Tag Archives: fourth quarter

RE/MAX Holdings To Release Fourth Quarter And Full Year 2018 Results On February 21, 2019

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Denver, CO – Jan. 7, 2019 (PRNewswire) RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE: RMAX), parent company of RE/MAX, one of the world’s leading franchisors of real estate brokerage services, and of Motto Mortgage, an innovative mortgage brokerage franchisor, will release financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2018, after market close on Thursday, February 21, 2019, and will host a conference call for interested parties on Friday, February 22, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

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Interested parties are able to access the conference call using the following dial-in numbers:

U.S.: (833) 287-0798
Canada & International: (647) 689-4457

Interested parties are also able to access a live webcast through the Company’s Investor Relations website at investors.remax.com. Please dial-in or join the webcast 10 minutes before the start of the conference call. An archive of the webcast will be available on the Investor Relations website for a limited time as well.

About RE/MAX Holdings, Inc.
RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RMAX) is one of the world’s leading franchisors in the real estate industry, franchising real estate brokerages globally under the RE/MAX® brand, and mortgage brokerages within the U.S. under the Motto® Mortgage brand. RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by David and Gail Liniger, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with great independence. Now with more than 120,000 agents across over 100 countries and territories, nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX, as measured by total residential transaction sides. Dedicated to innovation and change in the real estate industry, RE/MAX launched Motto Franchising, LLC, a ground-breaking mortgage brokerage franchisor, in 2016.

Despite Record-High Costs, New Home Construction Showed Modest Growth in the Fourth Quarter, Redfin Finds

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Builders Cited Labor and Land Shortage, Rising Lumber and Regulatory Costs as Top Barriers to Building More Homes

In Raleigh, 31.2 Percent of All Homes Sold in Q4 Were New Construction, the Highest Share of Any Metro

Seattle, WA – March 1, 2018 (PRNewswire) (NASDAQ: RDFN) — New construction homes accounted for 16.4 percent of all single-family homes for sale in the fourth quarter of 2017, up from 14.2 a year earlier, according to Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation real estate brokerage. The median price of new single-family homes that sold last quarter was $377,800, the analysis found, up 1.6 percent year over year. Compared with existing homes, new construction sold at an average premium of $86,400 in the fourth quarter. Existing home prices increased 7.3 percent year over year.

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“New homes are more expensive than existing homes, and their prices tend to grow at a slower rate,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “However, new homes’ slower price growth belies their advantage to buyers in the hottest markets. Buyers in these highly competitive markets have been attracted to new construction as a way to avoid bidding wars. They often find it’s easier to negotiate with a single builder than to compete with several buyers and negotiate with a traditional seller.”

A key factor in the high price of new homes is rising construction costs. The estimated labor and materials cost of constructing a single-family home increased 1.2 percent year over year in the fourth quarter to $244,000, the highest level since the Census Bureau began reporting it in 1988.

Despite record-high construction costs, housing starts—the number of new residential homes that began construction—rose to 1.3 million in January, the strongest pace on record since 2007 and 7.3 percent above the January 2017 rate of 1.24 million. As housing starts provide insight into what’s ahead for the housing market, this growth marked a key milestone in post-downturn recovery for housing.

Still, the supply situation at present remains dire. In January, housing starts were 11.6 percent below the historical average (see chart). The total number of homes for sale in January was 14.4 percent below where it was a year prior, marking 28 consecutive months of declining inventory. With strong buyer demand expected to continue this year, there are still not nearly enough homes for sale. Though building more homes would seem like the obvious solution, a number of obstacles are standing in the way of construction.

“We are growing, but not fast enough to keep up with demand,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

So Why Aren’t More Homes Being Built?

The largest challenges facing homebuilders and hindering residential construction, according to Dietz, include:

  • Labor Shortage: Cost/availability of labor was builders’ top concern in 2017, cited by 82% in a December NAHB survey. “The residential construction industry lost 1.5 million jobs during the Great Recession,” said Dietz. “We haven’t gained more than 800,000 back since then.”
  • Lumber Prices: Lumber prices have risen steadily since 2015 to their highest on record, peaking on February 23—up 45% year over year. Prices are likely to continue to rise due to a tariff on Canadian lumber added last year. According to Dietz, Canadian lumber accounts for one-third of all that used in constructing American homes.
  • Land Shortage: Cost/availability of developed lots was cited by 58% of builders as a major challenge in 2017, and 65% expect the same in 2018. Zoning restrictions and evolving government regulation of where and how homes can be built exacerbate the land shortage.
  • Regulatory Costs: According to the NAHB, there are more regulatory agencies involved in the building process at all levels of government than ever before, resulting in a 29.8% increase in regulatory costs between 2011 and 2016. The same study found that regulatory costs from all levels of government account for 24.3% of the final price of a home in the U.S., consistent with 2011, when regulatory costs accounted for an estimated quarter of a home’s final price.
  • Limited Credit Since the Recession: According to Dietz, lenders mostly granted loans for multi-family projects after the recession, which were considered less risky. This limited construction of single-family houses. The third quarter of 2017 marked 18 consecutive quarters of loan growth, according to the NAHB. While still strict, lending conditions have eased somewhat.

