Senior Economist Orphe Divounguy dives into all things real estate 🏠 Check out his insights from Inman Connect Las Vegas!
I empower the pros with macro insights to build resilience for a challenging and uncertain economic landscape. LinkedIn Top Voice | Zillow Sr Economist | Quantitative Research Group Executive Advisor
Just in case you missed it... here's what I shared with Katie Kossev on the Inman Connect stage this week! ➡️ The opportunity: Most renters today also search in the for-sale market before settling for a rental. ➡️ The challenge: There’s a big disconnect between buyers and sellers but real estate agents can help bring sellers and buyers together by closing knowledge gaps. It starts with appreciating the magnitude of the affordability crisis... 🛑 This year, in over 200 U.S. cities, $1m is the price tag for the typical starter home -- it was just 84 such cities five years ago! 🤯 In order for a median income household to comfortably afford their monthly housing costs, they would need a $780,000 down payment in expensive LA or $500,000 in NY, $209,000 in Austin and $77,000 in Houston. ➡️ Technology can help: Zillow Home Loans, LLC BuyAbility shows buyers what they can afford given their credit score and live changes in #mortgage rates. Zillow has down payment assistance programs on every listing. Sellers and their agents should use technology to pin down the right list price. In addition, 3D home tours and virtual floor plans - tools like Zillow Showcase and Follow Up Boss help agents sell homes faster and deliver value more efficiently. "First-time homebuyers “are essentially renters,” who saw their #housing costs increase by about 33 percent during the pandemic while their wages lagged. He said about half of all renter households are cost-burdened by housing, meaning they’re spending 30 percent or more of their income on rent. “Some of them are spending 50 percent of their income or more on rent, which doesn’t leave much for anything else, let alone saving for a down payment, right?” Divounguy said. Contrast that with what happened to potential sellers, who thanks to rising home values are sitting on “near record home equity” and also saw their monthly payments decline in real terms during the pandemic, Divounguy noted. Excellent coverage by Inman's Matt Carter ! https://lnkd.in/gpj6zyKi