The share of Americans who own their homes was 65 percent in the first quarter, down from 65.4 percent a year earlier and the lowest level since the third quarter of 1995, the Census Bureau reported today. The vacancy rate for rented homes dropped to 8.6 percent from 8.8 percent a year earlier, while vacancies for owner-occupied houses fell to 2.1 percent from 2.2 percent.

Investors are buying single-family homes and renting them out to capitalize on demand among families unable to qualify for a mortgage. Their purchases, many made with cash, are helping to support the housing recovery and pushing up prices. Home values in 20 cities increased 9.3 percent in February from a year earlier, the most since May 2006, according to the S&P/Case- Shiller (SPCS20Y%) index released today.

Tight credit has been a huge part of the real estate industry these days. The home owner class has been beaten up financially by the downturn and still has not recovered from it. Instead of being homeowners, they are renting the homes they used to own… Ouch.

Investors are finding the low prices and even lower interest rates as the chance to increase their holdings. Add to this large investment pools buying up real estate in certain cities, the market volume has been increasing. But the “American Dream” buyers are still recovering and sitting on the sidelines. They will be back, but this recovery is investor driven so we must be patient for the past homeowners to come back.

I grew up on Long Island in New York and now live in Wilmington, North Carolina, but I spent 20 years in Atlanta so I have an interesting perspective on storms. Growing up with hurricanes that can be just as deadly as tornadoes I found was no where near as nerve wracking as living in a tornado alley.

Hurricanes are like a great white shark. Odds are you had fair warning to put yourself in harms way, so you understand the risks you are taking. But a tornado is like a barracuda. You typically don’t even see them and the attacks are random. Even with the new radar images tornadoes can pop up quickly and destroy your home before you even know it is there.

To be honest, tornadoes scare the heck out of me while hurricanes I just respect.

So for the people who live in these cities, good luck. Be safe. And have a good weather radio.

Top 10 Worst Cities For Tornadoes in the United States

1. Huntsville, Alabama
2. Jackson, Mississippi
3. Birmingham, Alabama
4. Tuscaloosa, Alabama
5. Little Rock, Arkansas
6. Tulsa, Oklahoma
7. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
8. Atlanta, Georgia
9. Wichita, Kansas
10. Canon City, Colorado

In my generation it was a bit more difficult. You still did the dating part, but we typically added the living together part before the marriage or even the engagement. It was practical, and a bit controversial, but we did it.

Now our children are facing another change in the equation. Young couples are buying homes together before they get married.

Coldwell Banker has come out with a new survey that shows 24 percent of millennial couples are buying the house before they get married. Now part of this is because these couples are waiting much longer to tie to the knot, but for those in the real estate industry it is a trend to watch.

Especially as we see the housing industry start to recover. If these numbers were growing in the recent housing recession I think they will explode as the market takes off.

So remember when you want to go back into your personal history to predict future events in real estate, odds are you will be mistaken. The world is changing, fast, and the smart and successful agents are watching these trends and using them to their advantage.

Survey Trends: Love, Marriage and Homebuying

New Homes for Newlyweds: More than one in three married homeowners (35 percent) purchased their first home together by their second wedding anniversary.

Cold Feet? Not These Couples: 17 percent of all married couples surveyed purchased a home together before their wedding day.

Millennials are Less Likely to Wait Until Marriage: 24 percent of married homeowners ages 18 to 34 bought a home together before they were married, compared to 14 percent of those ages 45 and older.

Southerners Take Their Time: 72 percent of married Americans in the South waited until after they were married to purchase a home, compared to 60 percent of Americans in the Northeast.

To Have and to Hold … and to Own: Only 16 percent of married U.S. adults have not purchased a home together with their current spouse.

View the whole study here.

Recent graduates, the unemployed, or those looking for a new start typically will load up the U-Haul and start again. From a real estate perspective, it may capture the foreclosed upon. From an economic perspective, it shows where people are to find a better economic situation.

Some cities that have typically done well in attracting relocations, such as Atlanta, have fallen drastically to the 33^rd  position. Meanwhile Houston has held the top position for 4 years straight as people are moving to the Texas city. My guess is that opportunity in Houston has not let up for the middle class.

U-Haul’s Top 10 US Destinations For 2013

1. HOUSTON, TX
2. RALEIGH, N.C.
3. CHICAGO, IL
4. LAS VEGAS, NV
5. SAN ANTONIO, TX
6. AUSTIN, TX
7. BROOKLYN, N.Y.
8. PHILADELPHIA, PA
9. KANSAS CITY, MO
10. SACRAMENTO, CA

