Daily Market Update: Millennials more likely to use real estate agent

Millennials are boosting the housing market and have become the largest proportion of home buyers according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors. Its newly-released Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study evaluates the generational differences and highlights some interesting trends. Millennials, aged 34 or younger, made up 32 per cent of buyers in 2014, up 1 per cent from 2013. Generation X (35-49) made up 27 per cent, baby boomers (50-68) accounted for 31 per cent, with those 69-89 making up 10 per cent of buyers. The majority of buyers search online and through realtors for homes with millennials most likely to use a real estate agent to handle the purchase. The median age of homebuyers is 29 with a median income of $76,900. Read the full study.
 
New York is the world’s most economically powerful city
New York is the most economically powerful city in the world. A study by Martin Prosperity Institute and Citylab reveals that the city tops the league table which is ranked by metrics such as overall economic clout, equity and quality of life, financial power and global competitiveness. London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris and Singapore come next. The US does well overall with LA at number 7, Boston at 18, Chicago at 12, San Francisco is at number 23 tied with Washington DC and Moscow. Read the full story.
 
Jessica Chastain buys Manhattan home
Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain’s year-long search for the perfect New York home has finally resulted in her buying a $5.1 million residence in Osborne Apartments on West 57^th Street. The four-bedroom, 3 ½ bathroom home was once owned by legendary composer Leonard Bernstein and PageSix.com says that it’s claimed that he was living there when he wrote the songs for West Side Story with Stephen Sondheim, which appealed to the Juilliard-trained star.
 
Vegas prices increase valley-wide
Average home prices in Las Vegas Valley have increased by double-digit percentages for the last two years but are still some way short of their peak gains. Figures from SalesTraq show that all of the area’s zip codes, with the exception of Spring Valley’s 89146, gained in 2014. The largest increase was for homes in the 89015 zip code, near Henderson’s eastern foothills, where prices soared by 28.5 per cent from March 2014. The Review Journal reports that valley-wide median home prices gained by 10 per cent, some way behind the 24 per cent rises of 2012 and 2013. Read the full story.