Chapters: 0:00 — Introduction 1:09 — Chapter 1: “Luxury” 5:42 — Chapter 2: Policy 9:55 — Chapter 3: Increasing supply
As a result, many cities remain stuck in a price-elevating housing shortage. Washington lawmakers are now scrutinizing regulations that slow the pace of homebuilding, in an attempt to slow rent inflation.
Panelists are split on where the economy and markets are headed, but agree this year’s selloff has left plenty of bargains.
Home prices in the U.S. have climbed at a record pace during the pandemic. The median home price reached over $363,000 in June 2021, a 23.4% increase from 2020. Many of the houses are being sold above their asking price, often entirely in cash with bidding wars becoming the new norm to weed out the competition. So is America currently in another housing bubble and what are the signs that can help investors predict an oncoming crash?
Demand for lumber has skyrocketed during the pandemic, sending prices to all-time highs. This video explains what’s driving the lumber boom, who’s profiting, and why those growing the trees aren’t reaping the benefits. Illustration: Liz Ornitz/WSJ
A.M. Edition for April 15. WSJ’s Konrad Putzier discusses global investment in the U.S. housing market. WSJ’s Anna Hirtenstein on the growth of luxury goods.
The Biden administration is set to punish Russia. Efforts to make band practice safe in the pandemic. Marc Stewart hosts.
We’re in the longest period of time since the minimum wage has been created that it hasn’t been adjusted. You’ve probably heard the progressive and Congressional Democrats argument for a $15 an hour federal minimum wage.
Now, some Republicans are responding with a proposal to raise it to $10 an hour by 2025. Plus, what we’re just learning about security around the Jan. 6 insurrection. And, how Home Depot is a proxy for the housing markets.
From a NRMLA online news release:
“Research suggests that as we age, Americans will spend more of our hard-earned retirement assets on health care, such as insurance, prescription drugs, in-home care and other services that help us remain independent,” says NRMLA’s President Steve Irwin. “A retirement plan that includes the responsible use of home equity may be the best option that can help ensure healthcare spending doesn’t become a financial burden for many retired couples.”
(December 17, 2019) – Homeowners 62 and older saw their housing wealth grow by 0.3 percent or $24 billion in the third quarter to a record $7.19 trillion from Q2 2019, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association reported today in its quarterly release of the NRMLA/RiskSpan Reverse Mortgage Market Index.
The RMMI rose in Q3 2019 to 259.19, another all-time high since the index was first published in 2000. The increase in senior homeowners’ wealth was mainly driven by an estimated 0.5 percent or $40.7 billion increase in senior home values, offset by a one percent or $16.5 billion increase of senior-held mortgage debt.
To read more: https://www.nrmlaonline.org/about/press-releases/senior-housing-wealth-reaches-record-7-19-trillion
From a Wall Street Journal online article:
The jewel-box home—small, but loaded with amenities and costly finishes—is luring more home buyers. An analysis by Home Innovation Research Labs, a subsidiary of the National Association of Home Builders, found that the number of new-construction luxury homes at 3,000 square feet or less has increased nearly 20% since 2013—with a corresponding decline in larger-size, high-price homes.
Changing demographics might be driving the trend. More than half of all households now consist of single people or couples, U.S. Census Bureau data shows—with traditional nuclear families accounting for just 20%.
“Empty-nesters want to downsize, but they want luxury homes not starter homes—luxury kitchens, marble surfaces, all the latest and greatest,” said Tim Costello, CEO of Builder Homesite, a consortium whose New Home Source website—an online clearing house for new-construction homes—tracks home buyers’ preferences.
To read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/luxury-homeowners-put-a-ring-on-jewel-box-homes-11576081060
Boomers Daily 