______________

Here is the full list of the top 50 cities in the U-Haul survey.
1 HOUSTON
2 ORLANDO, Fla.
3 CHICAGO
4 LAS VEGAS
5 SAN ANTONIO
6 AUSTIN, Texas
7 BROOKLYN, N.Y.
8 PHILADELPHIA
9 KANSAS CITY, Mo.
10 SACRAMENTO, Calif.
11 COLUMBUS, Ohio
12 SAN DIEGO
13 NEW YORK CITY
14 PHOENIX
15 CHARLOTTE, N.C.
16 INDIANAPOLIS
17 DALLAS
18 TAMPA, Fla.
19 ST. LOUIS
20 JACKSONVILLE, Fla.
21 LOS ANGELES
22 TUCSON, Ariz.
23 SAN FRANCISCO
24 BRONX, N.Y.
25 PLANO, Texas
27 RALEIGH, N.C.
28 WASHINGTON, D.C.
29 BALTIMORE
30 COLUMBIA, S.C.
31 OKLAHOMA CITY
32 TULSA, Okla.
33 ATLANTA
34 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.
35 VICTORVILLE, Calif.
36 NASHVILLE, Tenn.
37 PORTLAND, Ore.
38 SAN JOSE, Calif.
39 TACOMA, Wash.
40 MIAMI, Fla.
41 RICHMOND, Va.
42 SEATTLE
43 CINCINNATI, Ohio
44 LOUISVILLE, KY
45 BAKERSFIELD, Calif.
46 RENO, Nev.
47 OAKLAND, Calif.
48 FRESNO, Calif.
49 DENVER, Colo.
50 EUGENE, Ore.

via U-Haul

The demand is much greater right now for rental and multiunits properties than traditional single family homes. This indicates the rebound in home ownership may not be happening as much as the investors are reading the tea leaves and trying to lock in quality, new construction investment properties going forward.

Either way, for the contruction industry this is great news. People are being put back to work and suppliers are ramping up their inventories. New construction is a large driver in the overall economy and however it is occurring is a good thing for the United States.

Starts climbed 7 percent to a 1.04 million annual rate, the most since June 2008, after a revised 968,000 pace in February that was larger than previously reported, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 80 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 930,000. Building permits, a proxy for future construction, fell.
Builders are rushing to satisfy growing demand for rental units, propelling the jump in construction that will help support economic growth. Work began on fewer single-family houses last month, adding to evidence that part of the market is pausing.
“Whether it’s driven by demand from homebuyers or renters, it doesn’t really matter because it’s roofs over peoples’ heads,” said Aneta Markowska, chief U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York, who had the highest starts forecast in the Bloomberg survey. “There’s still a lot of room for improvement in housing, both for activity and for prices. This is critical for the U.S. economy.” via Bloomberg

More than 2.2 million borrowers have used the program so far. To qualify, homeowners must be current on their payments and have loans originated before June 1, 2009.
HARP is “a useful tool for reducing risk,” FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco said in a statement. “We are extending the program so more underwater borrowers can benefit from lower interest rates.”
The FHFA will soon begin a marketing campaign to expand the program’s reach, DeMarco said in the statement.
There may be as many as 2 million eligible borrowers who haven’t taken advantage of HARP, according to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. via Bloomberg

Now with the housing market starting to recover and competition for home loans driving down rates, the lending industry is happy to write HARP loans that are backed with government guarantees.  The 2 million households that would qualify for these loans left is a huge profit center for the banks, and the politicians like having the win to talk about.

About the Home Affordable Refinance Program:

Eligibility:

• The mortgage must be owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
• The mortgage must have been sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on or before May 31, 2009.
• The mortgage cannot have been refinanced under HARP previously unless it is a
• Fannie Mae loan that was refinanced under HARP from March-May, 2009.
• The current loan-to-value (LTV) ratio must be greater than 80%.
• The borrower must be current on the mortgage at the time of the refinance, with a good payment history in the past 12 months.

Steps Towards Refinancing:

• Determine whether your mortgage is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac by visiting their respective Loan Lookup Tools.
• Contact your current mortgage servicer or another that is approved by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to inquire about HARP.
• Compare rates and costs with additional mortgage companies to ensure best refinance terms.

Important Links:

• HARP Home Page
• Fannie Mae Lookup Tool
• Freddie Mac Lookup Tool

Here is the story:

Novato fire Capt. Alex Bowlds said the broker was showing a Novato home that was in a probate sale because its owner had died. The deceased homeowner was apparently an inventor who used chemicals, and the broker found the stash of cyanide, formaldehyde and other toxic compounds in liquid and powdered form, Bowlds said.
The broker removed the chemicals and brought them to her husband’s auto body shop in Bel Marin Keys, thinking the business could dispose of them. The shop realized it could not handle the chemicals and called police. Police looked at the chemicals and called the fire department at about 1:30 p.m.
The fire department summoned the county’s hazardous materials team in to removed the potential lethal assembly of chemicals, a process that took five hours. Emergency officials notified hospitals that the chemicals were being moved in case there was an accident. via the Mercury News

First, brokers and agents probably should not remove an item from a home, especially if it dangerous. Being a probate sale, they had more rights in this situation than a normal transaction, but removing cyanide and putting it into your car is not the recipe for a long and successful career.

