While you were out selling houses . . .

We’ve been busy scouring December real estate news for stuff you may have missed. You’re welcome.

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The most desirable home in America

The NAR seems to be under the impression that the best-selling home in America is also the “most desirable.”

Which is a bit like claiming that, because it is the best-selling used car, the Honda Accord is the most desirable vehicle in the U.S.  

But we digress. According to their video, compiled from their own stats, some information from Kiplinger and the U.S. Census, the “The Most Desirable Home in America” is surprisingly similar to the standard starter home.

The one that’s been selling like hotcakes over the past few years.

It’s located within 15 miles of the buyer’s previous home, in a subdivision or ‘burb. Built around 1991, this single-family residence offers about 1,870 square feet of living space.

The buyers spent $235,000 (on average) for the home which features three bedrooms and two bathrooms, an eat-in kitchen “instead of a formal dining room,” laundry room and a garage.

We’re not sure but think it’s a safe bet that this home doesn’t represent what most Americans consider their heart’s desire, but it does reflect what most buyers can afford.

The end of DIY home selling and buying?

Here’s a bit of December real estate news for you: A new Harris Poll asked 1,000 real estate consumers if they used an agent when they bought or sold a home within the past six months. Ninety percent did just that.

Apparently, that’s an all-time high for this particular study, up 5 percent from the last study (2014).

Those most likely to use an agent when buying or selling include “higher income earners” with a college degree and those ages 35 to 44 (mainly millennials). And, most of them found their agent through a referral from someone they trust.

What are these oh-so-intelligent consumers seeking in an agent?

• Home sellers seek an agent with listings similar to the seller’s home (64 percent)
• One with good reviews
• Someone with whom they feel a rapport

The bad news in all of this, at least for some agents, is that this means there are fewer FSBOs to go after.

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Desperate homebuilders and the agents who love them

So, just how bad are new home sales? According to Prashant Gopal at Bloomberg.com, home builders are so desperate for buyers that they’re offering homebuyers AND their agents very attractive incentives.

“Ram Konara, a real estate broker in suburban Dallas, is raking in freebies this year: trips to Lake Tahoe and Santa Barbara in California, Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, and a dude ranch in Wyoming,” according to Gopal.

New home sales took a beating back in September, hitting a low not seen since December of 2016. Then, in October, sales fell even more. The hardest hit home builders hail from the south, where new home sales fell 7.7 percent.

Reuters is chalking it up to higher mortgage rates, while Gopal claims that’s only part of the story. Immigration restrictions and the tax overhaul are also to blame, he said.

Now might be a good time to troll for new-home buyers. It’s a win-win when your client gets the deal of a lifetime and you get a very cool vacay.

 

Oh, those wacky millennials

Here’s some December real estate news for you agents who insist on beating your head against the brick wall known as “millennials.”

A recent study finds that one-third of “young adults in the US live with their parents,” according to the Daily Mail’s deputy health editor Natalie Rahhal.

So, naturally, tons of media outlets picked up on the story, all using the word “millennials’ in their headlines.

The “young adults,” of whom they speak are, in fact, between the ages of 18 and 34, according to Pew Research, placing many of them in Gen Z (those aged 18 to 22), not the older Gen Y.

Not only that, but the group contains slightly more than half of the millennial generation, certainly not all of them.

Reading beyond the obfuscation (“young adults,” etc.) and drilling into the actual numbers, the reality is that

One-third of half of U.S. millennials live with their parents

I’m no math whiz, but I think that’s about 16.6 percent, right?

So, don’t freak out. These aren’t the typical millennial homebuying clients who are deciding to move back in with Mom and Dad.

In case you’re wondering, millennials will be between the ages of 24 and 42 in 2019, according to The Center for Generational Kinetics.

 

December real estate news – Buyers’ market on the horizon

Speaking of buyers, 43 percent of a whole bunch of economists and “experts” rounded up by Zillow and Pulsenomics say that “the U.S. housing market will become a buyer’s market in 2020.”

Forty-three percent of the 100 surveyed forecast plump inventories and tumbling home prices. And, they say, some markets may see the forecasted buyers’ market sooner than others (as early as 2019). Either way, be ready for it, and get your clients ready as well.

Read the whole story at MarketWatch.com.

And that’s your December real estate news in a nutshell. Happy holidays!

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