Why is Home Buying Demand So High? Partly Because Buying Conditions (in Theory) Are So Good
An incredibly strong jobs market, coupled with historically high levels of home affordability, is helping create a perfect storm of home buying demand that is proving incredibly difficult for home builders and home sellers to satisfy.
Housing Data 101: Why Is the Market So Hot?
Being a home buyer in many markets these days is harrowing. Sellers are in control, with buyers forced to contend with cutthroat competition and intense pressure to make a deal.
Whole Foods & Trader Joe’s Provide a Healthy Boost to Nearby Homes
We’ve proven that homes near a Starbucks appreciate more quickly than both the typical U.S. home and homes near rival Dunkin’ Donuts, giving you and your barista something interesting to discuss while your half-caff vanilla soy latte brewed. But what were you supposed to say to the cashier at Whole Foods when purchasing your favorite organic camel’s milk to top off your latte?
Homes for Sale in More Than Half of Large Metros Less Affordable Than They Used to Be
Real prices on homes for sale is hurting affordability in many areas. For example, the median home available to buy in metro Los Angeles is currently listed at $650,000, which would take up 47 percent of the median income for that area.
One-in-Five Renters Casts a Shadow on the For-Sale Housing Market
For-sale inventory is exceptionally tight and competition among buyers is high: In 2016, the typical home buyer made offers on at least two-to-three homes before closing. At the same time, almost one-in-five renters that moved into a rental unit seriously considered buying at the time, but didn’t – perhaps because of those same buying hurdles.
Where Renting Pays: Places Where Owning Takes a While to Pencil Out
It takes more than two years before buying the typical U.S. home makes more financial sense than renting it -- but that time frame varies by market. In San Jose, you'd have to spend 5.1 years in a house for buying to make more sense than renting.
Zillow’s Breakeven Horizon: The Financial Answer to ‘Rent or Buy’?
Here's a tool for helping weigh the financial side of an exciting and personal question.
Does the Obamas’ $8.1M Home Purchase in D.C. Make Financial Sense?
In some parts of the country, spending a few years in a home is long enough to make homeownership a financially strong bet. Washington, D.C. isn't one of them.
Experts: Foreign Buyers to Have Limited Impact, Mostly on High-End Housing
U.S. home values are growing quickly, and expectations for future growth have also picked up. But while some may blame strong demand from overseas shoppers for rapid growth and fierce competition, experts say the impact of foreign demand on the market overall is muted at best.
April 2017 Market Report: A Decade Later, Home Values Return to Bubble-Era Peak
Some people will ask whether passing the 2007 peak means the housing market is in another bubble. It's not. In most markets during "normal times," home values typically rise over time to some degree, and absent any large shocks, each month will represent a new peak. The fact that it took the Zillow Home Value Index a decade to return to this point, let alone exceed it, is a testament to how far the market fell when it crashed. It's also a reflection of how outlandishly high it had climbed.
