In the following video, from the National Association of REALTORS YouTube channel, Lesley Muchow, NAR Deputy General Counsel and Vice President of Legal Affairs, examines legal best practices to help navigate through COVID-19.
Homeowners in Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, San Diego and Sacramento can sell with peace of mind because of Zillow’s robust safety measures
Seattle, WA – June 9, 2020 (PRNewswire) Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z) (NASDAQ:ZG), which is transforming the way people buy, sell and finance homes, is now buying homes in six additional markets, bringing the total to 15.
Starting today, homeowners in Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Texas, San Diego and Sacramento, Calif. can sell their homes directly to Zillow once again in a convenient, seamless transaction through Zillow Offers. Zillow paused buying homes in the 24 markets where Zillow Offers operates on March 23 in response to housing market uncertainty and public health concerns.
“Our goal at Zillow is to help people navigate what can be a stressful and complex process, and with Zillow Offers, give them a way to skip over a lot of the hassles and challenges of selling a home today,” said Zillow President Jeremy Wacksman. “People still want – and need to – move. With new digital tools and health protocols, Zillow Offers can help people safely unlock the next stage of their lives with greater certainty, control and convenience.”
Recent Zillow data shows that real estate is resilient and steadily recovering from the disruption caused by COVID-19. While the housing market saw buying and selling slow significantly in March and early April during the early days of the pandemic and local stay-at-home orders, it has since begun to pick back up. New for-sale listings are up 19.3% month over month. Similarly, buyers have ramped up in the past few weeks, with newly pending sales up 24.5% over the past month1. Traffic to for-sale listings on Zillow is up 51% from a year ago2.
As part of the resumption of home-buying through Zillow Offers, Zillow launched a new initiative, called “Move Forward. Stay Safe.” With guidance from former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin as Zillow’s new Health Advisor, this industry-leading initiative provides guidelines to keep employees, customers and partners safe whether they are buying, selling or renting a home.
Selling through Zillow Offers gives homeowners a way to sell with limited in-person interactions, along with the option to close virtually on the date of their choosing. In a traditional sale, the typical home seller has to leave their home more than three times for showings or open houses3.
Buyers who are interested in Zillow-owned homes have the option to use virtual tools to help them tour homes safely through the Zillow app or website. All Zillow-owned homes feature proprietary 3D Home tours, and buyers can also schedule a live virtual tour with an agent or an in-person showing. Zillow-owned homes follow a “Clean, Protect, Distance” protocol to ensure a safer environment for customers and partners during in-person tours.
About Zillow Group
Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) (NASDAQ: ZG), the largest portfolio of real estate brands on mobile and the web, is building a safe, on-demand real estate experience. Whether selling, buying, renting or financing, customers can turn to Zillow’s businesses to find and get into their next home with speed, certainty and ease.
In addition to Zillow’s for-sale and rental listings, Zillow Offers buys and sells homes directly in dozens of markets across the country, allowing sellers control over their timeline. Zillow Closing Services offers customers Zillow-branded title and escrow services to support a more seamless transaction experience. Zillow Home Loans, our affiliate lender, provides our customers with an easy option to get pre-approved and secure financing for their next home purchase.
Millions of people visit Zillow Group sites every month to start their home search, and now they can rely on Zillow to help them finish it — with the same confidence, ease and empowerment they’ve come to expect from real estate’s most trusted brand.
Zillow, Zillow Offers, and Zillow Closing Services are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc. Zillow Home Loans, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender; NMLS 10287, www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org. The company is headquartered in Seattle.
(ZFIN)
1https://www.zillow.com/research/zillow-weekly-market-report-27151/
2As of May 24, including all page views of for-sale homes on Zillow.com and the Zillow app, excluding those from real estate agents and other professional users. Daily figures were calculated using a seven-day trailing average. Year-over-year comparisons were made after offsetting 2019 data by two days in order to compare consistent days of the week.
3 https://www.zillow.com/report/2019/selling-a-home-in-america/home-seller-overview-key-facts-figures/
SOURCE Zillow
Only 32 Percent of Americans Believe It’s a Good Time to Sell a Home, While 52 Percent Believe It’s a Good Time to Buy a Home
Washington, D.C. – June 8, 2020 (PRNewswire) The Fannie Mae (OTCQB: FNMA) Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) increased 4.5 points in May to 67.5, building slightly after nearing its all-time survey low in April. Four of the six HPSI components increased month over month, with consumers reporting a somewhat more optimistic view of homebuying conditions and, to a lesser extent, home-selling conditions. Moreover, fewer consumers reported expectations that mortgage rates will go up over the next 12 months. Year over year, the HPSI is down 24.5 points.