Metro-Level Highlights for New Construction in the Fourth Quarter:

  • Raleigh, NC had the highest portion of new home sales over the last three months, with 31.2% of all homes sold being new construction. Austin, TX and Nashville, TN followed behind at 26.3% and 26.1%, respectively.
  • Three of the four metro areas with the lowest shares of new construction sales were in New York led by Buffalo, NY at just 0.9 percent of home sales followed by Rochester, NY (1.7%) and Hudson Valley, NY (2.0%). San Diego followed behind (2.2%), along with four other California metros that ranked in the bottom 20% of all metros for lowest portion of new construction—each with under one in 30 home sales being new construction.
  • The metro areas with the highest year-over-year price growth per square foot for new construction sales last quarter were Tucson, AZ (16.3%), Chicago, IL (16%) and Las Vegas, NV (14%). The coastal Florida metros of Miami and West Palm Beach each posted price drops per square foot for new construction homes—falling 18.2% and 13.4% year-over-year. Honolulu, HI posted the largest year-over-year decline in price per square foot for new construction with a 36.2% drop.
  • The estimated cost of constructing a new unit during fourth quarter was the highest in Long Island, NY at an average of $403,000 per home. Tucson, AZ ($280,000), Hudson Valley, NY ($260,000) and Honolulu, HI ($258,000) rounded out the top four for average cost per unit permitted.
  • North Port, FL, Raleigh, NC, and Austin, TX are building the most homes per capita at 29, 26 and 26 units per 10,000 residents, respectively. In contrast, Allentown, PA and Long Island, NY had far fewer new homes in the pipeline both with only 0.7 units permitted per 10,000 residents in each metro.
  • A look at the total volume of building permits reveals that the metro areas poised to build the most new homes in the coming months are Houston, TX (10,182), Dallas, TX (9,249), Phoenix, AZ (6,933), and Seattle, WA (6,827).
  • Those with the largest year-over-year increase in units permitted include Honolulu, HI (161%), Detroit, MI (104.9%) and Boston, MA (69.2%).

In conjunction with its quarterly report on new residential construction, Redfin makes available on its Data Center a downloadable set of data on new construction prices, sales, inventory and other new residential market statistics. Redfin is also releasing building permit data—provided by the Census—allowing users to analyze average construction costs and compare the number of units built per capita across regions. Both datasets are available for download at the National, Metro, and County Levels since 2012.

To read the full report, complete with data visualizations and downloadable datasets, please visit: www.redfin.com.

About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer’s favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country’s #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the industry’s lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $50 billion in home sales.

Fourth Quarter Home Prices Up 5.3 Percent; Nearly Two-Thirds of Markets at All-Time High

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Washington, D.C. – February 13, 2018 (nar.realtor) An uptick in existing-home sales in the final three months of 2017 pulled down housing inventory to an all-time low and kept home-price growth at its recent robust pace, according to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of REALTORS®.

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The national median existing single-family home price in the fourth quarter was $247,800, which is up 5.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016 ($235,400). The median price during last year’s third quarter climbed 5.6 percent from the third quarter of 2016.

Single-family home prices last quarter increased in 92 percent of measured markets, with 162 out of 177 metropolitan statistical areas(1) (MSAs) showing sales price gains in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago. Twenty-six metro areas (15 percent) experienced double-digit increases (11 percent in the third quarter), and 18 metros eclipsed their previous peak sales price. Overall, home prices are now at their all-time high in 114 markets (64 percent).

Lawrence Yun

Lawrence Yun

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says 2017 capped off another year where home prices in most markets ascended at a steady clip amidst improving sales and worsening inventory conditions. “A majority of the country saw an upswing in buyer interest at the end of last year, which ultimately ended up putting even more strain on inventory levels and prices,” he said. “Remarkably, home prices have risen a cumulative 48 percent since 2011, yet during this same timeframe, incomes are up only 15 percent. In the West region, where very healthy labor markets are driving demand, the gap is even wider.”

Added Yun, “These consistent, multi-year price gains have certainly been great news for homeowners, and especially for those who were at one time in a negative equity situation; however, the shortage of new homes being built over the past decade is really burdening local markets and making homebuying less affordable.”

Total existing-home sales(2), including single family and condos, increased 4.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.62 million in the fourth quarter from 5.39 million in the third quarter, and are 1.3 percent higher than the 5.55 million pace during the fourth quarter of 2016.

At the end of the fourth quarter, there were 1.48 million existing homes available for sale(3), which was 10.3 percent below the 1.65 million homes for sale at the end of the fourth quarter in 2016. The average supply during the fourth quarter was 3.5 months – down from 4.2 months in the fourth quarter of last year.

The national family median income rose to $74,492(4) in the fourth quarter, but overall affordability still edged downward compared to a year ago because of the combination of rising mortgage rates and home prices. To purchase a single-family home at the national median price, a buyer making a 5 percent down payment would need an income of $55,585, a 10 percent down payment would require an income of $52,659, and $46,808 would be needed for a 20 percent down payment.

