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analytics general info

The 20 Hottest Markets In US

A good review of the hottest real estate markets – by Brena at Housing Wire.

Here are the 20 hottest housing markets

San Francisco keeps top spot

san jose and san Fran

As 2016 begins, the residential market is going through its typical seasonal slowdown.

But despite the winter cool down, these markets are still shining through as the 20 hottest markets in the nation, with San Francisco once again landing the title of the hottest housing market in America, the latest report fromrealtor.com said.

However, while supply is moving slowly, it is still faster than last year, with days on the market is down 7% y/y.

On a similar note, the report found that the median list price in December is also down slightly from November. While this is consistent with the season, the decline is not as dramatic with prices stronger than usual in December.

Here are the 20 hottest housing markets in December

20. Midland, Texas

19. Fort Wayne, Indiana

18. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida

17. Boulder, Colorado

16. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan

Mich

15. Modesto, California

14. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida

13. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee

Tenn

12. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California

11. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California

10. Stockton-Lodi, California

9. Yuba City, California

8. Santa Rosa, California

7. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado

Colorado

6. San Diego-Carlsbad, California

5. Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, California

4. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas

Dallas Roads

3. Vallejo-Fairfield, California

2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California

1. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California

Bridge

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analytics general info

$1M Median Prices In Boston Area Towns

Interesting story from Scott detailing the rise in median prices in metro Boston.

The 9 Boston area towns where median home price has hit $1M

 By Scott Van Voorhis

The median price of a single-family home has shot past the $1 million mark in several cities and towns across the Boston area during the first half of 2015, the latest real estate stats show.

Nine communities, from urban Cambridge to bucolic Lincoln, have seen their median home prices hit seven figures as demand for brand-name location combines with a shortage of homes for sale to drive up values.

Concord saw one of the biggest gains, with the median home prices in the historic town hitting $1,050,000 after a 24 percent leap this June compared to the same month a year before, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reports.

Median prices in Winchester and Newton both rose by more than 20 percent, hitting $1,090,000 and nearly $1.2 million, respectively.

Brookline had the highest median price of any community in the state, weighing in at $1.6 million, followed by CambridgeWeston and Lincoln, all at $1.4 million, according to MAR.

Wellesley followed at $1.2 million and Belmont at an even $1 million, with Lexington just under the $1 million mark, down at $965,000.

Other cities and towns posted impressive gains as well.

Somerville saw single-family prices skyrocket in June by over 50 percent, to $855,000. Through the first six months of the year, Somerville prices weighed in at a still lofty $621,600, the real estate group reports.

Condo prices in Somerville rose 12 percent through the first half of the year, hitting $552,500.

Bedford saw home prices rise 20 percent, to $785,000 in June, according to MAR.

Overall, sales and prices were up markedly across the state in June, making it the best month since August 2005, back during the last real estate boom, noted Tim Warren, chief executive of real estate market tracker and publisher, The Warren Group.

“We are seeing the early results from a strong spring market,” Warren said in a press release. “It is a remarkable showing after a prolonged slump and a sluggish recovery extending over the past 10 years.”

Categories
analytics general info

Boston’s Record Breaking Development

Great post by Scott at Boston.com

The Numbers Behind Boston’s Record-Breaking Year in Development

March 31, 2015 2:53 PM

Boston’s building boom is poised to shift into overdrive over the next few months as two big new tower projects come up for approval at City Hall.

A revised proposal to replace a four-story garage next to the TD Garden with a 46-story residential tower is working its way through the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s vetting process, said Brian Golden, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

And the first of four towers that will replace the Government Center garage eyesore is also moving towards a final approval vote by the BRA’s board, Golden noted.

The progress on the big projects is the latest sign that the handoff of Boston’s development boom to Mayor Marty Walsh has apparently come off without a hitch.

During Walsh’s first year in office in 2014, the Boston Redevelopment Authority gave a green light to 62 projects across the city totaling more than $3 billion.

So far in 2015, City Hall’s development arm has approved another 16 projects, totaling more than $677 million, according to numbers complied by the agency.

