Home Builder Confidence Increases in May Despite Drops In Housing Production

The National Association of Home Builders in association with Wells Fargo released their May housing market index.  The survey shows that home builder confidence for newly-built single-family homes increased two points to a level of 70 in May.  A number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.  This reading marked the fourth time the HMI (Home Market Index) reached 70 or higher this year.  Although builder confidence remains high, housing production fell 3.7 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million units according to the data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department.

NAHB Chairman Rany Noel states  “The solid May report shows that builders are buoyed by growing consumer demand for single-family homes.  However, the record-high cost of lumber is hurting builders’ bottom lines and making it more difficult to produce competitively priced houses for newcomers to the market.”

Optimism in the housing market is further forecast by the growing economy and demand for housing says Robert Dietz, Chief Economist for the NAHB.  “Tight housing inventory, employment gains and demographic tailwinds should continue to boost demand for newly-built single-family homes.  With these fundamentals in place, the housing market should improve at a steady, gradual pace in the months ahead.”

Overall production of housing is mostly attributable to multi-family startups.  Multi-family construction fell 11.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 393,000 units. Single-family construction remained was revised upwardly 0.1% percent to 894,000 units for March.

Reiterating mostly what Mr. Noel stated about costs associated with construction, Mr. Dietz believes that construction stats for single family homes are positive but builders have some hurdles with increases in prices of supplies.  “Single-family starts are up 8.3 percent for the first four months of the year relative to the start of 2017, which is higher than our forecast and bodes well for the rest of the year. However, builders must manage supply-side hurdles, such as ongoing building material price increases and shortages of land and labor, to meet growing housing demand. Lumber prices continue to rise, with recent increases adding more than $7,000 to the price of an average single-family home.”

Blue Harbour Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

http://www.blueharbourpropertymanagement.com/home-builder-confidence-increases-in-may-despite-drops-in-housing-production/

Home Prices in Metropolitan Regions Jump 5.7% As Inventory Idles Near All-Time Low Levels

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their quarterly report on Metropolitan Median Prices and Affordability.  The report which you can read here shows that national median home prices for single family homes increased 5.7% from $245,500 from $232,200 from the same quarter in 2017.  The report which the NAR releases every quarter shows price data for single-family residences for approximately 175 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).
The lack of inventory of housing fueled faster appreciation according to NAR.  Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR states:

“The worsening inventory crunch through the first three months of the year inflicted even more upward pressure on home prices in a majority of markets. Following the same trend over the last couple of years, a strengthening job market and income gains are not being met by meaningful sales gains because of unrelenting supply and affordability headwinds.  Realtors in areas with strong job markets report that consumer frustration is rising. Home shoppers are increasingly struggling to find an affordable property to buy, and the prevalence of multiple bids is pushing prices further out of reach.”

Overall, home prices last quarter increased in 91 percent of the markets that NAR takes statistics from.  They note that 162 out of 178 metropolitan statistical areas were showing sales price gains for the quarter in comparison the the same quarter in 2017.  Thirty percent of all metro area (53) saw double-digit increases which was up from 15 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Another factor that is affecting affordability is rising mortgage rates.  The national family median income rose to $74,779 in the first quarter yet mortgage rates are wiping out any increase to an individuals' income.  Yun added “Prospective buyers in many markets are realizing that buying a home is becoming more expensive in 2018.  Rapid price gains and the quick hike in mortgage rates are essentially eliminating any meaningful gains buyers may be seeing from the combination of improving wage growth and larger paychecks following this year’s tax cuts. It’s simple: homebuilders need to start constructing more single-family homes and condominiums to overcome the rampant supply shortages that are hampering affordability.”

Of note here in the Northeast the report shows that existing-home sales decreased 8.5 percent in the first quarter.  The median existing single-family home price in the Northeast was $267,400 in the first quarter which is an increase of 4.6 percent from the same quarter in 2017.

