As a benefit to the homeowners and homebuyers using our platform, I share a regular summary of housing market news and data driving our decision-making here at Bluebid Homes. We call it the Bluebid Buzz.
Disclaimer: Views expressed here are my own and not the views of my coworkers or anyone else. I am not a financial advisor, investment advisor, or housing expert. I’m just a guy who cares deeply about saving the American Dream of homeownership.
Here's the buzz for the week of January 5, 2023…
Mortgage demand plunged 13.2% to end 2022, notes CNBC. While national home prices are up 8.6% year-over-year, they have fallen 2.5% from spring 2022 peaks.
While it hasn’t shown up in sales or application data yet, Redfin reports buyers are dipping their toes back in the market. The company’s Homebuyer Demand Index – a measure of requests for tours and other buying services – is up 14% from its October low.
Analysis from Business Insider suggests the shift to working from home will push more Americans to areas where housing is less constrained and easier to build, ultimately lowering prices.
Dodd Frank Update shares that all-cash home sales in October hit the highest level in over 8 years. Roughly one-third (31.9 percent) of U.S. home purchases were paid for with all cash in October, up from 29.9 percent a year earlier and the highest share since February 2014.
U.S. News reports that millennials are no longer the biggest cohort of homebuyers (as they were in 2020 and 2021). Instead, it’s 55- to 74-year-old buyers who take the crown.
We’re constantly talking about the housing shortage and the inability of traditional listing services to bring adequate supply to market. One idea we hear kicked around is repurposing vacant office buildings for housing. Last week, the New York Times explained the challenges of converting 998 million square feet of available office real estate to housing units.
To start the new year, Bluebid Homes surpassed 600 homes on the platform - with new homes being added daily. If you know homeowners or buyers considering transacting in 2023 and beyond, please help us spread the word!
Have a great week.