Tag Archives: Demand

In 19 of 20 large metros surveyed by Zillow and Pulsenomics, more than 5.0 percent of local residents indicated they wanted to buy a home in the next year, with current renters showing the greatest interest in ownership. While this optimistic total from Zillow suggests interest is high, actually purchasing a home should prove to be a challenge in the upcoming year.

Redfin released Thursday its Real-Time Demand Pulse, a monthly analysis of home tour requests and signed offers across 23 surveyed markets. According to the company, the number of home tour requests among thousands of its customers grew only 1.9 percent between January and February, falling short of a 6 percent increase over the same months in 2013. Meanwhile, signed offers increased 17.8 percent compared to a 20 percent jump last year.

According to the National Association of Realtors' Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study for 2014, Millennials—aka “Generation Y” or “Generation Next”—comprised 31 percent of recent purchases, leading all other age groups. Following that were Generation X (defined as those born between 1965 and 1979), which made up 30 percent.

The Federal Reserve released Wednesday the Beige Book report summarizing economic conditions across its 12 districts from January through early February—and the word of the day was, naturally, “weather.” According to the Fed, reports from all districts indicated economic conditions continued to expand at a “modest to moderate” rate in most areas of the country, with only the New York and Philadelphia districts experiencing a decline in activity.

The median days on market for homes sold in 20 metros tracked by Redfin rose to 41 in January, the company reported—five days longer than in December. At the same time, however, the share of listings under contract within two weeks jumped to a quarter. “That uptick indicates that determined buyers are still keen to quickly make offers on the most coveted listings,” said Redfin researcher Troy Martin.

Think home inventory will see a big boost as owners gear up for the spring shopping season? Survey results from Redfin suggest otherwise. In a poll of more than 1,900 homebuyers across 22 major metro areas, the online broker found 39 percent of homeowners have plans to rent out their existing home after buying a new place—limiting the number of supply coming to the market.

It’s been accepted for the last few years that housing supply hasn’t been able to keep up with demand, contributing to large gains in home prices nationwide—but how do the numbers break down, and how do specific groups of buyers and sellers balance against each other?

JPMorgan Chase announced Tuesday it plans to cut an additional 6,000 mortgage banking jobs in 2014 as the bank adapts to a continued spiral in loan demand. The announced cuts come on top of an estimated headcount reduction of 11,000 last year, the bank revealed in an investor presentation. At this time in 2013, JPMorgan was shooting to bring the headcount down at its mortgage wing by 13,000-15,000 over the following two years.

Home buying competition rose over the month of January but was down from last January, according to national real estate brokerage Redfin, which took the year-over-year decline as a sign that low inventory and rising prices are thwarting demand in the housing market. About 58 percent of home offers by Redfin agents encountered a competing offer in January compared to nearly 53 percent in December.

The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index (LEI) for January increased 0.3 percent to 99.5, the group reported Thursday. Also released Thursday were the Conference Board Coincident Economic Index and the Lagging Economic Index, which both ticked up slightly. Together, the three indexes represent observed changes in average weekly hours, building permits, stock prices, consumer expectations for business conditions, and more.