Blue Harbour Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

http://www.blueharbourpropertymanagement.com/home-prices-in-metropolitan-regions-jump-5-7-as-inventory-idles-near-all-time-low-levels/

REBNY Report Indicates Third Straight Quarter of Decreased Residential Real Estate Sales in NYC

The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) published their first quarter report for 2018.  What it indicates is that residential real estate sales is down for the third straight quarter.  For the first quarter of this year, New York City residential sales were down 16 percent.  Total value of real estate transactions for the quarter was $10.3 billion in comparison to $12.3 billion for the first quarter of 2017.  The $2 billion decrease for the first quarter of 2018 was the largest year-over-year drop recorded since the third quarter of 2009 according to REBNY.

Total residential sales consideration decreased in three of the five boroughs.  Manhattan saw the biggest decrease in sales consideration for the quarter at 30% to $4.61 billion.  This was followed by Brooklyn -12% to 2.36 billion and Staten Island -1% to $711 million.   The Bronx saw an increase in sale consideration by 16% to $436 million in the Bronx and Queens saw an increase of 7% to $2.21 billion.

For the quarter, sales volume only increased in the Bronx by 8% to 998 for the quarter.  In the other boroughs sales were down led by Manhattan being down by 20% (2,417), Brooklyn by 15% (2,466), Staten Island  by 9% (1,338) and Queens by 4% (3,650).  Overall, the average sales price of a home in New York City during the first quarter of 2018 was $951,000, a seven percent decrease from the first quarter of 2017.

On a positive note, the average sales price for a one-to-three family dwelling in New York City overall has hit an all time high.  The average sales price of a one-to-three family dwelling in New York City was $791,000 which is a two percent increase from last year’s first quarter average.  With respect to the boroughs, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island all registered record highs for the first quarter. The average sales price for a one-to-three family dwelling increased 6% to $717,000 in Queens, 7% to $517,000 in the Bronx, and 9% percent to $563,000 in Staten Island.

Blue Harbour Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

http://www.blueharbourpropertymanagement.com/rebny-report-indicates-third-straight-quarter-of-decreased-residential-real-estate-sales-in-nyc/

Rents Continue To Decrease Throughout The City With Queens Leading The Way After Concessions

According to a report authored by appraiser Samuel Miller, Inc. and Douglas Elliman rents continue to decrease all throughout New York City seeing the most significant decrease in Queens with an 11.7% decrease.  The decrease in rent helped leasing activity in Northwest Queens with lease-signings increasing 11% during the period.  The report which can be read in its entirety here shows that concessions are increasing in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

The report indicates that concessions in new rental transactions in Brooklyn increased from 14.7% to 51% in April.  Rent decreased in Brooklyn 2.9% to $2,686 per month. It is the 11th decrease in the last 12 months in Brooklyn.  Meanwhile in Northwest Queens concessions were up to 65.1% of all new deals.  This is up from 45.4% from the previous month year over year.  The median rent in northwest Queens was $2,646.00 per month.  The decrease is the 8th out of the last 9 months.  Northwest Queens is comprised of Long Island City, Woodside, Astoria and Sunnyside.

 Manhattan saw a slight change as well.  Concessions increased from 28.6% to 44.3% year over year.  It was the third highest recorded number since 2010.  Rents decreased altogether 2.2% to $3,236 per month.

Jonathan Miller, CEO of the appraisal firm Samuel Miller addressed the concessions hitting many of the units in the city recently.  He was quoted in TheRealDeal stating the following indicating that concessions would not be going away: “With the supply continuing to enter all these markets, it’s seemingly every month or every few months, there’s a new record set for the market share of concessions that are being offered,” he said.“With the influx of new developments continuing unabated, I think this market characteristic is going to be sticking around for a while.”

Blue Harbour Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

http://www.blueharbourpropertymanagement.com/rents-continue-to-decrease-throughout-the-city-with-queens-leading-the-way-after-concessions/