All the Real Estate News That’s Fit to RE-Print™
Welcome to our weekly edition of Real Estate Investing News This Week.
Highlights this week include:
- 39% of Sales in January ALL Cash
- Homes Prices Up 5.6%
- House Payments More Affordable Than Rents
Cash Sales Made Up 39 Percent of All Sales in January
Cash sales made up 38.9 percent of total home sales in January 2015, down from 41.4 percent in January 2014.
The cash sales share peak occurred in January 2011 when cash transactions made up 46.5 percent of total home sales in the U.S. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales averaged approximately 25 percent.
Homes Prices Rose by 5.6 Percent
According to the February 2015 CoreLogic Home Price Index report, home prices nationwide, increased by 5.6 percent in February 2015 compared to February 2014.
Highlights of the February Home Price Index report:
- Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Colorado (+9.8 percent), South Carolina (+9.3), Michigan (+8.5 percent), Texas (+8.5 percent) and Wyoming (+8.4 percent).
- Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: South Carolina (+9.7 percent), New York (+9.2 percent), Colorado (+9 percent), Texas (+7.9 percent) and Florida (+7.8 percent).
House Payments More Affordable Than Rents
On Thursday, RealtyTrac® released a Residential Rental Property Analysis for properties purchased in the first quarter of 2015. According to this report, the monthly house payment on a median-priced home is more affordable than the monthly fair market rent on a three-bedroom property in 76 percent of the U.S. counties.
“From a pure affordability standpoint, renters who have saved enough to make a 10 percent down payment are better off buying in the majority of markets across the country,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.
“But factors other than affordability are keeping many renters from becoming buyers, a reality that means real estate investors buying residential properties as rentals still have the opportunity to make strong returns in many markets.”
Markets where the fair market rent on a three-bedroom property represented the smallest share of median household income were:
