Millennials are purchasing houses — finally. Over the past year, millennials made up the largest share of homebuyers: 37% according to Barron’s.

Boston and Raleigh had the highest bidding-war rates, as the rate fell to a 2021 low.

“Contract transactions slowed a bit in September and are showing signs of a calmer home price trend, as the market is running comfortably ahead of pre-pandemic activity.” — NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun

Home-price gains were once again broadly distributed, as all 20 cities in the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index rose, although in most cases at a slower rate than a month ago.

At the same time, the increase in interest rates drove fewer borrowers to refinance their loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The month also saw a slight shift in inventory, even though shortages continued.

“There simply aren’t enough homes for sale relative to the demand fueled by millennials armed with low mortgage rate-driven house-buying power.” — First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi

The Windy City wasn’t the only Illinois community on the 2021 list. Rockford, as well as the the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois also made the rankings.

The median existing-home price for all housing types in September was $352,800, up 13.3% on an annual basis, as every region in the country registered price increases.

The decrease was driven by a 5.1% month-over-month slide in the rate of multifamily starts, while single-family construction was flat.

Lack of inventory continues to restrict home sales as fewer homes sold in September, and closed home sales dropped.

Climate change will negatively impact the already-stunted housing inventory in the U.S., according to a recent Redfin report.

The number of closed sales fell 12.5% month over month, while active inventory slid 2.5% to 37,646. Median sales prices dropped 3%, but that’s still up 5.8% from September 2020. 

While the past year has been unprecedented in terms of economic change and a global pandemic, most U.S. home sellers’ experiences were similar to past years, according to Zillow’s latest consumer housing trends report.  Consistent with the past three

As remote work becomes the new norm for many homeowners, real estate professionals are encouraging clients to consider implementing insurance-based smart home technology into their homes. 

The federal government can play a big role in helping to further improve assessments by releasing data from the Uniform Appraisal Database used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in determining which loans to back.