After office occupancy rose by 6 million square feet during 2021 Q3, occupancy fell anew by 2 million square feet as of November compared to 2021 Q3 bringing the total loss in office occupancy to 133 million square feet since 2020 Q2.
First-time buyers continue to struggle to compete with cash and non-primary residence buyers, according to the October 2021 REALTORS® Confidence Index report.
In October 2021, both consumer confidence and retail sales increased, with consumers indicating they intend to purchase housing, vehicles, and appliances.
Mortgage rates rose significantly this week, due to inflation that was higher than expected, with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate moving up to 3.10% from 2.98% the previous week.
Apartment demand is soaring and office vacancy rates have spiked, which has prompted conversion of vacant office buildings into housing, particularly multifamily rental housing or owner-occupied condominiums.
At the national level, housing affordability was flat in September compared to the previous month, with the monthly mortgage payment falling by 0.7% while the median family income fell modestly by 0.6%.
Retail sales recorded a seasonally adjusted total of $638.2 billion in October, a 1.7% increase from September.
While the report tops 164 pages and has hundreds of data points that a real estate professional can use in their daily business, here are some takeaways.
There are some notable changes in the home buying environment, pandemic aside, including interest rates, home prices, and how people go about buying and selling homes.
The job market continues to make progress in October with 531,000 net new jobs. Since coming out of lockdown 18 million jobs have been created, but total jobs are still 4 million below the level seen before the arrival of COVID-19.
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