The decline in housing numbers reported for December on Wednesday is tied to the dwindling available supply of housing for purchase. While low unemployment and modest wage growth are driving strong demand, housing inventory is lacking. … READ MORE >
Real estate
Housing to start 2020 with a bang
November housing starts rose by 3.2% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.365 million in November, exceeding expectations. The news kept on rolling with housing permits, a leading indicator of future starts, rising to 1.482 million – the highest in 12½ years. … READ MORE >
How senior housing developers can respond to sagging demand
Developers eager to fill the demand for senior housing created by an aging U.S. population are facing a new and unexpected challenge in the form of rapidly advancing technologies that allow seniors to stay in their homes longer. … READ MORE >
As recession looms, U.S. homebuilders show strength
Even as slowing global growth and rising trade tensions have increased the odds that the American economy will enter a recession, one sector – homebuilding – has emerged as a bright spot. … READ MORE >
Real estate dry powder hits record levels amid stock market volatility, rising property values
Real-estate focused private equity funds are sitting on record amounts of dry powder amid stock market volatility and rising property values. That amount reached $345.2 billion in the United States through August 2019, the highest level since research firm Preqin first began to track the data in 2000. … READ MORE >
Is the next mortgage bubble imminent? Not so fast, the debt data tells us
There’s no denying that U.S. consumer debt is high. But despite headlines about a pending mortgage crisis not unlike the one that preceded the Great Recession, data shows that the U.S. economy is not yet ready for a “back to the future” scenario, writes RSM Senior Real Estate Analyst and Partner Troy Merkel. … READ MORE >
Low treasury rate is a boost for home builders, neutral for commercial real estate
Bonds have been declining in recent weeks following a 25-basis-point rate cut from the Federal Reserve and expectations of further cuts amid rising concerns over an impending recession. Recession concerns were escalated by the inversion of the U.S. and U.K. two- and 10-year yield curves and the fall of 30-year Treasury yields to 2.07%, a record low. While this trend in the bond market will likely drive down the 30-year fixed mortgage rate and translate to more purchasing power for home buyers, it will do little to juice the market for commercial real estate. … READ MORE >
Homebuilder confidence indicators rise but still lag 2018
The homebuilder confidence index rose to 65 in July, according to the National Association of Homebuilders, as a dovish Federal Reserve is expected to reduce interest rates later this month and, potentially two more times by the end of 2019. … READ MORE >
Real estate investors hope for the best, prepare for the worst—KAYO conference
“Economic cycles and real estate cycles don’t die of old age,” writes Laura Dietzel, RSM senior real estate analyst. “Most of the top industry investors, executives and advisors at the (Kayo) conference agreed that the industry currently finds itself in a mature part of the cycle, as property values throughout the country and across asset classes remain richly priced.” … READ MORE >
Cautious builders continue to mute housing supply
Key government housing metrics continue to show year-over-year declines. Housing starts fell 11.2% in May, according to the Commerce Department, while permits declined 3.8%. These numbers strongly imply there will be a fall back toward 1.22 million housing completions on an annualized basis in the coming months. … READ MORE >