Morning Briefing: Homeownership drops to lowest rate since 1967

Homeownership drops to lowest rate since 1967… Mass. realtors report growth in closed home sales… Millennials want walkable neighborhoods…

Homeownership drops to lowest rate since 1967
The rate of homeownership is at its lowest rate since 1967 according to the US Census. Data for the second quarter of 2015 shows that 63.4 per cent of Americans owned their home, down from 63.7 per cent in the first quarter and 64.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2014. The rental sector is reaping the benefit of growing numbers of households with rents soaring. Peter Boockvar, an analyst with The Lindsey Group blames the politicians. He told CNBC: "All the governmental attempts (certainly aided and abetted by many players in the private sector) at boosting homeownership has gotten us to this point in time with all the havoc it wreaked over the past 10 years. It's just another governmental lesson never learned, of don't mess with the free market and human nature."
 
Mass. realtors report growth in closed home sales
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors says that ongoing buyer activity in the spring pushed single-family home sales up in June by nine percent compared to the same time last year. The median price of single family homes was also up for the eighth time in nine months. New listings added to the market were up almost 12 percent over last year. Condominium closed sales were up, but median prices were down slightly. “It was only a matter of time before all the buyer activity this spring would push closed sales up,” said 2015 MAR President Corinne Fitzgerald, broker-owner of FITZGERALD Real Estate in Greenfield. “New listings added to the market are also helping, but we continue to need more inventory in general to ensure we are able to keep this momentum going.”
 
Millennials want walkable neighborhoods
Walking is the new driving for America’s millennials. A new survey from the National Association of Realtors shows that walking is favored by the majority of 18 to 34 year olds. Millennials are also shown to prefer living in attached housing, living within walking distance of shops and restaurants, and having a short commute, and they are the most likely age group to make use of public transportation. Forty-eight percent of respondents reported that they would chose a community with homes with small yards but walkability over a larger yard but the need to drive to amenities. Twenty-five per cent would opt for an attached home over a detached one if it gave them greater walkability.