REAL ESTATE TOPICS

SURVEY FINDS TWO IN FIVE AMERICANS PREFER NEW HOMES TO EXISTING HOMES
If new homes and existing homes were priced the same, two in five Americans (41 percent) would strongly or somewhat prefer to buy a newly built home instead of an existing home, according to survey results published by Trulia.

Just 21 percent strongly or somewhat prefer an existing home, while the remaining 38 percent have no preference. However, new homes cost more. Trulia calculates that new homes built in 2013 or 2014 are typically priced 20 percent higher than older homes of a similar size and location. Among those who strongly prefer a new home, less than half (46 percent) are willing to pay at least 20 percent more to purchase a new home versus a comparable existing home.

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Most people are not keen on handling home improvement projects themselves. Nearly 60 percent (59 percent) of Americans said they would prefer to buy a new home to have modern features, such as bigger closets, a kitchen island, open floor plan, walls pre-wired for flat screen TVs, or radiant floor heating. The second most popular reason is being able to customize the home (56 percent), while the third is to spend less on maintenance and repairs (55 percent). These reasons were even more pronounced among the people who strongly prefer new homes to existing homes.

FAST FACTS

Calif. median home price: March 2014:

• California: $435,470
• Calif. highest median home price by region/county March 2014: Marin, $1.16 million
• Calif. lowest median home price by region/county February 2014:
  Glenn, $140,000

Calif. Pending Home Sales Index:
March 2014: Increased 17.8 percent from 97.1 in February to 114.4 in March.

Calif. Traditional Housing Affordability Index: Fourth Quarter 2013: 32 percent (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates: Week ending 5/1/2014 (Source: Freddie Mac)

• 30-yr. fixed: 4.29% fees/points: 0.7%
• 15-yr. fixed: 3.38% fees/points: 0.6%
• 1-yr. adjustable: 2.45% Fees/points: 0.5%

CONSUMER OPTIMISM TOWARD HOUSING CONTINUES IN APRIL
Americans’ outlook toward the housing market continued to improve in April, perhaps foreshadowing an increase in housing activity in the coming months, according to results from Fannie Mae’s April 2014 National Housing Survey. The share of respondents who believe now is a good time to sell a home increased for the third consecutive month to an all-time high of 42 percent, an encouraging sign since many potential home buyers will need to sell a home before entering the purchase market. In addition, the share of respondents who say now is a good time to buy a home remained steady at 69 percent following a gradual climb since the beginning of the year. Notably, although consumers remain generally split regarding their ability to get a mortgage, fewer respondents are concerned about losing their job – which may encourage potential home buyers to enter the market.

Highlights from the survey include:

• The average 12-month home price change expectation increased from last month, to 2.9 percent.
• The share of respondents who say home prices will go up in the next 12 months increased slightly to 50 percent, and the share who say home prices will go down held steady at 5 percent, the all-time survey low.
• The share of respondents who say mortgage rates will go up in the next 12 months decreased to 52 percent, and those who said they will go down increased to 7 percent.
• Forty-five percent of respondents thought it would be easy for them to get a home mortgage today, falling 7 percentage points from last month.
• The share who say they would buy if they were going to move decreased 3 percentage points to 65 percent.