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Home prices reached an all-time high in March with the median price topping $300,000 for the first time, according to a Realtor.com report released April 4. Listing prices in March were up 7.2 percent compared to the same point last year and are expected to continue rising.
More residential properties — including single-family homes, condos, townhouses and duplexes — will be built in the Dallas metro area than any other major U.S. metro this year based on the number of construction permits issued, Realtor.com reported April 1. Other cities seeing a building boom: Atlanta, Houston and New York.
New York City’s so-called “Mansion Tax,” which requires buyers of residential properties valued at more than $1 million to pay a 1 percent surcharge, will change to a tiered system starting in July, Forbes reported April 2. The surcharge gradually increases, topping out at 3.9 percent for transactions in excess of $25 million.
The Appraisal Institute’s National Nominating Committee is scheduled to interview two candidates for 2020 AI vice president in Chicago May 8, and the committee is expected to nominate one or more individuals for 2020 vice president at the Board of Directors’ May 9-10 meeting.
Bank of America has pledged up to $5 billion to boost affordable housing, including offering up to $10,000 to help borrowers close loans, HousingWire reported April 2. The lender further committed another $5 billion over the next five years for its Neighborhood Solutions program to boost homeownership rates.
Single-tenant net lease cap rates diverged by sector during the first quarter, with the retail sector increasing two basis points and the office sector increasing eight basis points, but the industrial sector decreasing seven basis points, according to the Net Lease Market Report from real estate firm Boulder Group, MBA NewsLink reported April 4.
Office vacancy rates dropped to 16.6 percent during the first quarter, down 0.1 percent from the fourth quarter, according to analytics firm Reis, Calculated Risk reported April 1. Asking rents increased 0.4 percent during the quarter, averaging $33.58 per square foot.
Residents of Miami and San Diego are the most “rent burdened,” based on median income and the ability to pay median rent in those cities, Freddie Mac reported April 2, citing data from its multifamily research group. Notably, a high-rent city like San Francisco ranked lower because median income there can better absorb a high median rent.
One in six members of Generation X purchased a multigenerational home last year, overtaking younger boomers as the generation most likely to do so, the National Association of Realtors reported April 1 in its Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report. More than half Gen X multigeneration homebuyers reported adult children living with them.
Mortgage rates stabilized after experiencing a significant drop the previous week, and overall purchase mortgage demand rose to its highest level since fall 2016, Freddie Mac reported April 4 in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
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