidding wars. A TIME magazine article recently asked: “Are buyers being manipulated into overbidding for the relatively few attractive homes on the market?”

Some real estate professionals say that homes are being underpriced in order to ignite a bidding war.

“Most people are not pricing at market value,” a real estate professional told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Even in this market, you don’t want to overprice.”

For example, the San Francisco-based agent said a two-bedroom townhouse in the area was priced at $659,000  recently, even after a similar townhome had sold a year ago for $675,000.

“We priced it intentionally to get multiple offers and sell quickly,” the agent says. The townhouse attracted nine offers and sold for 15 percent above the asking price — $755,000.

Bidding wars have become commonplace in markets like Denver, where half of the new homes on the market are selling in less than 30 days. In Northern and Southern California nine in 10 homes are attracting bidding wars, as well as two-thirds of the homes for sale in Boston, New York City, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., the TIME magazine article notes.

“The only question is not whether a new listing will get multiple bids but how many it will get,” says a Sacramento, Calif.-based real estate professional.

Source: “Forget Lowballing: Bidding Wars Return in Hot Housing Markets,” TIME (April 30, 2013)

More Americans Optimistic About Housing Recovery.

More Americans Optimistic About Housing Recovery. Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

More than half of Americans — 51 percent — now say they expect home prices to increase within the next year, according to a survey by mortgage giant Fannie Mae of about 1,000 Americans’ attitudes toward housing.

“For the first time in the survey’s three-year history, the majority of Americans surveyed now expect home prices to increase,” says Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “Crossing the 50 percent threshold marks a significant milestone as most Americans believe a housing recovery is truly occurring throughout the country.”

Last year at this time, only 32 percent said they expected home prices to increase.

More Americans in April also said now is a good time to sell, climbing four percentage points to 30 percent last month compared to 15 percent one year ago.

The number of respondents who expect mortgage rates to rise dropped 3 percentage points to 43 percent in April, while 7 percent said they expect rates to drop fell slightly to 7 percent, according to the survey.

Source: “Survey: Over 50% of Americans Expect Home Prices to Rise,” The Wall Street Journal (May 7, 2013)

Improving Market List Drops Slightly in May.

Improving Market List Drops Slightly in May. Image courtesy of Zuzzuillo / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Improving Markets Index fell to 258 metros in May from 273 in April, but continues to reflect metros from every state as well as the District of Columbia, according to the National Association of Home Builders and First American.

The Improving Markets Index identifies the metro areas that have shown improvement in housing permits, employment, and housing prices for at least six consecutive months.

Nineteen metros dropped from May’s index, but NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe says that this is similar to what happened with the index last year, as softer prices are usually seen in the winter months.

Meanwhile, four new markets were added to this month’s index: Dothan, Ala.; Elizabethtown, Ky.; Salisbury, Md.; and Salem, Ore.

“The fact that over 70 percent of all U.S. metros are holding onto their spots on the improving list is definitely good news, and representative of the generally brightening outlook for housing markets nationwide,” says NAHB Chairman Rick Judson. “That said, our industry’s progress on the road to recovery is being slowed by rising challenges related to the availability of credit, building materials, labor, and lots for development.”

To view a complete list of the 258 metros on the index, visit www.nahb.org/imi.

Source: National Association of Home Builders

Big Job Boom Expected in Homebuilding.

Big Job Boom Expected in Homebuilding. Image courtesy of healingdream / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Between 2006 and 2011, residential construction jobs saw a 41 percent drop, as the new-home market faced steep losses.

However, a big rebound is expected to be on the horizon in homebuilding. Housing starts are expected to return to normal levels by 2016, and with that prediction residential construction employment will likely rise to nearly 2.5 million jobs, according to Fannie Mae’s Housing Insights report, which looks at the historical relationship between housing starts and construction jobs.

According to Fannie’s forecast, residential construction employment will surge by 412,000 jobs between 2012 and 2016.

“This 20 percent rise in homebuilding employment will nearly triple the forecasted pace of total job growth during this time period,” HousingWire reports.

Despite the expected surge in homebuilding jobs, Fannie says that the increase still will not reflect all the homebuilding jobs that had been lost during the housing crisis. By 2016, the number of residential construction jobs is forecasted to be nearly 1 million below the peaks reached during the housing boom.

Source: “Fannie Mae: Homebuilding jobs far from normal,” HousingWire (May 6, 2013)