- A joint study by Enterprise Community Partners and the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Projecting Trends in Severely Cost Burdened Renters: 2015 – 2025 predicted that, in the coming decade, little would change with respect to 1 in 4 renters being severely rent burdened. The researchers examined a number of factors, including: a predicted 10% population increase, declining homeownership rates, and a predicted rise in demand for rental housing. They also looked at a number of possible scenarios to determine how salary gain and population growth would affect the percentage of severely rent burdened households. Even the most optimistic of scenarios would only result in a 1.4% decrease.
- According to analysis by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Existing Home sales fell by 4.8% from July to August despite slowing price growth and a slightly lower interest rate. On the other hand NAR points out that Existing Home sales are 11% higher than August of last year.
- The Turner Center for Housing innovation at U.C. Berkley has released analysis entitled Housing Highlights from the 2014 American Community Survey (ACS) which culls the housing related data from the ACS which is released by the Census Bureau and provides statistical trend charts relating to homeownership, cost and vacancy rates. The Turner Center’s analysis finds, among other things homeownership continuing to slide it is now at 63.1% following its peak in 2006 when it was at 67.3%. But it also finds that the overall housing cost burden is at its lowest point following the bubble.
- According to a recent study by Zillow student debt only reduces chances of homeownership for non-graduates.
Tag Archives: National Association of Realtors
Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Round-up
- Corelogic’s Second Quarter U.S. Equity Report indicated that over three-quarters-of -a-million properties regained equity, while 4.4 million remain in negative equity over the same period. Aggregate negative equity fell $28 billion from $338 billion to $309 billion. According to Corelogic this reduction is caused both by foreclosure completions and home price appreciation.
- According to a study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) new home construction is trailing job growth in major metro areas. NAR sees this as the primary reason for the affordability crisis now gripping the nation in many of the same areas.
- The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) against certain real estate agencies and individual realtors who are alleged to have treated black and latino buyers in Jackson Mississippi in drastically different ways than they treated equally qualified white buyers. According to the NFHA complaint white buyers were shown a wider variety of homes while black and latino purchasers were largely steer into majority minority neighborhoods.
- The NHFA, in a related vein, also released a study entitled Where You Live Matters – 2015 Fair Housing Trends Report which draws a stark parallel between the historic lack of investment in communities of color and the racial disparities in educational, social, and economic outcomes that have resulted.
- NYU’s Furman Center has released a Brief entitled Black and Latino Segregation and Socioeconomic Outcomes which finds that the burgeoning Latino population in the U.S. is largely “inheriting the segregated urban structures experienced by African Americans.” This segregation seems to lead to reduced socioeconomic prospects when compared with whites, including lower earnings, more violent crime, less access to credit and lower homeownership rates.
Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Round-Up
- Community Builders, an initiative of the Sonoran Institute has released Place Value: How Communities Attract, Grow and Keep Jobs and Talent in the Rocky Mountain West recommends walkability and quality of life conscious development of communities .
- According to the National Association of Realtor’s analysis of the New Housing Starts data homebuilders are increasingly developing high density housing with “walkability” suburban and single family housing has been deemphasized.
- The Urban Institute released its Housing Finance at a Glance monthly chartbook, which Prof. Reiss finds to be a very helpful holistic view of the mortgage industry.
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Office of Policy Development and Research has developed the Creating Connected Communities: A Guidebook for Improving Transportation Connections for Low and Moderate Income Households in Small and Midsize Cities – the guidebook contains recommendations geared toward cities with 250,000 or fewer residents which among other things suggest a refocus of financial resources on critical needs and improvement of the alignment between housing and transportation investments.
- Zillow has announced that home prices are rising faster than incomes for most Millenials (no surprise there). This report also finds that first time home buyers rent for longer before buying typically more expensive homes which are paid for with a larger share of income.
Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Round-Up
- The Institute of Housing Studies at DePaul University has issued a report analyzing foreclosure activity which finds that foreclosures are down in the Chicago area in 2014. The report also finds that mortgage activity remains low while investor buyers have become a major factor in the single family market.