“Although the HPSI’s precipitous declines of March and April did not continue in May, Americans’ financial, economic, and housing market concerns remain substantially elevated compared to survey history,” said Doug Duncan, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “Low mortgage rates have helped cushion some of the impact of the pandemic on consumer sentiment regarding whether it’s a good time to buy a home, which picked back up this month to late-2018 levels. Although weakened income perceptions and continuing job loss concerns, particularly among renters, are likely weighing on many would-be buyers, purchase mortgage applications have returned to mid-March levels when pandemic response measures began ramping up. Home-selling sentiment remains severely dampened due primarily to economic concerns, though increased purchase activity may improve the confidence of some potential sellers. As lockdown restrictions begin to ease across the country, we expect economic recovery to be largely shaped by consumers’ decisions regarding when and how to reengage in the economy. We believe this month’s HPSI results and Friday’s unexpectedly favorable labor market report to be encouraging signs for the months ahead.”
Home Purchase Sentiment Index – Component Highlights
Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) increased in May by 4.5 points to 67.5. The HPSI is down 24.5 points compared to the same time last year. Read the full research report for additional information.
About Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index
The Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) distills information about consumers’ home purchase sentiment from Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey® (NHS) into a single number. The HPSI reflects consumers’ current views and forward-looking expectations of housing market conditions and complements existing data sources to inform housing-related analysis and decision making. The HPSI is constructed from answers to six NHS questions that solicit consumers’ evaluations of housing market conditions and address topics that are related to their home purchase decisions. The questions ask consumers whether they think that it is a good or bad time to buy or to sell a house, what direction they expect home prices and mortgage interest rates to move, how concerned they are about losing their jobs, and whether their incomes are higher than they were a year earlier.
About Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey
The most detailed consumer attitudinal survey of its kind, Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey (NHS) polled approximately 1,000 Americans via live telephone interview to assess their attitudes toward owning and renting a home, home and rental price changes, homeownership distress, the economy, household finances, and overall consumer confidence. Homeowners and renters are asked more than 100 questions used to track attitudinal shifts, six of which are used to construct the HPSI (findings are compared with the same survey conducted monthly beginning June 2010). As cell phones have become common and many households no longer have landline phones, the NHS contacts 70 percent of respondents via their cell phones (as of January 2018). For more information, please see the Technical Notes. Fannie Mae conducts this survey and shares monthly and quarterly results so that we may help industry partners and market participants target our collective efforts to stabilize the housing market in the near-term, and provide support in the future. The May 2020 National Housing Survey was conducted between May 1, 2020 and May 19, 2020. Most of the data collection occurred during the first two weeks of this period. Interviews were conducted by PSB, in coordination with Fannie Mae.
Detailed HPSI & NHS Findings
For detailed findings from the May 2020 Home Purchase Sentiment Index and National Housing Survey, as well as a brief HPSI overview and detailed white paper, technical notes on the NHS methodology, and questions asked of respondents associated with each monthly indicator, please visit the Surveys page on fanniemae.com. Also available on the site are in-depth special topic studies, which provide a detailed assessment of combined data results from three monthly studies of NHS results.
To receive e-mail updates with other housing market research from Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group, please click here.
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae helps make the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and affordable rental housing possible for millions of Americans. We partner with lenders to create housing opportunities for families across the country. We are driving positive changes in housing finance to make the home buying process easier, while reducing costs and risk. To learn more, visit:
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Fannie Mae Resource Center
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Opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views of Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group included in these materials should not be construed as indicating Fannie Mae’s business prospects or expected results, are based on a number of assumptions, and are subject to change without notice. How this information affects Fannie Mae will depend on many factors. Although the ESR Group bases its opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views on information it considers reliable, it does not guarantee that the information provided in these materials is accurate, current, or suitable for any particular purpose. Changes in the assumptions or the information underlying these views could produce materially different results. The analyses, opinions, estimates, forecasts, and other views published by the ESR Group represent the views of that group as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae or its management.
SOURCE Fannie Mae