Here are a few national real estate-related stories that came across my desk this week…
- from FreddieMac: Mortgage Rates Continue Climbing Higher
- from the National Association of Home Builders: List of Improving Housing Markets Rises to 263 Metros in June
- from The Wall Street Journal: Why More Sellers Could Test the Market
- from The Wall Street Journal: Builders Sniff at the ‘Bubble’ Talk
- from HousingWire: Home price growth projected to exceed 7% in 2013
- from Trulia Trends: Buying Cheaper Than Renting Til Mortgage Rates Hit 10.5%
- from HousingWire: CoreLogic: Nearly 1 million houses float back into positive equity
- from The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Mortgage Applications Up 16% Last Week – MBA
- from AOL Real Estate: Why You Missed the Boat On Record-Low Mortgage Rates
- from USA Today: More Americans say time is right to sell homes
MikeZ
The more I look at the market, the less sense it makes. There’s not enough growth in household income to drive the growth in home prices, certainly not in Reno. Multiple recent analyses – not focused on Reno, so grain of salt time – make the case that prices are being driven by Wall Street, REITs, investors with loose cash, not traditional home owners … and if so, unless household income starts growing, rentals will go vacant and home prices will have to come down again.