“It quite literally has been one of the most active periods for building in Boston’s history.”

All told, 20 million square feet of new development has been green-lit by City Hall over the last few years but have yet to break ground, representing dozens of projects that are coming soon, according to BRA officials.

“That presents a very promising picture about all the projects that are in the pipeline and that will bear fruit in the coming two or three years,” Golden said.

Meanwhile, the amount of new office, lab, residential, and retail space currently under construction has also grown dramatically.

That number has nearly quadrupled to 15.6 million square feet, up from 4.5 million in 2012, according to Nicholas Martin, the BRA’s spokesman.

Projects that have won the blessing of city officials this year include the $290 million Fenway condo and apartment tower, The Point, and an $85 million plan to transform the Chain Forge Building in the Charlestown Navy Yard into a hotel.

“It quite literally has been one of the most active periods for building in Boston’s history,” Martin said.

The numbers also include thousands of new homes, condos, and apartments, with Walsh, like the late Mayor Thomas M. Menino before him, having pledged to make new housing a top priority.

Overall, the Walsh Administration has racked up numbers during its first 15 months in office that appear to match up favorably with Menino’s record — no small matter given Boston’s longest serving mayor’s intense focus on development issues in the city.

Under Walsh, the BRA signed off on plans for 4,158 residential units in 2014, rising to a total of 5,100 if the first three months of 2015 are included.

By comparison, City Hall’s development arm approved 3,898 residential units in 2012 when Menino was mayor. The $3.4 billion in overall development OK’d by the agency that year was on par with the $3 billion under Walsh’s first year.

Behind Boston’s development boom is a diverse economy that is spinning off jobs in a range of sectors, including high-tech, life sciences, and financial services, real estate experts say.

The Hub’s residential, hotel, retail, and office markets are some of the most highly rated in the country when it comes to interest by real estate developers, a new survey by PwC and the Urban Land Institute finds.

There is also pent up demand for new housing amid steady growth in Boston’s population as an eclectic mix of millennials, young families, and empty nesters rediscover urban living.

The big numbers should put to rest early concerns expressed by some in the business community that Walsh might slow down the pace of development in Boston, notes David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, a trade group that represents developers from across the state.

“Things have been moving along,” Begelfer said. “Boston is in boom time right now and it’s not a bubble but a real boom. It is very rational development.”

 

Categories
analytics general info

Sales Rise In Suburbs – Slow Down In Boston

Interesting dynamics in the Boston and metro Boston markets – from Scott at Boston.com.

Sales rise in suburbs, slow down in Boston.

The suburbs led the way. Several communities are actually ahead of last year’s pace when it comes to home sales, according to numbers released by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Cambridge proved as desirable as ever, with both condo and home sales rising markedly, as the median price of a house in the city hit $1.3 million.

Boston was more of a mixed bag; some neighborhoods posted strong numbers, but others all but fell off the map.

Overall, home sales across Massachusetts rose 4 percent in February, with the median single-family home price for the first two months of the year increasing 5 percent to $316,000, according to The Warren Group.

Condo prices rose 1.5 percent to $294,250, even as sales fell by 6 percent.

The Warren numbers, of course, only tell part of the picture, as some represent sales that were initially inked late last year, or in January of this year (before the storms) but which finally closed in February.

“The continued, sustained snowfall has been an incredible challenge for the region’s housing market,” said Dan Breault, EVP/regional director of RE/MAX of New England in a press statement. “Fortunately, spring is just around the corner and with low inventory and rising prices, we anticipate a busy spring season.”

Still, Greater Boston homebuyers proved to be a hardy bunch.

The western suburbs held up especially well, according to The Warren Group’s February housing report.

Framingham, Marlborough, Natick, Franklin, Medfield, Wayland, Lexington, Concord, Wellesley, and Weston all put in strong showings in February.

Sales so far this year are up by double digits in Framingham (20 percent), Franklin (118 percent), Concord (54 percent), Lexington (14 percent), Natick (15 percent), Wellesley (26 percent), and Needham (18 percent).