“While tight supply is expected to keep home prices on an upward trajectory in most metro areas in 2018, both the uptick in mortgage rates and the impact of the new tax law on some high-cost markets could cause price growth to moderate nationally,” said Yun. “In areas where homebuilding has severely lagged job creation in recent years, it’s going to be a slow slog before there’s enough new construction to cool price appreciation to a pace that aligns more closely with incomes.”

The five most expensive housing markets in the fourth quarter were the San Jose, California metro area, where the median existing single-family price was $1,270,000; San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California, $920,000; Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, California, $785,000; urban Honolulu, $760,600; and San Diego-Carlsbad, $610,000.

The five lowest-cost metro areas in the fourth quarter were Cumberland, Maryland, $84,600; Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio, $90,200; Decatur, Illinois, $100,000; Binghamton, New York, $108,900; and Wichita Falls, Texas, $110,400.

Metro area condominium and cooperative prices – covering changes in 61 metro areas – showed the national median existing-condo price was $237,500 in the fourth quarter, up 7.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016 ($222,000). Eighty-four percent of metro areas showed gains in their median condo price from a year ago.

Regional Breakdown
Total existing-home sales in the Northeast jumped 10.1 percent in the fourth quarter but are 0.4 percent below the fourth quarter of 2016. The median existing single-family home price in the Northeast was $268,100 in the fourth quarter, up 4.2 percent from a year ago.

In the Midwest, existing-home sales rose 6.0 percent in the fourth quarter and are 2.3 percent above a year ago. The median existing single-family home price in the Midwest grew 7.2 percent to $193,800 in the fourth quarter from the same quarter a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the South increased 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter and are 1.8 percent higher than the fourth quarter of 2016. The median existing single-family home price in the South was $221,600 in the fourth quarter, 5.0 percent above a year earlier.

In the West, existing-home sales in the fourth quarter were at an annualized rate of 1.23 million (unchanged from the third quarter), up 0.3 percent from a year ago. The median existing single-family home price in the West increased 7.2 percent to $374,400 in the fourth quarter from the fourth quarter of 2016.

The National Association of REALTORS®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

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NOTE: NAR releases quarterly median single-family price data for approximately 175 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). In some cases the MSA prices may not coincide with data released by state and local REALTORS® associations. Any discrepancy may be due to differences in geographic coverage, product mix, and timing. In the event of discrepancies, REALTORS® are advised that for business purposes, local data from their association may be more relevant.

Data tables for MSA home prices (single family and condo) are posted at https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/housing-statistics/metropolitan-median-area-prices-and-affordability. If insufficient data is reported for a MSA in particular quarter, it is listed as N/A. For areas not covered in the tables, please contact the local association of REALTORS®.

1. Areas are generally metropolitan statistical areas as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. NAR adheres to the OMB definitions, although in some areas an exact match is not possible from the available data. A list of counties included in MSA definitions is available at: http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/metro-city/List4.txt (link is external).

Regional median home prices are from a separate sampling that includes rural areas and portions of some smaller metros that are not included in this report; the regional percentage changes do not necessarily parallel changes in the larger metro areas. The only valid comparisons for median prices are with the same period a year earlier due to seasonality in buying patterns. Quarter-to-quarter comparisons do not compensate for seasonal changes, especially for the timing of family buying patterns.

Median price measurement reflects the types of homes that are selling during the quarter and can be skewed at times by changes in the sales mix. For example, changes in the level of distressed sales, which are heavily discounted, can vary notably in given markets and may affect percentage comparisons. Annual price measures generally smooth out any quarterly swings.

NAR began tracking of metropolitan area median single-family home prices in 1979; the metro area condo price series dates back to 1989.

Because there is a concentration of condos in high-cost metro areas, the national median condo price often is higher than the median single-family price. In a given market area, condos typically cost less than single-family homes. As the reporting sample expands in the future, additional areas will be included in the condo price report.

2. The seasonally adjusted annual rate for a particular quarter represents what the total number of actual sales for a year would be if the relative sales pace for that quarter was maintained for four consecutive quarters. Total home sales include single family, townhomes, condominiums and co-operative housing.

3. Total inventory and month’s supply data are available back through 1999, while single-family inventory and month’s supply are available back to 1982 (prior to 1999, single-family sales accounted for more than 90 percent of transactions and condos were measured only on a quarterly basis).

Seasonally adjusted rates are used in reporting quarterly data to factor out seasonal variations in resale activity. For example, sales volume normally is higher in the summer and relatively light in winter, primarily because of differences in the weather and household buying patterns.

4. Income figures are rounded to the nearest hundred, based on NAR modeling of Census data. Qualifying income requirements are determined using several scenarios on downpayment percentages and assume 25 percent of gross income devoted to mortgage principal and interest at a mortgage interest rate of 3.9%.

NOTE: Existing-Home Sales for January will be released February 21, and the Pending Home Sales Index for January will be released February 28; release times are 10:00 a.m. ET.

Media Contact:

Adam DeSanctis
(202) 383-1178
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