Today's Headlines - Realty Times

The median U.S. asking rent was little changed from a year earlier for the sixth straight month as an increase in the number of rentals made it harder for landlords to boost prices

The median U.S. asking rent rose 0.4% year over year to $2,011 in September—the sixth straight month in which rents were little changed from a year earlier. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. Prior to that, rent growth had been slowing rapidly for roughly a year, coming back down to earth after a surge in prices during the pandemic.

The median asking rent fell 2% from a month earlier in September.

“Rents have flattened because a boom in apartment building in recent years has flooded the market with supply, but they haven’t yet posted a substantial decline because there’s still demand for rentals—especially as high mortgage rates keep many would-be homebuyers and sellers on the sidelines,” said Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao. “There are still a lot of apartments under construction that will continue to hit the market, which should keep rents from increasing much in the near-to-medium term. But construction has started to slow, which should eventually help bolster rent prices.”

The Number of New Apartments Hitting the Market Continues to Rise—But Construction Has Started to Slow

The number of completed apartment buildings in the U.S. rose 32% year over year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000 in August, the most recent month for which data is available. But the number of apartment buildings on which construction has started declined 41% year over year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 334,000. Building starts are a leading indicator of what’s happening in the housing market, whereas building completions are a lagging indicator.

Building may be slowing, but landlords are still facing more competition than they’re used to as new rentals continue to hit the market. Sometimes, their competition is an individual homeowner who’s renting their home out instead of selling—either because they don’t want to lose their low mortgage rate, they didn’t get a good offer, or both.

“Last year, conversations with home sellers were hard. I had a lot of discussions about how they needed to lower their price expectations because the market had turned,” said David Palmer, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Seattle. “But this year, they have a better understanding of the market. We’re now having the property management conversation earlier: ‘Do you have a rental plan if we can’t sell your home?’”

As rising rental supply leads to rising vacancies, some landlords are handing out concessions, such as a free month’s rent, to attract tenants without having to lower asking rents on paper.

That’s good news for renters at a time when the median asking rent is still just 2.1% ($43) below its record high.

The jump in supply isn’t the only factor that has caused rents to flatten; slowing household formation, economic uncertainty and affordability challenges have also contributed.

Rents Rise in the Midwest, Fall in the West

In the Midwest, the median asking rent rose 5% year over year to a record $1,436. There was also an increase in the Northeast, where the median asking rent climbed 3.1% to $2,482. Asking rents fell 1.6% to $2,413 in the West and declined 0.3% to $1,653 in the South.

The rental market has softened substantially in the West and South in part because those markets saw outsized rent growth during the pandemic. Rents skyrocketed as people flooded into Sun Belt cities including Phoenix, Miami and Dallas. But once the rental boom in those regions cooled, prices had relatively more room to fall. Apartment construction in the Sun Belt has also been especially robust, contributing to the cooldown in rents. In the West, tech layoffs have likely contributed to the region’s sluggish rental market.

While rents in the West and South have been cooling, these regions’ rental markets have started to stabilize in recent months as the impact of the pandemic price boom moves further into the rearview mirror and layoffs ease.

To view the full report, including charts and methodology, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/redfin-rental-report-september-2023

Posted On Sunday, 08 October 2023 06:43 Written by
Posted On Thursday, 12 October 2023 00:00 Written by

We design products and services with the intention of fulfilling distinct customer needs or catering to niche requirements. But as technology advances and customer needs change, we need to find new ways to tap into the ever-changing market in innovative ways. This does not have to mean we change our products entirely. It may just mean reinventing and redefining the product as well as our selling techniques to accommodate the changing industry and landscape of customer needs.

The way to increase sales and your bottom line is not to completely scrap your product and start from scratch. Equally, it is vital to not rest on your laurels and treat it like a cash cow either.

The key is to redefine old technology, systems, services, and products and turn them into future opportunities that appeal to larger audiences, other industries, and the wants and needs of your customers.

It Starts with a Change in Your Mentality

It is understandable that many businesses possess an “either/or” mentality. They feel that everything must be one way or the other, as if business is black and white.

