Nationwide Home Prices up 7% YoY since 2016
Frank Martell, President & CEO of CoreLogic, stated “Home prices continue to grow at a torrid pace so far in 2017 and these gains are likely to continue well into the future. Home prices are at peak levels in many major markets and the appreciation is being driven by a number of dynamics – high demand, stronger employment, lean supplies, and affordability –that will continue to play out in the coming years. The CoreLogic Home Price Index is projecting an additional 5% rise in home prices nationally over the next 12 months.”
In other housing news, U.S. Census Bureau said that expenditures for all residential construction was up 6.4% annually. Over the first two months of 2017, total expenditures totaled $163.2 billion, indicating a 3% year-over-year growth. Additionally, expenditures for all construction was at a seasonal adjusted annual rate of $1.19 trillion during February, a 0.8% increase from the January estimate of 1.18 trillion.
Finally, according to Black Knight Financial Services, homeowners gained a collective $570 billion throughout 2016, bringing the number of homeowners with “tappable” equity up to 39.5 million, (these borrowers have at least 20% equity in their homes.) Meanwhile, more millennials are using home equity lines of credit (HELOC) to cash in.
According to a recent survey by TD Bank, more than a third of millennials said they are considering applying for a HELOC in the next 18 months, which is twice the rate as Gen-Xers and nine times that of baby boomers. Cash-out refinances accounted for nearly 50% of all refinances in the fourth quarter of 2016, as homeowners withdrew $31 billion. That was the most since 2006 and represented a 50% increase from the same quarter of 2015.