Elena Zimina's Real Estate

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The global luxury housing market lost some of its sheen last year as financial markets became unsettled and many wealthy buyers began to look for less expensive homes. "The return of realism," is how Dan Conn, chief executive of Christie's International Real Estate, described the high-end market that stretches from San Francisco to Singapore. Sales in a sector whose average home prices start at $2.2 million slowed in 2015, increasing by 8 percent, half its 2014 pace. The decline most likely reflects stability rather than weakness, according to a report released Thursday by Christie's. Properties in London and Hong Kong are sitting on the market longer. On average, homes sold for prices 19 percent below the original asking price, compared with 14 percent below the asking price in 2014. The number of luxury-home sales in the often sizzling Manhattan market dipped 5 percent last year. Falling oil prices led sales in Dubai to tumble 25 percent.

Calif. median home price: March 2015: California: $483,280 Calif. highest median home price by region/county: San Francisco, $1,360,580 Calif. lowest median home price by region/county: Merced, $189,500

STRONG WAGE GROWTH, LEVEL HOME PRICES BUOY HOUSING AFFORDABILITY Higher wages and lower seasonal home prices combined to push California housing affordability higher in the first quarter of 2016, compared to the previous quarter, according to a recent report by C.A.R. Affordability was flat when compared to the previous year as rising home price offset income gains. The percentage of home buyers who could afford to purchase a median-priced, existing single-family home in California in first-quarter 2016 rose to 34 percent from the 30 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015 and was unchanged from first-quarter 2015, according to C.A.R.’s Traditional Housing Affordability Index (HAI).  This is the 12th consecutive quarter that the index has been below 40 percent and is near the mid-2008 low level of 29 percent.  California’s housing affordability index hit a peak of 56 percent in the first quarter of 2012. Home buyers needed to earn a minimum annual income of $92,571 to qualify f

Which way are rates headed?  That’s the big question.  Understanding what is holding rates at these levels with little to no volatility is probably a smarter question.  Let’s start with the easier part of the question, the lack of volatility.  Lack of volatility means lack of changing opinions, lack of game changing or thought altering headlines, a lack of major position realignments and a lack of intuition.  Essentially it means no one knows and nothing has come to the forefront to change anyone’s opinion.  It’s the Great Not Knowing.   The 10yr is bouncing between 1.70 and 1.80 with the occasional lift above 1.90 before returning right back to the 1.70-1.80 range.     Today it trades at 1.76%.  It’s becoming Ground Hog Day again, over and over.  The Fed says they plan to raise rates soon, depends upon data, play it by ear, watch inflation, jobs, yada yada and the market doesn’t move.   Half the market thinks the day of Fed liftoff is coming soon and the other half of the marke

California suburbs growing fast as many are priced out of cities, data show Source:  LA Times According to state officials, suburban areas just outside of Los Angeles and San Francisco grew especially fast last year due to red-hot housing markets. As people attempt to remain within commuting distance while fleeing astronomical prices, many suburbs have increased in popularity.  For example, San Joaquin County, home to Stockton, grew faster than any other, up 1.3 percent to 733,000 people. San Joaquin was followed by Yolo, Riverside, and Santa Clara counties. Among cities with at least 30,000 people, the fastest-growing were concentrated primarily in the Inland Empire and Orange County: Porterville, Eastvale, Lake Forest, Beaumont, and Lake Elsinore. Supply needs have only grown for the state’s population, but the number of new housing units in California declined last year for the first time since the start of the economic recovery.

WEST LEADS NATION IN HOME-PRICE APPRECIATION Source:  HousingWire   Home prices are up both year-over-year and month-over-month and since home-price appreciation has stayed strong for roughly a year now, this trend doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon. Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, moved higher year-over-year by 6.7 percent in March 2016 compared with March 2015 and increased month-over-month by 2.1 percent in March 2016 compared with February 2016, according to the CoreLogic Home Price Index.

KITCHEN AND BATH REMODELING MORE COMMON THAN EVER IN 2015 Source:  NAHB In 2015, the top two most common remodeling jobs were bathroom remodeling (81 percent) and kitchen remodeling (79 percent). A larger share of remodelers reported these as their most common jobs in 2015 in comparison to prior years. In fact, the share of remodelers reporting bathroom and kitchen remodels as their most common jobs in 2015 is the highest it has been since the inception of the National Association of Home Builder’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI) survey in 2001. The percentage of remodelers reporting room additions as one of their most common remodeling jobs jumped in 2015 (from 40 percent in 2014 to 47 percent in 2015).

U.S. HOMEOWNERSHIP RATE FALLS AGAIN, NEARING A 48-YEAR LOW Source: C.A.R. The nation’s homeownership rate hit a 48-year low in the second quarter of 2015, and results from the first quarter of 2016 have dashed hopes that the homeownership rate had finally hit a bottom in 2015, as it slid back almost to that level in the first quarter of this year, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Making sense of the story In the first three months of this year, the rate was at 63.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted. That is down from 63.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015. When adjusting for seasonality, the homeownership rate in the first quarter also fell slightly to 63.6 percent from 63.7 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Jonathan Smoke,  realtor.com ®‘s chief economist, commented, “The decline in the homeownership rate is definitely showing signs of bottoming out. Most likely the homeownership rate is going to be stabilizing or even could be rising again in anothe

HIGH DEMAND AND THIN HOUSING SUPPLY CRIMP MARCH CALIFORNIA PENDING HOME SALES Source: C.A.R. Statewide pending home sales in California decreased in March on an annual basis for the third straight month, reflecting high demand for a dearth of homes available for sale on the market, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). Making sense of the story Statewide pending home sales fell in March on an annual basis, with the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) decreasing 1.7 percent from 138.0 in March 2015 to 135.6 in March 2016, based on signed contracts. On a monthly basis, California pending home sales rose from February, primarily due to seasonal factors. The PHSI increased 12.7 percent from an index of 120.3 in February to 135.6 in March. When adjusting pending sales for typical seasonal patterns, pending sales actually declined 1 percent from February. Tight inventories are expected to continue to impede home sales growth this year. At the regional level,