OVERVIEW / NEWS / TRENDS / COMMUNITY
Caution Urged when Weighing
Affluent Market Predictions
For remodelers and builders whose target market is the affluent
and upscale, the American Affluence Research Center cautions
not to be unduly influenced by coming-year predictions about this
demographic, emphasizing the following points:
1. Affluent consumers are not prone to substantial changes in
their basic behavior and values from year to year or even over an
extended period of time.
2. A change from one year to the next is not necessarily a
trend, especially if it applies to a large increase in a very small
percentage of the market.
3. Affluent consumers are not necessarily luxury consumers.
4. It is important to stay focused on the key marketing priorities
of retaining the loyalty and increasing the purchases of existing
customers while working to attract new customers.
5. Traditional marketing communications channels should not
be forsaken, especially if one is targeting affluent and luxury
consumers.
6. The true affluent, who typically are careful spenders who live
within their means, are the more knowledgeable and more
sophisticated consumers.
Read more at ForResidentialPros.com/10841940
FORECLOSURES
Foreclosure Filings Down in October
Foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank
repossessions — were reported on 180,817 U.S. properties in
November, a decrease of 3 percent from October and down 19 percent
from November 2011 — marking the 26th consecutive month with an
annual decrease in foreclosure activity, according to RealtyTrac's
Foreclosure Market Report for November 2012. "The drop in overall
foreclosure activity in November was caused largely by a 71-month
low in foreclosure starts for the month, more evidence that we are past
the worst of the foreclosure problem brought about by the housing
bubble bursting six years ago," said Daren Blomquist, vice president
at RealtyTrac.
HOUSING BY THE NUMBERS
• Fourteen percent of those surveyed say that home prices will go
down in the next 12 months, a 4 percentage point increase over
last month.
• The percentage who think mortgage rates will go up continued to
rise, increasing 4 percentage points in November to 41 percent.
• Twenty-three percent of respondents say it is a good time to sell,
a 5 percentage point increase compared to last month, and the
highest level since the survey's inception.
• The share of respondents who said they would buy if they were
going to move held relatively steady at 67 percent.
• Fifty-one percent of respondents now say it would be easy to get
a mortgage, marking the highest rate since the survey's inception.
Source: November 2012 National Housing Survey, Fannie Mae
6
January 2013
QR
ForResidentialPros.com
CONSUMER SENTIMENT
More Americans
Believe Economy
is on Right Track
Americans are showing increased
confidence in the housing market
and the direction of the economy,
according to Fannie Mae's
November 2012 National Housing
Survey. "Consumer attitudes
toward both the economy and
the housing market continue to
gather momentum, with many of
our 11 key National Housing
Survey indicators at or near their
two-and-a-half-year highs," said
Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist of
Fannie Mae. "On the housing
front, attitudes about the current
selling environment continue to
improve, with a significant
increase in those saying it would
be a good time to sell. Those
indicating that the economy is on
the right track has risen to 44 percent while those saying it's on the
wrong track has fallen to 50 percent, the smallest gap since the
survey's inception."
1.
Read the new
products magazine.
Flip through QR's new sister
publication, Residential Building
Product News.
ForResidentialPros.com/
magazine/rdb/issue/2013/jan
2.
Listen to a Podcast.
Senior editor Ken Betz talks
with NARI lobbyist Tom Sullivan.
ForResidentialPros.com/mediacenter
3.
Read blogs.
A new blog will
appear on our site
every week in January
to complement the print issue.
ForResidentialPros.com/blogs/
qr-market-memo
4.
Sign up for our
e-newsletter.
Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter to receive the latest remodeling news, products and more.
Cygnus.Omeda.com/QUR
HOME VALUES
Home Values Have
Increased Every
Month for a Year
Home values have increased
every month for more than a year,
rising 0.6 percent from October
to November to a Zillow Home
Value Index of $156,200, according to the November Zillow Real
Estate Market Reports. Home
values were up 5.2 percent compared with November 2011, the
largest annual gain since August
2006, when home values rose 6
percent year over year. The
monthly increase is the 13th in a
row for national home values. The
last time home values stood at
$156,200 was May 2004.
5.
Share your disaster
story with your peers.
Submit photos and stories about
what you're doing and where to
help with Hurricane Sandy and
other disaster recovery efforts.
ForResidentialPros.com/
disasterrecovery