Washington & Oregon Among The Highest Share Of Equity-Rich Properties In The U.S.
According to a report from ATTOM Data Solutions, Washington and Oregon rank 4th and 5th, respectively, with the highest share of equity rich properties in the country. Below are a few highlights from the first week of February that influence our business:
Equity Rich U.S. Properties Increase to New High in 2018.
On Thursday ATTOM Data Solutions released its 2018 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, which shows that in the fourth quarter of 2018, over 14.5 million U.S. properties were equity rich – where the combined estimated amount of loans secured by the property was 50 percent or less of the property’s estimated market value – up by more than 834,000 from a year ago to a new high as far back as data is available, Q4 2013. The 14.5 million equity rich properties in Q4 2018 represented 25.6 percent of all properties with a mortgage, down slightly from 25.7 percent in the previous quarter but up from 25.4 percent in Q4 2017. “This report helps to showcase a story of the West coast markets having the highest share of equity rich homeowners versus the South and Midwest markets, who continue to have stubbornly high rates of seriously underwater homeowners.” States with the highest share of equity rich properties were California (43.6 percent); Hawaii (39.3 percent); New York (34.2 percent); Washington (34.2 percent); and Oregon (32.9 percent).
Number of Homes Selling Above List Price Drastically Declines.
In December, only 19.4% of homes were sold above list price, marking a three-year low. Furthermore, December was the seventh consecutive month to experience a rate drop. Across the country, the share of homes that sold above list price has been moving between 15% and 25% since 2012.
Permit Growth Flat in November.
Over the first eleven months of 2018, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 799,679. On a year-over-year basis, this is a 5.1% increase over the November 2017 level of 761,229. Year-to-date ending in November, single-family permits grew in the Southern and the Western regions of the country, while the Midwest and Northeast declined by 2.6% and 3.0% respectively, compared to the same time period in 2017. The Western region had the highest growth in single-family (9.8%) while the South recorded the highest multifamily permits growth (13.2%) during the last 12 months.
Originally posted by Jason Waugh on the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate company blog.