The dire cold may have made buyers stingier, as selling prices were down in a number of towns. Notable exceptions included Needham, whose median home price soared past $1 million after a 33 percent jump; Lexington, where the median price hit $875,000 after a 7.4 percent increase; and Natick and Framingham, which saw prices go up by 6 percent.

Quincy and Braintree were the stars on the South Shore, with sales for the first two months of the year rising 28 percent and 15 percent respectively. Median prices in both cities stayed just about even, at $360,000 for Quincy and $356,000 for Braintree.

North of Boston, Medford is off to a particularly fast start in 2015, with sales up 6 percent and median price up more than 10 percent, to $440,000. Sales in Reading are up 80 percent, though the median price fell 9 percent to $438,000.

But for Boston and Somerville, the latest home sales numbers for the first two months of the year had more downs than ups.

Somerville home sales plunged 36 percent, with just seven properties changing hands so far this year, while condo sales were down 14 percent. The median price of a condo dropped 6 percent, to $422,000.

In Boston, both condo and home sales were down in several neighborhoods.

South Boston saw home sales rise by a quarter, even as condo sales fell by 10 percent, while Jamaica Plain saw condo sales plunge by 25 percent, even as the median price rose nearly 20 percent to $426,500.

East Boston put in one of the strongest showings in the city, with condo sales up 46 percent for the year and the median price rising 10 percent to $385,000.

Downtown Boston saw condo sales drop by a quarter through the end of February, while the median price edged down 14 percent to $757,500.

Neda Vander Stoep, a broker in the Back Bay office of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. “However, with inventory remaining low and plenty of buyers on the sidelines, properties that came on during the February storms were nonetheless quick to sell.”

Categories
architecture style

Micro Units

Love these micro units in Boston. Small spaces can be efficient and comfortable…we dont call them micro units here in Provincetown – we call them charming and authentic Cape Cod cottages.

Five Newer Greater Boston Buildings with Micro-Apartments

Micro-apartments have been popping up by the dozens in Greater Boston in the last few years, going by such aliases as innovation units and micro-lofts. However you dub these roses and where you plant them, they smell generally the same rent-wise: that is, they’re comparable, if not more expensive than, studios and even 1-BRs of similar age and size. Still, micro-apartments! From the Seaport District to East Cambridgethey’re the trend that won’t die. And we’ve got the five buildings in the region with sizable amounts of ’em. Let’s start with one opening in a matter of weeks.

100Pier_4_E1B_Studio_1000x800.jpg

100 Pier 4
The 359-unit development, part of a much larger project in the Seaport District, includes 50 innovation units spread over two floors. Above is a 3D rendering of a 460-square-foot studio asking $2,574 a monthThe complex opens next month.

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seaportsquare-thumb.jpg
[Rendering via Elkus Manfredi]

One Seaport Square
The 832-unit Seaport District behemoth, which includes both the Benjamin and VIA towers (and a ton of retail space), officially broke ground in November. Some of its 96 innovation units, which will be concentrated in the VIA spire, are due to be as small as 365 square feet. The rents for these are not yet clear.
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2039_1r63_from_summer-thumb.jpg
[Photo via Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype Inc.]

Factory 63
This 38-unit conversion of an old Fort Point shoe factory dropped in early 2013, and its apartments quickly leased up, including 23 innovation units. Some of these were asking well north of $2,000 a month.
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A1.jpg

315 on A
Another Fort Point creation, 315 on A held its grand opening in January 2014. It included studios as small as 464 square feet renting for well over $2K a month. It also fostered the concept of 20-Minute Living,which you can’t put a price tag on.
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o.jpg

Avalon North Point Lofts
The 103-unit East Cambridge complex carved from an old hot-dog factory (yup) opened in late 2014, and includes what are called micro-lofts. The available 450-square-foot ones now ask at least $2,285 a month.

Categories
analytics trends

Boston Metro Winners And Losers In The Pricing Game

Interesting post by Scott from Boston.com.

Mass.’s Biggest Winners, Losers in the Home Pricing Game

<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
iStock

 

By Scott Van Voorhis, Boston.com Correspondent |

 

 

 

 

The difference between the biggest winners and losers when it comes to home prices across Massachusetts can be summed up in a single word: jobs.