For example, if a manufacturing company believes that a certain system or process that has been trusted for years is suddenly disrupted by some type of new technology, that old system and everything involved with it must be completely irrelevant.

The belief that as life goes on, the products of the past stay in the past and new products must take their place is severely limiting in the arena of innovation. As an Anticipatory Leader, I challenge that, as should you!

A change in your mentality around how to better your sales strategy, increase your bottom line, and foster an innovative culture at your organization actually begins with a “both/and” view as opposed to an “either/or” one. We want to have more to work with than before, as this creates an environment where creative critical thinking knows no bounds!

“Both/and” is a powerful corrective strategy that shifts our mentality from thinking the future will be either one way or the other and shows us that there is room for imagination in innovation, which leads to abundance and sales. Thinking of the past as singular is a limited perspective that does in fact lead to missed future opportunities.

Slack Thrives in a “Both/And” World

Slack is a great example of a company that aimed their sights on a “both/and” mindset to increase sales.

Slack is a powerful tool that allows employees to collaborate and strategize instantaneously for better organization and communication. It is a game changer for business communication, but what is it exactly?

In its most basic form, Slack is a chatroom, and chatrooms have been around since the early 2000s, with a focus on instant communication for friends and family. Are chatrooms still popular today? Not widely, especially with regard to the quantity of texting we do, social media messaging, and even the likes of remote work environments like Basecamp.

But instead of leaving chatrooms in the past as though they are archaic and out of date, Slack adapted the concept and redefined it for a new audience, and in turn, it has become one of the most successful business tools spanning several industries!

Plus, if you consider the concept of instantaneous communication between friends via a chatroom, without that technology and the market for it, there wouldn’t be Slack, Basecamp, and the culture that exists today.

Think Opposite to Find Overlooked Advantage

Your products and services have long had their intended purposes, and for your base customer segment, this purpose may fill their need today. But while you are filling this need, so are your competitors with a similar product or a similar service. There is even the chance and likelihood that they are working on something better.

On some level, this just becomes a battle of affordability. With no differentiating qualities, the only differentiating factor is price, and this is a slippery slope to fall down that does lead to stagnated sales.

But if you want to avoid that sales slump and take competitive advantage away from competitors, becoming the positive disruptor your industry needs, you must ask yourself: What should I do to differentiate and stand above the competition?

If it has become a battle of attrition to the top, it is time for you to go opposite!

To gain insight into what is beneath the surface of your product or service and redefine their capabilities as well as the value you deliver, take note of where everyone else is looking and look in the opposite direction. Then, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Could my product aid those in another department? 
  • Could it do something more or else for my customers? 
  • Can it impact the effectiveness of the company or another industry in some way?

 

For instance, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are well established in the gaming sector, but we have determined that these two technologies can do so much more!

In recent years, VR has been used as a medical professional training platform. By providing interactive, three-dimensional surgical simulations, it enables students to gain vital knowledge for more accurate diagnoses and improved surgical outcomes. The aerospace industry is also using VR to train pilots with real-life situations for safer and more efficient flights.

The point here is that your product or service can offer far more for more customers than you realize. Part of your roadmap to a redefined sales strategy is through redefining a product or service, a powerful strategy that opens so many doors. Redefine the product, redefine the mentality of your salespeople, and redefine your growth!

Remember That You Are Selling More Than Just a “Thing”

Before leveraging my “both/and principle” and the concept of going opposite to redefine your offerings and sales strategy, let’s shift the focus back to your sales force once more.

One major missed opportunity I find when helping an organization move to an anticipatory mindset that establishes growth is that when asked, many salespeople admit that they get the sale, deliver the product or service, and then wash their hands of the transaction to move on to the next sale.

This is where you actually lose competitive advantage.

Remember, it is always easier to get a new sale from an existing customer than it is to obtain a completely new customer every time. Successful businesses are built on lasting relationships, and lasting relationships are built on trust. Trust is not something that can be automated by any type of disruptive technology, no matter how streamlined it is.

Trust is built by your sales team by learning all they can about the customer and providing streamlined solutions, redefined products or services, and a quality customer experience from start to finish, even if they have been with you since day one. You are not selling a product or service — you are selling an experience. Is it positive? If so, how?

