Lew Sichelman
Are people losing interest in second homes? It appears so, according to the National Association of Home Builders, using the latest Census Bureau data.
In 2022, the latest year for which information is available, about 6.5 million second homes – non-rental properties not classified as a taxpayer’s principal residence – dotted the landscape. Those houses accounted for 4.6 percent of the national housing stock.
That’s a decline from 2020, when the number of second homes stood at 7.2 million.
“There were 807 counties spread over 50 states where second homes accounted for at least 10 percent of the local housing stock,” reads the NAHB’s Eye on Housing blog. And in some counties, second houses accounted for 50 percent or more of the total housing stock.
A September analysis from brokerage and listings portal Redfin found broadly similar results.
Citing statistics from mortgage data company Optimal Blue, the company’s economist reported that mortgage rate-locks for second homes fell 13.1 percent year-over-year in August, while rate-locks for first homes fell only 5.2 percent.
That put them at their lowest level since March 2016 on a seasonally-adjusted basis and down 59.2 percent from pre-pandemic levels versus a 31.9 percent drop in rate-locks for primary homes.
Men, Women Buy and Sell Similarly
Men and women may be different in many ways, but not when it comes to selling their homes, according to a survey by marketing company 1000Watt. Sellers were asked to identify the most difficult part of the selling process, and the results were broken down by sex.
One notable difference: A third of the women polled said getting their places ready for sale was the most difficult thing, while only 23 percent of the men agreed. Some 27 percent of the men, on the other hand, said finding a trusted agent was the toughest part, compared with only 11 percent of the women.
On the other choices, though, the sexes were pretty much aligned: Determining the selling price was hardest for 8 percent of the men, 6 percent of the women; dealing with all the paperwork, 24 percent of the women, 21 percent of the men; negotiating with the buyer, 21 percent of the women, 16 percent of the men.
First-Timers Take a Year to Purchase
Less than a year: That’s how long it takes rookie buyers to find and purchase a house, according to a recent survey of 1,000 first-time buyers by New Jersey-based Provident Bank.
That time period fits in with the advice of real estate author and lender David Reed: “Take your time,” he posted on RealtyTimes.com.
Buying a home is “not to be taken lightly,” Reed wrote. “Yes, it’s fun to shop for homes, but it’s not something to rush into. With a home, you can’t exactly go back to the sellers, show them your receipt and ask for a refund.”
If you start to feel rushed, perhaps you’re working with the wrong people. “No one should attempt to rush you into any decision,” Reed wrote. “After all, it’s you who’s going to be living there, paying the mortgage each month.”
Manufactured Homes’ Durable Value
Many people think manufactured houses, aka mobile homes, lose part of their value as soon as they roll off the sales lot, like automobiles do. That’s not the case, according to a new sales price index.
Prices for factory-built houses jumped 7.9 percent for the 12-month period ending in June, per a new Federal Housing Finance Agency benchmark. The median price for manufactured houses at the end of that period was $231,000, making them one of the most affordable housing options available.
Meanwhile, shipments for manufactured houses declined in 2023 by 21 percent over the previous year, according to an analysis by the National Association of Home Builders. NAHB asserts that for every new factory-made house shipped last year, construction started on roughly 10 new site-built single-family houses.
At Least One Fraudster Finished
Sometimes the bad guys get caught – and pay a heavy price. For example, take the man who was sentenced earlier this month to more than 26 years in prison for conning homebuyers out of their down payments.
It seems the man, a Nigerian national recently living in the U.K., stole some $12 million from U.S. consumers and real estate companies by gaining unauthorized access to their accounts.
Monitoring their emails to determine when a large transaction was about to be made, he intercepted the wire payment instructions, changed the information and resent the emails. The modified instructions directed the victims’ funds to the con man’s accounts.
After being extradited from England, he pleaded guilty to wire fraud affecting a financial institution and aggravated identity theft. In addition to the prison time, he has been ordered to pay $3.4 million in restitution. He will be subject to deportation after serving his sentence.
Lew Sichelman has been covering real estate for more than 50 years. He is a regular contributor to numerous shelter magazines and housing and housing-finance industry publications. Readers can contact him at lsichelman@aol.com.