Cambridge and nearby cities and suburbs dominated the 2014 list of the top ten gainers in home values over the past decade, reports The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

The epi-center of the tech and life sciences boom, Cambridge led the way with an 80 percent increase in its median home price since 2005, which hit a lofty $1.2 million in 2014.

By contrast, the top 10 losers in value were all beyond the 128 and 495 beltways in economically struggling parts of the state, distant from the wealth and jobs of Greater Boston and Cambridge.

“Proximity to good jobs seems to be the common thread among the top communities,” Timothy M. Warren Jr., chief of The Warren Group, said in a press release. “Location matters in real estate, and here we see these key communities adding even more in terms of their home values.”

Top 10 winners
 Of the top 10, Somerville (No. 6,) and Belmont (No. 8.) both border Cambridge, while six others are with 5 or 10 miles of the city. Jamaica Plain was No. 2, having seen a 40 percent increase over the last decade that drove the median price of a home in the neighborhood to $700,000.

No. 3 was Lexington, at $950,000 after a 34 percent hike, and it’s practically next door to Cambridge and Somerville, separated only by high-flying Arlington.

After Lexington, there’s South Boston, Brookline, Concord, Newton, and Winchester.

By contrast, hard-hit old industrial towns and cities along Route 2 in North Central Massachusetts took the biggest hits to their home values.

Athol led the way down with a 36 percent plunge that lowered its median price to $115,000, followed by Fitchburg, Orange, and Gardner.

Top 10 losers
Top 10 losers

The Warren Group

 

 

“The extreme decline in median prices in these communities is unfortunate and indicative of the underlying factors occurring in each of these communities,” Warren said.

Three towns from Central Massachusetts also made the losers list: Warren (No. 4), Southbridge (No. 3), and Barre (No. 8).

Rounding off the list were Randolph, the only town in Greater Boston to make the list of the biggest decliners, and New Bedford.

However, rock bottom prices for homes and other real estate could provide some of the ingredients for a comeback for these communities as well, Warren noted.

“In order for prices to rebound, an economic revitalization in these areas needs to occur,” he said. “With low-cost housing abundant, these communities should be able to attract business relocations and start-ups.”

Categories
general info trends

Southie Leads Development Boom

Another great post by Scott.

 

Southie Leads Boston’s Development

 

<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
Flickr Creative Commons

 

By Scott Van Voorhis

 

 

 

Sure, Back Bay and Downtown Crossing may have all the new towers, but when it comes to overall development activity, South Boston is arguably the epicenter of the city’s development boom.

Southie currently has 42 projects either in the planning or approval stage, under construction, or recently opened. Most feature or include new apartment rentals, townhomes, or condos, according to the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s map of the Hub’s development scene.

The developments range from converted churches to brand spanking new buildings. The luxury West Square development at 320 D Street, which is still under construction, includes 259 apartments and 143 parking spaces.

If you throw in another 22 projects happening in the South Boston Waterfront, including the multibillion-dollar Seaport Square development , the number rises to 64 – three times or more than any other city neighborhood.

Not that super hot neighborhoods like the Back Bay (11 projects) and South End (19 projects), are any slouches either.

Back Bay and neighboring Downtown include plans for the three poshest and tallest towers even built in Boston: one still in the planning in Copley Square, and construction underway at the 61-story Four Seasons Tower and the 60-storyMillennium Tower.

“There has been a big shift in our city,” said Tracy Campion of Campion & Co., the brokerage in charge of the building’s sales. “Back Bay and Beacon Hill are bursting out of their seams.”

Other neighborhoods are also seeing a big surge in development.

East Boston may now be one of the hottest new neighborhoods in terms of big projects outside of South Boston.

A trio of grand waterfront developments is in the works for the neighborhood’s once hardscrabble waterfront, including 400 new apartments and condos at Clippership Wharf.

Charlestown’s real estate market heated up a couple decades ago, much like Eastie’s is doing now. The Charlestown boom continues, with plans for 85 new residential units and public space on the first floor at Pier 5.

