Tag Archives: Housing

Current Affairs, Love & Relationships, Memories & History, Politics, Times They Are A-Changing

The Homeownership Society Was a Mistake – The Atlantic

Real estate should be treated as consumption, not investment.

By Jerusalem Demsas, December 20, 2022

[Editor’s Note: I’m not sure on this one; perhaps…]

Katie Martin / The Atlantic; Getty

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an American in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a mortgage. I don’t know if you should buy a house. Nor am I inclined to give you personal financial advice. But I do think you should be wary of the mythos that accompanies the American institution of homeownership, and of a political environment that touts its advantages while ignoring its many drawbacks.

Renting is for the young or financially irresponsible—or so they say. Homeownership is a guarantee against a lost job, against rising rents, against a medical emergency. It is a promise to your children that you can pay for college or a wedding or that you can help them one day join you in the vaunted halls of the ownership society. In America, homeownership is not just owning a dwelling and the land it resides on; it is a piggy bank, where the bottom 50 percent of the country (by wealth distribution) stores most of its wealth. And it is not a natural market phenomenon. It is propped up by numerous government interventions, including the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. America has put a lot of weight on this one institution’s shoulders. Too much.

Source: The Homeownership Society Was a Mistake – The Atlantic

Memories & History, Politics, Times They Are A-Changing

The Real Villain in the Gentrification Story – The Atlantic

It’s not young, upwardly mobile college grads.

By Jerusalem Demsas, June 16, 2022

Photo by Nicolas Economou / NurPhoto / Getty

About the author: Jerusalem Demsas is a staff writer at The Atlantic.

One of the worst labels that can be applied to an upwardly mobile urban dweller is that of gentrifier. The word implies a lot—for one, that culpability in the broad phenomenon of neighborhood change can be assigned to individuals.

But given that the insult is often slung back and forth among members of the same yuppie class living in the same formerly affordable neighborhoods, it sometimes serves less to suggest that one’s housing choices have led to displacement of minority or low-income residents, and more to insinuate that one is insufficiently progressive.

On Twitter recently, quips by a couple of large accounts about how San Francisco had been ruined by tech millionaires spiraled into a fight among people of various shades of political opinion, from “extremely left wing” all the way to “very liberal,” about the evils of gentrification.

Inevitably, it devolved into a familiar argument over who really gets to speak for low-income people of color.

Source: The Real Villain in the Gentrification Story – The Atlantic

Current Affairs, Politics, Times They Are A-Changing

I’m the chief economist of Redfin. 5 things to know about the housing market now | MarketWatch

Predictions on home prices, mortgage rates and more

By Alisa Wolfson, Updated: May 31, 2022 at 10:23 a.m. ET

Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather shares her thoughts and predictions on the housing market.

Peak home-buying season is in full swing, and many aspiring buyers are wondering: What should I know about the housing market if I want to buy? After all, interest rates have been rising, with some pros saying that trend will continue (see the lowest mortgage rates you can qualify for here); home prices keep climbing; and there aren’t enough houses on the market to meet buyers’ demand.

So we asked Daryl Fairweather — Redfin’s chief economist, who also worked at the Boston Fed studying why homeowners enter foreclosure — to share her projections and thoughts for what buyers and sellers can expect in the coming months.

There are early signs that the market, in some places, is cooling a bitFairweather says we’re seeing early signs that the housing market is starting to cool, at least in pricey coastal metros. “Buyers in markets like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle who have lost out on several bidding wars may find they’re facing less competition from other buyers than they were a month or two ago,” says Fairweather.

Source: I’m the chief economist of Redfin. 5 things to know about the housing market now – MarketWatch

Science & Health

Buying A House Is Harder Than Ever, And Bidding Wars Keep Breaking Out : NPR

By Chris Arnold Twitter

May 18, 202111:08 AM ET, Heard on All Things Considered

A record shortage of homes for sale and strong demand from buyers are sparking bidding wars and sending home prices to new records.
Paul Sakuma/AP

“You imagine your life in this house, you put in an offer and then two days later it doesn’t get accepted,” Ametrano says. “For me, it’s like very emotionally crushing.”

–From article…

Trying to buy a house right now is in some ways harder than it’s ever been. There’s a record shortage of homes for sale; many people are eager to buy.

Bidding wars are breaking out, sending prices to record highs, and making it feel impossible for many people to buy a home.

Source: Buying A House Is Harder Than Ever, And Bidding Wars Keep Breaking Out : NPR

Las Vegas, Nevada, Times They Are A-Changing

Baby Boomer Migration Tilts Toward Las Vegas, Tampa And Phoenix

Editors’ Pick | Apr 28, 2021,03:23pm EDT | 517 views

Brenda Richardson, Senior Contributor, Real Estate, I cover residential real estate, including buying, selling and trends.

Sunny retirement locations are still a big draw for Baby Boomers.
getty

Baby Boomers are the wealthiest generation of Americans alive today, and while some may no longer be active in the housing market, plenty are still looking to buy homes.

But where are Baby Boomers looking to buy? To answer this question, LendingTree analyzed mortgage purchase requests made in 2020 on the LendingTree platform across the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas.

Here’s what the study found:

Las Vegas, Tampa and Phoenix are the metros where Baby Boomers make up the largest share of mortgage purchase requests. In Las Vegas, 19.97% of purchase requests came from Baby Boomers. In Tampa and Phoenix, the numbers are 17.33% and 16.36%, respectively.

–from article
Continue reading Baby Boomer Migration Tilts Toward Las Vegas, Tampa And Phoenix →
Current Affairs, Times They Are A-Changing

Housing Market Covid: What Will Happen to Home Prices After Pandemic? – Bloomberg

Photo by Maria Orlova on Pexels.com

The booming housing market has been a bright spot for a U.S. economy shaken by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite mounting job losses and bankruptcies in industries battered by social distancing, home sales have been on fire across the U.S., with Americans racing to gobble up larger properties in the suburbs, with room for remote school and home offices.

Source: Housing Market Covid: What Will Happen to Home Prices After Pandemic? – Bloomberg