Posted On Tuesday, 10 October 2023 00:00 Written by
Posted On Tuesday, 10 October 2023 00:00 Written by
Posted On Monday, 09 October 2023 00:00 Written by

October brings us into the fourth quarter of the year, the last three months to do all the things we set out to achieve. However, given the way our system works, we don’t get paid when we get the client to agree to the sale, we don’t get paid even at the point of sale, we get paid AFTER the transaction closes and sometimes even the second pay period after that transaction closes. What does this mean? Simply put, we have about 65 days left to meet a customer, help qualify that customer, have them find a house, get the offer accepted, go into contract, and then CLOSE, all before December 15th for you to receive that income this year! While all transactions up until December 29th will certainly count to your annual production numbers for 2023, it isn’t likely you will get paid for deals closing after December 15th in 2023.

With just 65 days left, you need to really focus on all the things you need to be doing to take advantage of each of those days. With October also being business planning month, step one in business planning is to identify exactly what you have at hand, what is likely to close, what you have as potential in the pipeline, and what you are going to do each day, to generate opportunities that will help you meet or exceed your income targets for 2023, at the same time building your pipeline for the first quarter of 2024!

The first place to start is to run your numbers!

  1. What have you already closed?
  2. What is already scheduled to close?
  3. How many Pre-approvals are actively looking?
  4. How many dormant pre-approvals can you rally?
  5. Where are the next opportunities coming from?

 

You need to make the most of your time so it’s important to have a plan and build a schedule that helps guide you to the outcome you are willing to work for!

Unemployment and continuing claims numbers today, September Jobs Report on Friday! These reports can move markets, so pay attention! If you have questions or comments, its This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Posted On Monday, 09 October 2023 00:00 Written by
Posted On Friday, 06 October 2023 14:33
Posted On Friday, 06 October 2023 14:00
Posted On Friday, 06 October 2023 12:11
Posted On Friday, 06 October 2023 12:02

A homebuyer on a $3,000 monthly budget has lost nearly $40,000 in purchasing power over the last year, as mortgage rates have risen from around 6.5% in October 2022 to nearly 8% today. The glimmer of hope for the housing market: a small September uptick in new listings.

Mortgage rates hit their highest level in more than 20 years this week, pushing homebuyers’ monthly housing payments to all-time highs. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

A buyer on a $3,000 monthly budget, for instance, can afford a $419,000 home with a 7.7% mortgage rate, roughly the daily average on October 4. That buyer has lost $38,000 in purchasing power since last October, when they could have bought a $457,000 home with a 6.6% rate. And by that time, buyers had already lost a significant amount of purchasing power since the start of the year, as mortgage rates doubled throughout 2022: A buyer on a $3,000 budget could have purchased a $595,000 home with the 3.5% rates common at the start of 2022.

In addition to sky-high mortgage rates, rising home prices are cutting into buyers’ budgets. The typical U.S. home sold for $371,000 during the four weeks ending October 1, up 3% from a year earlier. That’s because there aren’t enough homes for sale. High housing costs are pushing demand down, with mortgage-purchase applications dropping to their lowest level in nearly 30 years. But inventory is falling significantly, too, as homeowners hang onto relatively low rates: The total number of homes for sale is down 14%.

Why mortgage rates are rising–again: “There are several reasons why mortgage rates are still climbing,” said Redfin Economic Research Lead Chen Zhao. “The Fed hinted that another interest-rate hike before the end of the year is likely, the latest job market data came in stronger than expected, and the yield curve is steepening as investors prepare for higher rates for longer. Turmoil in Congress isn’t helping, either, as the clash among House Republicans stemming from the narrowly missed government shutdown is causing volatility in stock and bond markets.”

A glimmer of hope for the housing market: More homeowners are listing their homes for sale after months of steady decline. New listings rose 3% in September, and so far this fall listings haven’t declined as much from the summer as they typically do. That may be partly because listings didn’t have much more room to fall—but nonetheless, it’s a glimmer of hope for buyers because it means they have a bit more to choose from and could eventually ease price increases.