Secondly, we all know that real estate brokers and agents run across the bizarre on a regular basis. The job of showing other peoples homes and understanding the special needs of buyers often presents, how shall we say it, “unique opportunities.” But at the end of the day, safety and common sense have to be the main concern for all.

Fortunately, no one got hurt or poisoned out there in Navato this weekend and it is a humorous story to write about.

Now my question to the real estate agents out there; What is the craziest thing you have come across showing or listing a home? Let us know in the comments below.

However, over the past 30 years as the government has created a vast array of laws and regulations for the banking industry. Lenders are under the thumb of government regulators (and their political bosses) to fulfill the administrations objectives as opposed to following sound lending practices. And this is not an indictment, both political parties have been guilty of pressuring bankers.

To no ones surprise, the increased political pressure has caused the housing industry’s boom bust cycle to be more extreme. Now, in a stagnant economy, the administration is looking to open up the lending floodgates and create looser credit.

In response, administration officials say they are working to get banks to lend to a wider range of borrowers by taking advantage of taxpayer-backed programs — including those offered by the Federal Housing Administration — that insure home loans against default.

Housing officials are urging the Justice Department to provide assurances to banks, which have become increasingly cautious, that they will not face legal or financial recriminations if they make loans to riskier borrowers who meet government standards but later default.

Officials are also encouraging lenders to use more subjective judgment in determining whether to offer a loan and are seeking to make it easier for people who owe more than their properties are worth to refinance at today’s low interest rates, among other steps. via The Washington Post

What is not being reported, but everyone knows, is that with thousands of pages of banking regulations on the books, all it takes is a bank regulator to do is give a nod and a wink to the bankers that it is time to loosen the credit standards for home loans. The bankers know that if they do not capitulate, they will face an audit that would do the Spanish Inquisition proud.

Since the banks know that if they play ball, they will be protected with generous government bailouts and subsidies when things go bad, it is not a bad play. If you do not believe me, go back and see how the bankers were treated after the last housing meltdown. No one of importance went to jail and the phrase “To big to fail” entered our lexicon with billions of taxpayers dollars heading right into the banking sector.

The housing industry is still barely recovering with record low interest rates and housing prices still near the bottom of the market in many parts  of the country. We have an election coming up in 2014 that is of great consequence to the political class. How can anyone be surprised if the strong arm is applied to the banking industry to make sure that the modest housing recovery is goosed to make sure that it benefits the administration.

It’s just politics…

If you are an older guy like me, you remember the old TV show, The 6 Million Dollar Man, featuring Steve Austin as an astronaut who suffered a crash and was rebuilt as a cyborg. It was a story of hope and change in the 1970′s.

Now in the new era of hope and change, we have a new version of the 6 million dollar man squatter. By using amazing technology of the internet, people are finding obscure laws and codes that allow them to try to beat the system. This is the story of Lamont Butler who found an obscure century old treaty that he felt entitled him to take over a 12 bedroom, 17 bathroom mansion in Bethesda, Maryland.

He did not last long, and faces a host of charges including burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, and attempted theft over one hundred thousand dollars.

But in this world of realtity TV, we may have a new show to pitch. The 6 Million Dollar Squatter. Instead of saving the world, we follow Lamont as he finds seaches Zillow to find mansions that are vacant. Then after another quick search of Findlaw he will create the legal basis for his takeover of the home.

During the half hour show we will watch real estate agents, bankers, law enforcement, and the courts find ways to legally evict Lamont from the home as he valiantly tries to maintain the residency.

DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

I bet you did not know that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) runs an accelerator program for new startups through their Second Century Ventures fund, did you? I didn’t until this week, but it is a concept worth exploring.

Innovation through technology has been an important driver in the real estate industry, and needs to be supported. That being said, the 6 companies picked to be part of the 2013 REach accelerator program are getting the best of both worlds; an investment in the company and the weight and power of the NAR to help them succeed.

These companies are focused on forward thinking customer engagement tools that will help Realtors, and that is a great thing. A commitment from the NAR to their membership to drive improved client services and communication will be beneficial for all in the industry.

NAR’s REach Accelerators Class of 2013

• BombBomb – Provides a complete e-mail and video marketing platform for developing, sending and tracking results of traditional and video e-mail campaigns from any device.
• Lumentus – Gives companies a measurable edge in identifying, understanding and engaging social media communities keeping social media communications on brand and on mission.
• Planwise – Offers a financial planning service that enables individuals to plan for major life events by simply and visually testing real-life scenarios.
• Reach150 – Provides a turnkey referral platform for service professionals to quickly build a positive reputation online.
• Updater – Provides a free service for anyone who is moving to easily forward mail, update accounts, transfer utilities, and sign up for home services in a single location.
• Workface – Offers a unique, quick-to-deploy live chat (text, audio, video) software platform for real time one-on-one conversations at a customer’s moment of interest.

I wish all these companies the best of luck going forward, you have earned the opportunity. I would also cousel them to use the mentors in the REach program. I have been fortunately to get to know a few of them and they can offer you advice that will move your companies forward.

To learn more about the REach program, visit their site here.