Fenway is another neighborhood in the middle of a dramatic transformation, from a gritty student alcove to one of the more exciting places to live in the city.

With building sites scarce in the densely packed neighborhood, developers are pushing to span the Massachusetts Turnpike with ambitious air-rights projects.

Developer John Rosenthal is lining up financing for Fenway Center , a $550 million apartment and retail project proposed for an air-rights platform over the Massachusetts Turnpike by Fenway. Plans for Parcel 7 air-rights include a seven-story residential building and a 22-story residential and office tower.

Near the Hynes Convention Center and the Berklee College of Music, New York-based Peebles Corp. is pushing plans for a $330 million air-rights project at Parcel 13, including 88 condos, a hotel and shops.

Often overlooked, Dorchester now has 20 major projects in the works, including a proposal for for 275 residential units and 143 parking spaces at 25 Morrissey Boulevard by the JFK/UMass T station, while St. Kevin’s redevelopment, now underway, features 80 affordable units.

Brighton has 21, including 1505 Commonwealth Ave., a proposal to convert an office building into 85 residential units. Allston’s 15 projects include a new proposal for 87 apartments, ground floor retail, and 66 parking spaces at 37-43 North Beacon Street.

Meanwhile, Roxbury has 20 big projects in the pipeline, a number that includes 102 residential units in two buildings in the first phase of Bartlett Place , along with 16,839 square feet of commercial space and a garage with 130 spaces. When the build out is complete, the entire development will have 323 residences.

Last but not least, Jamaica Plain has 16 new projects, including The Commons at Forest Hills Station, which calls for 283 new residential units at the former Hughes Oil site. Demolition work began last fall.

Categories
style trends

Ten Hot Housing Trends For 2015

Below is a great post by Mike Wheatley of RealtyBiz. Emerging trends include specialized storage, charging stations, porcelain floors, quartzite counters and more – an interesting rundown on design trends we will see in 2015.

 Ten Hot Trends For 2015

This time of the year, we hear from just about every sector of the economy what’s expected to be popular in the coming year. Foodies with their fingers on the pulse of the restaurant industry and hot TV chefs will tell us to say goodbye to beet-and-goat cheese salad and hello roasted cauliflower, and there’s no end to the gadgets touted as the next big thing.

In real estate, however, trends typically come slowly, often well after they appear in commercial spaces and fashion. And though they may entice buyers and sellers, remind them that trends are just that—a change in direction that may captivate, go mainstream, then disappear (though some will gain momentum and remain as classics). Which way they’ll go is hard to predict, but here are a few trends that experts expect to draw great appeal this year

Coral shades

A blast of a new color is often the easiest change for sellers to make, offering the biggest bang for their buck. Sherwin-Williams says Coral Reef (#6606) is 2015’s color of the year because it reflects the country’s optimism about the future. “We have a brighter outlook now that we’re out of the recession. But this isn’t a bravado color; it’s more youthful, yet still sophisticated,” says Jackie Jordan, the company’s director of color marketing. She suggests using it outside or on an accent wall. Pair it with crisp white, gray, or similar saturations of lilac, green, and violet.

Open spaces go mainstream

An open floor plan may feel like old hat, but it’s becoming a wish beyond the young hipster demographic, so you’ll increasingly see this layout in traditional condo buildings and single-family suburban homes in 2015. The reason? After the kitchen became the home’s hub, the next step was to remove all walls for greater togetherness. Design experts at Nurzia Construction Corp. recommend going a step further and adding windows to better meld indoors and outdoors.

Off-the-shelf plans

Buyers who don’t want to spend time or money for a custom house have another option. House plan companies offer myriad blueprints to modify for site, code, budget, and climate conditions, says James Roche, whose Houseplans.com firm has 40,000 choices. There are lots of companies to consider, but the best bets are ones that are updating layouts for today’s wish lists—open-plan living, multiple master suites, greater energy efficiency, and smaller footprints for downsizers (in fact, Roche says, their plans’ average now is 2,300 square feet, versus 3,500 a few years ago). Many builders will accept these outsiders’ plans, though they may charge to adapt them

Freestanding tubs

Freestanding tubs may conjure images of Victorian-era opulence, but the newest iteration from companies like Kohler shows a cool sculptural hand. One caveat: Some may find it hard to climb in and out. These tubs complement other bathroom trends: open wall niches and single wash basins, since two people rarely use the room simultaneously.

