Some Highlights:

Atlas Van Lines recently released the results of their annual Migration Patterns Survey in which they tracked their customer’s movement from state-to-state over the course of 2017.
Idaho held on to the top spot of ‘high inbound’ states for the 2nd year in a row followed by Washington.
The ‘outbound’ states seem to draw a line straight across the country from Connecticut to Wyoming. ...

Over the next five years, home prices are expected to appreciate on average by 3.35% per year and to grow by 24.34% cumulatively, according to Pulsenomics’ most recent Home Price Expectation Survey.
So, what does this mean for homeowners and their equity position?
As an example, let’s assume a young couple purchases and closes on a $250,000 home this month (January). If we only look at the projected increase in the price of that home, how much equity will they earn over the next 5 years?

Since the experts predict that home prices will increase by 4.2% in 2018, the young homeowners will have gained $10,500 in equity in just one year.
Over a five-year period, their equity will increase by nearly $45,000! This figure does not even take into account their monthly principal mortgage payments. In many cases, home equity is one of the largest portions of a family’s overall net worth.
Bottom Line
Not only is homeownership something t ...

Some Highlights:

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently released their latest Existing Home Sales Report.
First-time homebuyers made up 31% of all sales in August.
Homes are selling quickly with 51% of homes on the market for less than a month.
A limited supply continues to drive up prices for the 66th consecutive month. ...

There is no doubt that the largest challenge in today’s housing market is a lack of housing inventory for sale. This challenge has been defined as an “overwhelming lack of supply,” and even a “straight up inventory crisis.”
First American just released the results of a survey which sheds light on the reasons for the current lack of supply.
The survey asked title agents and real estate professionals to identify what they believe are the top reasons for this lack of inventory in their markets. Here are the results of the survey:

47% - existing homeowners are worried that they will not be able to find a home to buy
5% - first-time buyer demand is absorbing a large share of available homes
3% - existing homeowners’ mortgage rates are lower than the current rates
6% - insufficient or negative equity in the home
6% - foreign buyer demand is absorbing a large share of available homes

As the surve ...

Recently released data from Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey revealed that rising home prices were the catalyst behind an eight-point jump in the net percentage of respondents who say now is a good time to sell. The index is now 21 points higher than it was this time last year.
Overall, 62% of Americans surveyed said that now is a good time to sell (up from 58%), while 26% of respondents said that now is not a good time to sell (down from 30%). The net score is the difference between the two percentages, or 36%.
According to CoreLogic, home prices are now up 6.7% over last year and 78.8% of homeowners with a mortgage in the US now have significant equity (defined as 20% or more).
As home prices have increased, more and more homeowners have realized that now is a good time to sell their homes in order to take advantage of the extra equity they now have.
At the same time, however, rising prices have had the exact opposite impact on the goo ...