- Miami Coalition for the Homeless has proposed a set of solutions to make housing in Miami affordable. The prosed policy changes grew out of a cross sector symposium dubbed the 2015 Housing Summit – organized to promoting the creation and maintenance of affordable housing in Miami-Dade County, where 71% of monthly household income goes to housing and transportation.
- The National Association of Realtors (NAR) would like to see the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) increase National Loan Limits. The National Loan Limit sets the individual loan limits available under the Government Sponsored Entities (Fannie and Freddie) and FHA and VA loan programs. In a comment letter to the FHA NAR argues that since housing prices have rebounded following the financial crisis – now expected to surpass 2007’s prices, increases are in order.
Thursday’s Advocacy & Think-Tank Round-Up
- Enterprise Community Partner’s and other affordable housing advocates have launched #CapsHurtCommunities, a campaign to raise spending caps imposed and restore critical funding. They are urging organizations and concerned citizens to reach out to Congress while the members on recess – asking them to support tax extenders legislation and fully fund affordable housing. The Summer Advocacy Tool Kit contains a variety ideas for creating awareness around the issue.
- The Make Room Campaign’s mission is to raise awareness around the rent affordability crisis currently being played out in homes across the U.S. The Campaign has a novel approach – celebrity concerts, held on the 1st, (when the rent is due) in rent burdened living rooms. In July, Grammy Award winning Artist Timothy Bloom held a concert in the Paterson NJ (See, NJ Factsheet) home of the five member Montgomery family, which spends more than half its income on rent and despite holding three jobs, is behind on bills and cannot afford a vehicle. Last Month’s concert was in the Los Angeles, CA (See, CA Factsheet) home of the Duartes where Carly Rae Jepson performed her hit song, “Call Me Maybe.”
- National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index took a dip in June, after five months of increases. on the other hand, when compared to June of 2014, it reflects an 8.2% increase.
Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Round-Up
- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Staff Report, Determinants of Mortgage Default and Consumer Credit Use: The Effects of Foreclosure Laws and Foreclosure Delays, examines the interconnectedness of debt repayment decisions – specifically finding that mortgage default is negatively correlated with credit card and car loan defaults, unless foreclosure is delayed, in which case default rates increase across the board.
- Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies’ Remodeling Futures Program recently released its Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) index which predicts annual spending growth for home improvements will accelerate to 4.0% by the first quarter of 2016.
- According to the National Association of Realtor’s recently released June Existing Home Sales data, sales are now at their highest pace since February 2007 (5.79 million), have increased year-over-year for nine consecutive months and are 9.6 percent above a year ago (5.01 million).
- The National Low Income Housing Coalition has compiled a helpful overview of the new Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Rule, which was released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on July 8th. This document compares the old AFFH rule to the new AFFH rule and finds it makes modest yet positive steps toward encouraging more integrated communities.
- The Urban Institute’s Are You Rent Burdened? Is an interactive calculator the allows one to imput address, income and rental amount to determine whether one is rent burdened.
Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Round-Up
- Capital New York reports another study which finds that non-whites are at a disadvantage when it comes to securing a home loan, this is more pronounced in the conventional loan market (less so for FHA loans). Includes an interactive chart which breaks down the stats by borough.
- Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies’ Annual State of the Nation’s Housing 2015 reveals historic lows in homeownership rates, and a corresponding “rental boom,” a shortage in supply for single family dwellings, and an increasingly severe rental affordability problem.
- National Association of Realtors’ release of Existing Home Sales statistics for May reveal a strong rebound over April, in fact sales are strongest they have been in 6 years, with first time homebuyers making up the biggest portion of buyers.
- NYU Furman Center’s new working paper – Utility Allowances in Federally Subsidized Multifamily Housing – advocates four policy changes which would help HUD increase energy efficiency in the properties it subsidizes. These include, 1. Incentivizing owners to switch to individually metered units; 2. Incentivizing owners to make energy saving upgrades; 3. Provision of utility allowances that are affordable but make recipients bear the cost of consumption; 4. Provide information about relative utility costs to increase tenant purchasing power.