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photo credit: Rev Stan via photopin cc

Quartzite

While granite still appeals, quartzite is becoming the new hot contender, thanks to its reputation as a natural stone that’s virtually indestructible. It also more closely resembles the most luxe classic—marble—without the drawbacks of staining easily. Quartzite is moving ahead of last year’s favorite, quartz, which is also tough but is manmade.

Porcelain floors

If you’re going to go with imitation wood, porcelain will be your 2015 go-to. It’s less expensive and wears as well as or better than the real thing, says architect Stephen Alton. Porcelain can be found in traditional small tiles or long, linear planks. It’s also available in numerous colors and textures, including popular one-color combos with slight variations for a hint of differentiation. Good places to use this material are high-traffic rooms, hallways, and areas exposed to moisture.

Almost Jetson-ready

Prices have come down for technologies such as web-controlled security cameras and motion sensors for pets. Newer models are also easier to install and operate since many are powered by batteries, rather than requiring an electrician to rewire an entire house, says Bob Cooper at Zonoff, which offers a software platform that allows multiple smart devices to communicate with each other. “You no longer have to worry about different standards,” Cooper says.

Charging stations

With the size of electronic devices shrinking and the proliferation of Wi-Fi, demand for large desks and separate home office is waning. However, home owners still need a dedicated space for charging devices, and the most popular locations are a corner of a kitchen, entrance from the garage, and the mud room. In some two-story Lexington Homes plans, a niche is set aside on a landing everyone passes by daily.

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photo credit: the tartanpodcast via photopin cc

Wellness systems

Builders are now addressing environmental and health concerns with holistic solutions, such as heat recovery ventilation systems that filter air continuously and use little energy, says real estate developer Gregory Malin of Troon Pacific. Other new ways to improve healthfulness include lighting systems that utilize sunshine, swimming pools that eschew chlorine and salt by featuring a second adjacent pool with plants and gravel that cleanse water, and edible gardens starring ingredients such as curly blue kale.

Special storage

The new buzzword is “specialized storage,” placed right where it’s needed. “Home owners want everything to have its place,” says designer Jennifer Adams. More home owners are increasingly willing to pare the dimensions of a second or third bedroom in order to gain a suitably sized walk-in closet in their master bedroom, Alton says. In a kitchen, it may mean a “super pantry”—a butler’s pantry on steroids with prep space, open storage, secondary appliances, and even a room for wrapping gifts. “It minimizes clutter in the main kitchen,” says architect Fred Wilson of Morgante-Wilson.

Categories
trends

Real Estate Trends That Defined 2014

Below is an rundown of real estate trends we saw in 2014 and a look forward to what we might see in 2015. This post provides a terrific national overview that is meaningful for our local markets as well.

The year 2014 saw a steady build-up of housing momentum that is expected to carry the market into 2015 gains, according to a realtor.com® report released today.

The 2014 Housing Review points to significant improvements in the U.S. economy overall and low mortgage rates as fueling the housing market. However, there are also factors that continue to hold back a recovery, including tight credit restrictions and a limited supply of homes for sale.

“The strong outlook for 2015 is based in part on the improvements and momentum experienced by the economy and housing in the second half of 2014,” said Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “With several key factors turning strongly positive, 2014 was a turning point and sets the stage for a stronger recovery in 2015.”

Here are the top 10 trends of the past year, with five indications of growth and five limiting factors.

Realtor.com®’s Top 10 Real Estate Trends of 2014

Indicators of a stronger housing recovery

1. Improving economic fundamentals: After an especially harsh winter, the economy picked up steam this spring and produced a banner year for new jobs. The GDP this year was higher and is still trending higher, resulting in stronger consumer confidence.

