Refi is at 18-year low, but here’s your secret weapon

Refi is at 18-year low, but here’s your secret weapon

Homeowners now have a new reason to refinance, and it may just be the secret weapon the mortgage industry needs to survive this alarming refi drought. Home prices have reached record-high in many top metros, but if you have paid attention to any local realtors, to CoreLogic, or to housing experts and economists here, here, and here, many of these markets are overvalued and are expected to correct. In ValueInsured’s latest quarterly survey, 68% Americans believe a housing correction will happen within 2 years. Interestingly, the consumer survey was conducted before releases of the Zillow and Wall Street Journal economist panel reports, but their prediction timeline mirrors those of the experts’.
 
Historically, homeowners’ choice when faced with a potential correction is to sell (but then where would they live?), or to stay put and risk watching their home value depreciate in the near future. Those are hardly good options and the bottom line is, the homeowner themselves have little to no control.
 
Now, they have a third option…

85% millennials compromised on buying their dream home

85% millennials compromised on buying their dream home

It is quite a conundrum for millennials in this housing market. Majority who wish to own cannot afford to buy. Of the few who could, over 8 in 10 wish they bought a different home and want to move. 74% of them say now would be a good time to sell, but they can’t because prices to buy another home is too high, so they wait and try to time the market. It appears that for millennials, once you finally achieve the American Dream, there’s an obstacle course right around the corner, just in case you thought you could catch a breath.

Spring 2018 Modern Homebuyer Survey results next week

Spring 2018 Modern Homebuyer Survey results next week

Despite an active Spring buying season, only 61% of homeowners say that the housing market is heading in a good direction “for people like me.”  But why?  Regardless of other positive or negative news surrounding market excitement or that it is a great time to buy or sell, first-time and upgrade buyers are still viewing the market with trepidation highlighted by a few key areas.  This and other findings will be released next week as part of our latest housing sentiment survey - the quarterly ValueInsured Modern Homebuyer Survey.    ​​​​​​​

Growing obsession with timing the market

Growing obsession with timing the market

Anyone who has come across a “Home Buying for Dummies” or “Investment 101” type book or website should be able to recite this golden rule: don’t try to time the market. While applicable to most investors, this is likely truer for homebuyers, who need a place to live and probably shouldn’t wait. Increasingly, however, they appear to be deviating from the advice.

Perhaps the real surprise – homebuyers are not alone. Homeowners are also growing concerned with timing the market, according to ValueInsured’s latest Modern Homebuyer Survey…

Housing affordability crisis does not spare homeowners

Housing affordability crisis does not spare homeowners

According to ValueInsured’s Q1 2018 Modern Homebuyer Survey, 62% of interested first-time homebuyers – including 65% of Millennials – who plan to buy “in the near future” are concerned they cannot afford a down payment on a home they would like to live in.

But if you think the affordability challenge is exclusive to non-homeowners who wish to enter the elusive homeownership rank, think again. According to ValueInsured’s latest survey on American homebuyers’ confidence and sentiments, even existing homeowners are not immune.

Are 1 in 3 homebuyers in America now buying blind?

Are 1 in 3 homebuyers in America now buying blind?

We admit it, this headline may be a bit sensational; but if you consider the latest homebuyer reports, it may not be that far-fetched after all. 

In 2017, 35% of all homebuyers made an offer on a home sight unseen, according to a Redfin report. The fear of missing out in some hot housing markets seem to have turned more otherwise rational, responsible Americans into risky homebuyers. Throw in sales contracts that also waive home inspections in order to win bidding wars, then yes, in essence, a sizeable number of desperate homebuyers have now been reduced to pretty much buying blind.

But that’s not the whole story. The latest ValueInsured Modern Homebuyer Survey revealed that some homebuyers are also planning a purchase without having basic understanding of new tax laws, interest rate trends and how home value in the areas where they are shopping could potentially be affected.

Why aren’t homeowners tapping into all-time high equity?

Why aren’t homeowners tapping into all-time high equity?

The MBA forecasts refinance volume will decline by 30% in 2018. In other words, while homeowners have a lot more equity at their disposal, fewer will be accessing that available cash. Why?

Amid CoreLogic’s monthly reminders that nearly half of the nation’s top housing markets are overvalued, Fannie Mae’s latest HPSI continues to report housing sentiment “volatility”. According to Fannie Mae’s survey, the net share of respondents who believe home prices will go up in the next 12 months decreased 3 percentage points in March. The latest ValueInsured Modern Homebuyer Survey echoes the same cautiousness in home price sustainability, particularly among homeowners.

 

The secret to unlocking starter-home inventory

The secret to unlocking starter-home inventory

Some experts have theorized that recent years of record-low mortgage rates contributed to reluctance to sell, as homeowners do not want to give up their newly refinanced low mortgages. This is certainly a factor, yet might not be as influential as previously assumed. ValueInsured found in its Modern Homebuyer Survey that only 18% of interested, but hesitant, sellers point to their low mortgage payment as a key reason they are putting off selling. On the other hand, 57% say they are not selling because they are concerned with buying high in today’s low-inventory, inflated market. Chicken, meet egg.

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