In their current edition of the Home Price Expectation Survey released last week, Pulsenomics asked this question of the 100+ economists, real estate experts and investment & market strategists they surveyed:
“In your opinion, what is the primary driver of recent home value growth in the U.S.?”
Here are the top four reasons given by those surveyed:

As we have stated before, the current lack of inventory in most housing markets has caused home appreciation to increase at greater percentages than historical averages. This means that this is a great time to sell your home as supply is low and demand is high.
However, things may be about to change…
The fortuitous situation sellers see themselves in may soon change for three reasons:
As more homeowners realize their equity situation has dramatically improved over the last four years, they will be more likely to put their homes on the market.
With the residential real estate sector outp. ...

People often ask whether or not now is a good time to buy a home. No one ever asks when a good time to rent is. However, we want to make certain that everyone understands that today is NOT a good time to rent.
The Census Bureau recently released their first quarter median rent numbers. Here is a graph showing rent increases from 1988 until today:

A recent Wall Street Journal article reports that rents rose “faster last year than at any time since 2007, a boon for landlords but one that has stoked concerns about housing affordability for renters.”
The article also cited results from a recent Reis Inc. report which revealed that average effective rents rose 4.6% in 2015, the biggest gain since before the recession. Over the past 15 years, rents have risen at a rate of 2.7% annually. 
Where are rents headed?
Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist at realtor.com recently warned that:
“Low rental vacancies and a la ...

Some Highlights:
The percentage of income needed to afford a median priced home is almost half the percentage of income needed to afford median rent.
Buying costs are significantly less than renting costs.
The percentage of income needed to afford a median priced home is less than the historic norm. ...

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the size of the foreclosure inventory in the nation. There has been some speculation that distressed property inventories are about to skyrocket. Today, we want to reveal what is actually taking place in this segment of the housing market.
Core Logic, in their most recent National Foreclosure Report, reported that foreclosure inventory has decreased by 23.2% since this time last year. The report also showed that foreclosure inventory has decreased in 49 of the 50 states and that 45 states have posted a year-over-year, double-digit decline (see chart below).

Other findings in the report:

The Seriously Delinquent Rate (homeowners more than 90 days behind in their mortgage payment) is 3.1% which is the lowest level since November 2007
The Foreclosure Rate is 1.1% which is also the lowest level since November 2007
This was the 53rd consecutive month that showed a decline in the Foreclosure Rate

Bottom Line
Tho ...

The National Association of Realtors’ most recent Existing Home Sales Report revealed that home sales were up rather dramatically over last year in five of the six price ranges they measure.
Only those homes priced under $100,000 showed a decline (-4.6%). The decline in this price range points to the lower inventory of distressed properties available for sale and speaks to the strength of the market.
Every other category showed a minimum increase of at least 4.6%, with sales in the $250,000- $500,000 range up 15.2%!
Here is the breakdown:

What does that mean to you if you are selling?
Houses are definitely selling. If your house has been on the market for any length of time and has not yet sold, let's meet up to see if it is priced appropriately to compete in today’s market. ...