Elena Zimina's Real Estate

TALKING POINTS … Despite dropping 6 percent, mortgage applications for new home purchases still came in better than expected, the Mortgage Bankers Association's Builder Application Survey data for November 2015. Broken up by product type, conventional loans composed 68.4 percent of loan applications, FHA loans composed 18.1 percent, RHS/USDA loans composed 0.9 percent and VA loans composed 12.6 percent. Additionally, the average loan size of new homes decreased from $320,881 in October to $320,854 in November.

HOTTEST 2016 MARKETS FOR MILLENNIALS  Numbering 43.5 million, the older group of millennials (aged 25 to 34) makes up 13.6 percent of the U.S. population but fully 30 percent of the current population of existing-home buyers. In 2016, millennials have the power to remake the real estate landscape wherever they choose to settle. But where will that be? realtor.com  is forecasting the top 10 markets likely to see a surge of millennial buyers and five places these buyers are likely to leave next year. The ranking takes into proprietary 2016 sales and price projections, the representation of millennial users among viewers of “for sale” listing pages on  realtor.com  from July to October, and the share of head of households aged 25 to 34 relative to all heads of households, from 2015 Nielsen Pop-Facts. Atlanta, Ga. Pittsburgh, Pa. Memphis, Tenn. Boston, Mass. Austin, Texas San Diego, Calif. Seattle, Wash. Houston, Texas Denver, Colo. Charlotte, N.C. realto...

Calif. median home price: California 2015: California: $475,990 Calif. highest median home price by region/county: Marin, $1,207,140 Calif. lowest median home price by region/county: Kings, $183,330

REAL HOME PRICES COULD TAKE 17 YEARS TO RETURN TO PEAK Source: Wall St. Journal New analysis by real-estate information firm CoreLogic finds that when adjusted for inflation, home prices are years away from hitting the lofty heights of the housing boom. Indeed, economists there say that prices are unlikely to surpass 2006 levels until 2023 or beyond, some 17 years past the peak. The rise and fall in prices without adjusting for inflation matter for existing homeowners because they determine whether or not they are underwater on their mortgages. The rapid run-up in prices in recent years has made it easier for people to sell their homes because they no longer owe more on their mortgage than the home is worth.

TALKING POINTS … Pending home sales barely moved in October as the housing market starts to flatline in the fall, according to the most recent report from the National Association of REALTORS®. The index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, has now increased year over year for 14 consecutive months. In fact, October’s pending sales were 3.9 percent above October 2014. Despite rising prices and tight inventories in the West, the region posted a 1.7 percent uptick in October and is 10.4 percent above a year ago.

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose more than expected in September, according to the latest S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index. The 20-city composite rose 5.5 percent year over year in September, compared with consensus estimates for a 5.2 percent rise. The S&P Case Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which measures all nine U.S. census divisions, was up 4.9 percent from the same time last year, ticking up at a slightly faster pace than August's 4.6 percent increase.

Source: Harvard A new research brief from Harvard University analyzes the extent to which young renter households in their 20s and 30s are burdened by their student loan payments and explore the potential implications of these payment burdens on future decisions to pursue homeownership. Reflecting both increases in student loan payment amounts and income declines among young renters, the research finds that the prevalence of young renters with medium or high student debt burdens accelerated following the Great Recession. Between 2007 and 2013, the share of young renters with high student loan burdens nearly quadrupled, from 5 percent to 19 percent.