The Real Estate industry has had to adapt due to the social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. Showings of properties have gone from in-person to online, Agents, buyers, sellers and lenders now see each other on computer screens and Read more…
For many months prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the real estate market was primarily plagued by a lack of available inventory for all the buyers looking for new homes. Affordable housing was especially rare, with prices being pushed up thanks to high demand, and homebuilders unable to construct new houses fast enough to meet that demand. However, the coronavirus has put a halt to many of these plans, causing the homebuilder confidence index to collapse.
The Federal Reserve (colloquially referred to as “the Fed”) issued an emergency interest rate drop on March 3 in response to market pressure from the coronavirus outbreak.
For years, housing advocates on Long Island have been pushing for more high-density units to help accommodate the increased need for affordable housing. However, that desire for high-density housing has met great resistance from many Long Islanders, who are concerned about the effect that high-density housing units might have on their communities and property values.
In New York, people seeking new homes have found themselves stymied by a lack of affordable housing. With inventory shortages across the state and demand for housing as high as ever, even lower priced properties find their prices rising.
Nationally, the average mortgage payment has been falling, according to the United States Census Bureau. This has brought the average mortgage payment to around $1500 per month, which is only slightly higher than the average monthly rent payment.
The first week of 2020 brought a resurgence in the housing market, starting the year off strong for mortgage applications. The rise in applications is credited to low interest rates, which have spurred an increase in both home purchases and refinancing by current homeowners. In fact, demand by new homeowners has risen to the highest level it has been since October 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers’ Association.
Housing prices on Long Island have been on the rise for the past few years, due to a variety of factors. However, among the most significant factors in Long Island’s growing real estate prices is an ongoing inventory shortage in the housing market.
When the real estate market crashed in 2008, it left behind a wake of financial devastation for middle class families across the United States. One other thing it left behind, however, is a swathe of foreclosed and abandoned homes, many of which have never been purchased by another owner.
Mortgage applications have been on a steady decline, but the weekly mortgage application rate fell even further over the Thanksgiving vacation. The mortgage application volume was down 9.2% from the previous week, a dramatic dip in mortgages.