As the pandemic continues, more home buyers are looking for properties that can house their older family members. The goal for these buyers is to keep their aging family members out of senior living—particularly group setting facilities, which have been on heightened alert during the COVID-19 outbreak. This is translating to the desire for larger homes that can accommodate more family members, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The National Association of REALTORS®’ newly released 2020 Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers showed that buyers purchasing a home since the start of the pandemic have been more likely to purchase a multigenerational home—15% versus 11% who purchased prior to 2020. Home buyers cited multiple reasons, such as the health and caretaking of aging parents and relatives, cost savings, the desire to spend more time with aging parents and relatives, and the need for the delayed independence of children. They also said buying a multigenerational home allowed them to pool multiple incomes to purchase a larger home.

NAR Survey Reveals 14 Home Buying, Selling Trends Since the Pandemic

Meanwhile, occupancy at assisted-living facilities and independent living centers decreased by more than 2.5% in each of the last two quarters since the pandemic, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Home builders are increasingly trying to respond to the call for homes that can accommodate multiple generations, such as with two primary owner suites, including one on the main floor. In response to the uptick in demand, Lennar Corp., a homebuilding giant, says it expects to increase its line of Next Gen homes by more than 20% compared with last year, The Wall Street Journal reports. M/I Homes says it has debuted a new floor plan that includes a separate multiroom space on the main floor of the home that can serve as a room for an aging parent or home office.

Builders of accessory dwelling units—backyard houses that can serve as separate living quarter—are reporting a rapid rise in business since the pandemic began.

“We’re hearing stories about how people went to visit their family members and couldn’t go into the facility and talked to them through the window,” Daniel Blumenkrantz, analyst at Urbaneer ADU, a Freehold, N.J.–based company, told The Wall Street Journal. “We figured there has to be a way around this.”

Urbaneer ADU will install an accessory dwelling unit on a property and charge an installation fee, often ranging from $7,500 to $10,000. The customer then pays $2,000 a month for a minimum of five years. The company removes the cottage when it’s no longer needed. On its website, the company says that the cottage plus in-home care is cheaper than assisted living, which likely would be dependent on the person’s health circumstances and location.

© REALTOR® MAGAZINE

The interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to a 2.84% average this week but remains near all-time lows. Last week, the rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage set a record low of 2.78%. “Mortgage rates jumped this week as a result of positive news about a COVID-19 vaccine,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Despite this rise, mortgage rates remain about a percentage point below a year ago, and the low-rate environment is supportive of both purchase and refinance demand. Heading into late fall, the housing market continues to grow and buttress the economy.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Nov. 12:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: Averaged 2.84%, with an average 0.7 point, up from last week’s record 2.78% average. A year ago, 30-year rates averaged 3.75%.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: Averaged 2.34%, with an average 0.6 point, increasing from last week’s 2.32%. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.20%.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: Averaged 3.11%, with an average 0.4 point, increasing from last week’s 2.89% average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.44%.

Freddie Mac reports average commitment rates along with points to better reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining a mortgage.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, nearly one in six renters are late on their payments, according to a LendingTree analysis reflecting data from late September to early October. Further, more than one in four renters say they have no confidence or are only slightly confident in being able to make next month’s payment.

A federal eviction moratorium will expire Dec. 31. That could leave many renters without a home and property managers with missed payments and fewer tenants. The National Association of REALTORS® has been advocating for rental assistance. Read more: Encourage Tenants to Seek Rental Assistance

LendingTree recently analyzed in which areas around the country renters are struggling with their payments the most. Topping the list, 29% of Mississippi renters are behind on payments, nearly double the nation’s average rate of 16.2%. Louisiana follows with a 28.3% default rate and Tennessee with a 24.8% rate.

The 10 states seeing the highest percentage of renters behind on their payments have a median household income below the national average (excluding New York). “That can make it more difficult to stay up to date with rent, especially during a pandemic,” LendingTree notes.

The age demographic most behind on rent are those between the ages of 40–54 (22.2% of renters in that age segment are struggling), the LendingTree study finds. The 65 and older age group (7.2%) and the 18-to-24 age group (11.1%) are reporting some of the fewest instances of falling behind on rent.

In many areas, renters aren’t feeling any better about their finances. The following states have the most renters who have expressed the least confidence in making their next month’s payment:

• Mississippi: 46.5%
• Louisiana: 42.8%
• Iowa: 37.3%
• Pennsylvania: 33.9%
• Florida: 33.4%
• Connecticut: 31.5%
• New York: 30.7%
• Delaware: 29.9%
• Michigan: 29.1%
• Alabama: 29%

On the other hand, in some states, renters are doing much better and appear to be less affected by the pandemic. The states in which the fewest renters are falling behind are Montana (4.2%), Vermont (6.8%), and Utah (8%).

Home shopping was down last week as the nation focused its attention on a heated presidential election and a surging number of coronavirus cases across the country, realtor.com® reports in its Weekly Housing Report.

Mortgage demand from home buyers dropped to the lowest level in six months, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported on Wednesday. Its weekly mortgage index showed that loan applications to buy a home dropped 3% last week. Applications are still 16% higher than a year ago, however. But the latest dip in applications marked the sixth time in seven weeks that the index has seen a decrease, and last week’s marked its lowest level since May 2020, MBA reports.

“Between the presidential election and a new wave of coronavirus cases, buyers and sellers had a lot of reasons to pause last week,” says Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “The big question is whether both buyers and sellers will jump back into the market after last week’s break. With mortgage rates expected to rise on news of a likely vaccine, buyers may have reason to jump back in and find a home sooner rather than later, but sellers may be more inclined to stay on hold. Thus, even as overall activity slows, we may very well see continued price growth and quick sales.”

A limited number of homes for sale likely continues to constrain buyers too. Newly listed properties are down by double digits compared to a year ago. “New listings are a crucial ingredient for home sales, and they will need to make a strong comeback for housing activity to continue,” realtor.com® notes in its report.

Meanwhile, listing prices continue to see double-digit growth, up 12.9% over last year, according to realtor.com® data. Homes that are on the market are selling fast, with the number of days on the market nearly two weeks fewer than last year. If homes continue to sell quickly, “it is a good indication that buyers have no intention of taking the holidays off this year, but continued steadiness in the year-over-year difference would mean we’re seeing at least some of the usual seasonal pause in housing activity,” realtor.com® notes in its report.

© realtor.com

In the third quarter, 16.7 million residential properties in the U.S., or 28.3% overall, were considered “equity rich,” according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate research data firm. A property is considered equity rich when the property owner has at least 50% equity in the home.

“Homeowner equity in the third quarter added another pebble to the pile of markers showing that the U.S. housing market continues to defy the broad downturn in the economy this year,” says Todd Teta, chief product and technology officer for ATTOM Data Solutions. “Home prices keep rising, boosting the balance sheets of homeowners throughout most of the country. With the foundation under the housing market still shaky as the coronavirus remains a threat, we will continue to monitor closely the various metrics, including equity. But as it’s been through the pandemic, the market is strong and homeowners remain in a position to benefit.”

Four of the 10 states with the largest gains in the share of equity-rich homes from the second to the third quarter were in New England, the report shows. The top five were Vermont, where the level of homes considered equity rich increased to 45.1% in the third quarter (up from 39.1% in the second quarter); Maine (33.5%); South Dakota (30.3%); New Hampshire (26.7%); and Idaho (39.5%).

By county level, the top equity-rich areas remained concentrated in the West and Northeast, ATTOM’s report shows. The highest concentration of equity-rich properties were once again in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.