Leading indicators

Indicators of homebuying demand and activity

 

Value (if applicable)

Recent change

Year-over-year change

Source

Daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate

7.7% (Oct. 4)

Highest level in over 2 decades

Up from 6.65%

Mortgage News Daily

Weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate

7.31% (week ending Sept. 28)

Highest level in nearly 23 years

Up from 6.7%

Freddie Mac

Mortgage-purchase applications (seasonally adjusted)

 

Down 6% from a week earlier (as of week ending Sept. 29)

Down 22% to lowest level in nearly 30 years

Mortgage Bankers Association

Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index (seasonally adjusted)

 

Down 3% from a month earlier (as of the 4 weeks ending Oct. 1), close to its lowest level since January

Down 1%

Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index, a measure of requests for tours and other homebuying services from Redfin agents

Google searches for “home for sale”

 

Down 9% from a month earlier (as of Sept. 30)

Down 6%

Google Trends

Key housing-market data

U.S. highlights: Four weeks ending October 1, 2023

Redfin’s national metrics include data from 400+ U.S. metro areas, and is based on homes listed and/or sold during the period. Weekly housing-market data goes back through 2015. Subject to revision.

 

Four weeks ending October 1, 2023

Year-over-year change

Notes

Median sale price

$370,900

2.9%

Prices are up partly because elevated mortgage rates were hampering prices during this time last year

Median asking price

$389,950

4.6%

Biggest increase since Oct. 2022

Median monthly mortgage payment

$2,710 at a 7.31% mortgage rate

10%

All-time high

Pending sales

73,654

-12.5%

 

New listings

83,216

-3.4%

Smallest decline since July 2022, in part because new listings fell rapidly at this time in 2022

Active listings

826,882

-14%

 

Months of supply

3.3 months

+0.2 pts.

Highest level since March.

4 to 5 months of supply is considered balanced, with a lower number indicating seller’s market conditions.

Share of homes off market in two weeks

39.4%

Up from 35%

 

Median days on market

31

-2 days

 

Share of homes sold above list price

31.2%

Up from 30%

 

Share of homes with a price drop

6.6%

+0.2 pts.

Highest share since November 2022

Average sale-to-list price ratio

99.3%

+0.2 pts.

 

Metro-level highlights: Four weeks ending October 1, 2023

Redfin’s metro-level data includes the 50 most populous U.S. metros. Select metros may be excluded from time to time to ensure data accuracy.

 

Metros with biggest year-over-year increases

Metros with biggest year-over-year declines

Notes

Median sale price

Anaheim, CA (13%)

New Brunswick, NJ (10.6%)

Providence, RI (10.5%)

Newark, NJ (9.1%)

San Jose, CA (9.1%)

Austin, TX (-4.1%)

Houston, TX (-2.8%)

San Francisco (-2.1%)

San Antonio, TX (-1.5%)

Phoenix (-1.3%)

Nashville, TN (-1.1%)

Las Vegas (-0.8%)

Portland, OR (-0.1%)

Declined in 8 metros

Pending sales

West Palm Beach, FL (1.8%)

New York (-31.2%)

New Brunswick, NY (-24.1%)

Portland, OR (-22.2%)

Atlanta (-22.2%)

Virginia Beach, VA (-20.3%)

Declined in all but 1 metro

New listings

Orlando, FL (14.2%)

Jacksonville, FL (10.6%)

West Palm Beach, FL (9.4%)

Miami (8.1%)

San Jose, CA (6.9%)

Atlanta (-28.3%)

Newark, NJ (-17%)

Portland, OR (-15.2%)

Providence, RI (-14.2%)

Chicago (-14%)

Declined in all but 12 metros

To view the full report, including charts, please visit:
https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-update-mortgage-rates-soar-new-listings-hold-steady

Posted On Friday, 06 October 2023 06:34 Written by
Posted On Thursday, 05 October 2023 11:08
Posted On Thursday, 05 October 2023 10:53
Posted On Thursday, 05 October 2023 10:26
Posted On Tuesday, 03 October 2023 13:25
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