Americans are still feeding the home-buying frenzy, driving new sales up by more than 21% through the first half of the year and placing pressure on the mortgage industry to keep pace with the demand
Americans are still feeding the home-buying frenzy, driving new sales up by more than 21% through the first half of the year and placing pressure on the mortgage industry to keep pace with the demand.
“A delicate balance of hiring in operations must be in reasonable tolerance with service levels,” says Michael Taylor, business development manager with Southwest Funding “The consumers’ ability to get more home with the same amount of money, for those who can afford to do so, is the motivation. Limited inventory drives up price, and competition on offers pushes values even further.”
According to recent numbers for the nation, rising home values pushed Americans' household wealth to a new high of $85.7 trillion in the April-June quarter.
The Federal Reserve says Americans' stock portfolios climbed $61 billion in value, while housing wealth increased $499 billion – which has also translated into an increase in borrowing.
New home sales numbers increased 21.2% through the first half of 2015, supported by relatively low mortgage rates and solid job growth over the past two years.
According to statistics, employers added 3.1 million jobs last year and are on pace to add 2.5 million jobs this year. Meanwhile, unemployment has fallen to a seven-year low of 5.1%.
Those factors have helped Americans feel more confident about their economic prospects, causing them to return to the housing market that initially sparked the Great Recession in late 2007 – something that should continue well into 2016 and beyond, Taylor told MPA.
“Looking ahead with elections next year and a new administration in the first quarter of 2017,” he says, “things will change very little beyond the normal seasonality’s we historically face in our industry in the short term.”
“A delicate balance of hiring in operations must be in reasonable tolerance with service levels,” says Michael Taylor, business development manager with Southwest Funding “The consumers’ ability to get more home with the same amount of money, for those who can afford to do so, is the motivation. Limited inventory drives up price, and competition on offers pushes values even further.”
According to recent numbers for the nation, rising home values pushed Americans' household wealth to a new high of $85.7 trillion in the April-June quarter.
The Federal Reserve says Americans' stock portfolios climbed $61 billion in value, while housing wealth increased $499 billion – which has also translated into an increase in borrowing.
New home sales numbers increased 21.2% through the first half of 2015, supported by relatively low mortgage rates and solid job growth over the past two years.
According to statistics, employers added 3.1 million jobs last year and are on pace to add 2.5 million jobs this year. Meanwhile, unemployment has fallen to a seven-year low of 5.1%.
Those factors have helped Americans feel more confident about their economic prospects, causing them to return to the housing market that initially sparked the Great Recession in late 2007 – something that should continue well into 2016 and beyond, Taylor told MPA.
“Looking ahead with elections next year and a new administration in the first quarter of 2017,” he says, “things will change very little beyond the normal seasonality’s we historically face in our industry in the short term.”
