Real Estate Archives - Green Escrow Services, Inc

Millennials are buying

August 8, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

Millennials – those born between 1981 and 1996 – have long lagged behind other generations in homeownership as only 43 percent owned homes while an average of 65 percent of other generations had purchased a home.

of course, there are many reasons for this: high student debt, slow wage increase, rising home prices, low inventory etc. But that all seems to be changing as millennials have accounted for 43 percent of all home purchases in 2022.

Many used the pandemic to pay down debt and stabilize their financial situation as they move into more job security. Is their time at hand?

Home prices and rents still rising

August 4, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

While much has been made of the “cooling” of the housing market, the fact is both home prices and rents are still rising, just not at the absurd rate of six months ago.

Continued rising mortgage rates, coupled with high inflation, are keeping many first-time buyers out of the housing market and severely impacting renters.

As a result, applications for mortgages hit a 22-year low in June as many would-be buyers adopt a “wait-and-see” attitude.

Moving towards a buyer’s market?

August 1, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

It’s certainly not a buyer’s market yet, but there are signs that things may be moving in that direction.

More homes are available: While the upswing isn’t as dramatic as some predicted, it is an upswing.
Homes are lasting longer on the market: Again, the numbers are not particularly dramatic but they are headed in that direction
Price reductions are increasing: While prices are still rising overall, 14.9 percent of homes on the market, decreased their prices last month.
Fewer mortgage applications: This is undoubtedly a direct result o rising mortgage rates but the net result is that there are few buyers out there looking.

May-June drop in home prices

July 28, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

The cooling of home prices in the Bay Area continued in June with the largest monthly drop during this time of the year in at least 30 years. Prices declined 7 percent on average from May to June.

Analysts pointed to the usual reasons for the drop: rising interest rates, homes staying longer on the market along with the uncertain economy.

Alameda County saw the largest decline at 8 percent, while Contra Costa County homes dropped 5 percent.

Hottest East Bay markets

July 25, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

They say the real estate market is slowing, but don’t tell that to the buyers – or sellers – in the following zipcodes. The percentages are the increases in home values from June 2021 to June 2022

94582 – San Ramon – 24.4%
94583 – San Ramon – 24.3%
94506 – Danville – 24.1%
94587 – Union City – 24.1%
94568 – Dublin – 23.7%
94566 – Pleasanton – 22.7%
94588 – Pleasanton – 22.4%
94550 – Livermore – 21.8%

Affordable housing coming to San José

July 21, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

A new housing project in San José, called The Kelsey Ayer Station, has begun construction north of the city’s downtown area in the Ryland district.

The development will amenities to aid those with disabilities with support for low-income residents.

The planned construction is scheduled to take two years to complete.

Slowing demand, prices decline … slightly

July 14, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

According to Redfin, the “fastest cooling housing markets” in the U.S. include: San Jose (1), Sacramento (2), Oakland (3), Stockton (5), and San Francisco (10). All were down significantly in pending sales.

Meanwhile, prices dropped slightly: San Francisco at 0.1 percent, San Jose at0.77 percent.

Rising mortgage rates continue to price many homebuyers out of the market. However, analysts say that low inventory will keep prices from dropping signficantly.

Demand for mortgages down

July 11, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

Despite a 10 basis point drop last week – and 24 over the last two weeks, mortgage applications were down 5.4 percent last week. This was down 17 percent from a year ago.

Meanwhile, home inventory increased by 18.7 percent from June 2021 (although there are 53 percent fewer homes on the market than in June 2019.

Finally, the average nationwide home purchase loan declined by $8,000 from the prior week, although still up 21 percent from June 2021.

Yes, the market is changing

July 7, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

As we’ve mentioned for the last several weeks, there is a definite shift in the real estate market. Briefly, here are a few factors that are changing:

Fewer bids: 10 or more bids have been the norm. In most cases, this is no longer true.
Fewer bidding wars: Fewer bids means fewer bidding wars.
More homes for sale: Many sellers are now rushing to get their homes on the market
Price reductions: With more homes on the market and few homebuyers, prices most be set with more precision.
More open houses: As the market shifts to favor buyers, selling becomes more competitive.

Inventory continues to rise

July 5, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

Realtor.com reports that the number of real estate listings in June rose by 18.7 percent over a year ago, marking the second consecutive month that registered an increase. Nationwide, this amounts to 98,000 more homes for sale every day compared to 2021.

Of course, perspective is everything and three years ago in June 2019 there were more than double the number of homes that are currently for sale.

While sellers are looking to cash in while prices continue to rise, the increase in inventory should mean that buyers can be a bit more selective. in their choices.