2. Historically low mortgage rates continued: Mortgage rates declined despite the end this year of quantitative easing, a monetary policy intended to stimulate the economy. Global weakness, along with actions by the European Central Bank and central banks in Asia, kept our Federal Reserve from raising the Federal Fund Rate, which kept mortgage rates low.

3. Return to normal price appreciation: After two years of abnormally high levels of home price appreciation in 2012 and 2013, price increases moderated throughout 2014. We are now experiencing increases in home prices consistent with long-term historical performance.

4. Decline of distressed sales: Foreclosures and short sales declined throughout the year, and while total home sales decreased year over year, normal (non-distressed) home sales increased over 2013. Foreclosure inventories also fell substantially and are forecasted to be down 30% year over year at the close of 2014.

5. End of the era of major investors active in purchases: Related to the drop in distressed sales opportunities, and against a backdrop of higher home prices, portfolios of single-family homes for rent may have reached their peak this year. Large-scale investor purchase activity in the single-family market sector continued to decline, leaving more room for traditional first-time buyers.

However, we still have a ways to go back to normality.

“Despite the positives, several factors were far from normal this year,” Smoke said. “The limiting factors held back demand and even supply in 2014, but economic gains and late 2014 government housing policy actions brighten the potential for even more positive change in 2015.”

Factors holding back recovery

1. Tight credit standards: Despite historically low rates, many households were prevented from capitalizing on mortgage access because of overlays lenders added to qualification standards in order to limit their risk. As a result, mortgage credit availability did not improve in 2014.

2. Limited inventory: While absolute inventories increased as the year progressed, supply did not outpace demand. Monthly supply of new homes and existing homes remained beneath normal levels, and the age of inventory was down year over year.

3. Depressed levels of first-time buyers: The share of first-time buyers fell to the lowest level in more than 20 years, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. “But the first-time buyer share is showing signs of modest improvement by the year-end,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist. Federal policy actions, such as revised regulations for lenders and new low down-payment programs introduced in December are anticipated to have a positive impact in 2015.

4. Record levels of renters and ever-increasing rent prices: Continued declines in homeownership rates resulted in record numbers of renting households. Rent increases became an inflationary concern this year, and looking ahead, the pace of these increases is not slowing down.

5. Lack of recovery in homebuilding and low share of new home sales: Single-family starts barely increased in 2014 over 2013. New home sales remain far from normal share levels – typically near 16%, they are now around 9%. New home prices increased substantially again this year, revealing that higher priced product is limiting the demand.

Categories
analytics

Boston Is 7th Most Valuable Market

A repost of Scott’s Zillow findings.

 Boston is Nation’s 7th Most Valuable Real Estate Market

 

Boston’s real estate market jumped $28 billion this year, according to Zillow.
Boston’s real estate market jumped $28 billion this year, according to Zillow.

The Boston Globe

By Scott Van Voorhis

Boston.com Correspondent

 

Feeling any richer? You should be. The total value of all homes and condos in Greater Boston came in just under the $600 billion mark in 2014, a new report finds.

 

 

Boston area residential values have jumped $28 billion this year, for a nearly 5 percent gain, according to Zillow.

The Zillow Home Value Index, a blend of property assessments by local officials and market prices, pegs the median home value for the Boston area at $364,900. (Zillow pegs the median rent at $2,137.)

The increase makes Boston the seventh most valuable real estate market in the country, behind Los Angeles ($2.2 trillion), New York ($2.1 trillion), San Francisco ($1 trillion), Washington ($943 billion) Chicago ($738 billion) and Miami/Fort Lauderdale ($717 billion).

Boston edged out Philadelphia ($573 billion) and San Diego ($538 billion) and smoked Seattle ($465 billion) and Minneapolis-St. Paul ($292 billion).

However, for buyers, there are two bits of good news.

First, the pace at which home prices are rising appears to be slacking off a bit. This year’s 4.9 percent jump in overall home and condo values is a step down from 2013, when Boston area real estate values hot up 8.1 percent, or $46.5 billion.

Second, inventory, or the number of homes on the market, also shows signs of improving, with 8.2 percent more listings this year compared to 2013.