Real Estate Ads Target Instagram, Snapchat

Real Estate Ads Target Instagram, Snapchat

Do Instagram and Snapchat represent the new frontier for real estate marketing? Both companies recently started to integrate advertisements into their social platforms, opening up new avenues for real estate companies to reach the coveted millennial demographic of home buyers.

Last month, Instagram announced that for the first time, marketers can plan ad campaigns in a uniform fashion along with their marketing efforts on Facebook and Twitter by opening up its advertising API (application programming interface). Previously ads on Instagram were coordinated directly with an Instagram sales rep and were mainly used by big brands with unlimited time and budgets.

This move is believed to make Instagram a major advertising rival to Google and Twitter.

Instagram’s popularity is surging in recent years. A recent Pew Survey showed that their user base has doubled since 2012, with fifty-nine percent using the platform daily.

Some real estate firms are already making marketing moves on Instagram. Redfin, a brokerage based out of Seattle, rolled out a nationwide ad campaign on Instagram a few weeks ago. Redfin started using the social platform to target young buyers with listing photos and eventually wants to expand to engage with potential clients by posting DIY content, according to their spokesperson Angie Newman.

In addition to Instagram, real estate professionals wanting to reach a young demographic are seeking out advertising opportunities on Snapchat, which also recently began to integrate ads onto its social platform.

Snapchat maintains that their app is the best way to reach the 13-34 demographic, the highest population to use social media, and boasts that more than 60 percent of US mobile users are using their platform.

Source: “Real Estate Advertisements to Invade Instagram and Snapchat,” Realty Today (Sept. 9, 2015) and “Instagram just made a major move that will turn it into a huge advertising business,” Business Insider (Aug. 4, 2015)

Economists Bullish on Single-Family Rentals

Economists Bullish on Single-Family Rentals. Image courtesy of vectorolie / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The single-family rental market will continue to stay strong for years to come, according to Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic and former chief economist at Freddie Mac.

Nothaft is bullish on the sector because the largest demographic cohort are 22- to 25-year-old millennials who are getting ready to form new households. The average age of first-time home buyers, on the other hand, has moved up into the 30s.

“Since the great recession began, household formation has been anemic,” Nothaft notes in a column for HousingWire. “But this year household formation will be at its highest point in 10 years — close to 1.7 million new households — many of which will be renters.”

More than 5.8 million home owners lost their homes to foreclosure during the housing crisis over the last seven years. Many have become renters, which has boosted growth of the single-family detached rental stock. For example, Nothaft singles out markets like Phoenix and Las Vegas, which faced a significant plunge in home values during the housing crisis, that have had an increase in its single-family rental stock by up to 80 percent.

About 35 percent of all rental stock are single-family rentals and single-family rentals tended to have the lowest vacancy rate – less than 3 percent compared to 8 percent or more among larger apartment buildings, Nothaft notes.

Demand is pushing up rents too. San Francisco alone has seen rents surge an average of 18 percent this year, while Phoenix has seen rents grow by nearly 10 percent year-over-year.

“No matter how you crunch the numbers, the outlook for rentals looks strong for the foreseeable future,” Nothaft notes.

Source: “Frank Nothaft: Is the Single-Family Rental Market Really a Strong Investment?” HousingWire (Sept. 18, 2015)

Buyers Leverage More Tech in Home Searches

Buyers Leverage More Tech in Home Searches. Image courtesy of dream designs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Housing Affordability Takes Another Dip

Housing Affordability Takes Another Dip. Image courtesy of hywards / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As rising home prices continue to outpace income gains, Americans across the nation are finding it harder to buy, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ latest reading of its Housing Affordability Index.

The median price for a single-family home in the U.S. is up 5.8 percent from a year ago, at $235,500 as of July. The Western region of the country has seen the largest year-over-year increases in prices at 8.4 percent, followed by the South at 7.1 percent and Midwest at 6.5 percent. The Northeast saw the slowest price growth at 1.8 percent, according to NAR.

Affordability has fallen from one month ago in all regions of the United States, with the West posting the largest drop in the affordability index (2.1 percent). The South dropped the least in affordability month-over-month, falling only 0.4 percent. Compared to a year ago, affordability has fallen in all regions, except the Northeast which saw a 2 percent increase. The West again posted the largest decline in affordability year-over-year at 4.3 percent, and the Midwest had the smallest decline of 3 percent.

“Housing markets with low inventory levels may continue to experience rising home prices—however, improvement in job creation and steady income gains help offset major price growth,” writes NAR Research Data Specialist Michael Hyman on the Economists’ Outlook blog. “Mortgage applications are currently down for new and existing homes which could be seasonal or a sign that rising rates are having an impact on affordability.”

Source: “Housing Affordability Numbers for July,” National Association of REALTORS® Economists’ Outlook blog (Sept. 15, 2015)

College Major as Predictor of House Prospects?

College Major as Predictor of House Prospects? Image courtesy of nenetus / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Graduates’ college major may have a lot to do with how much home they can afford later on, according to a new analysis by realtor.com®.

For example, for engineering majors, they’ll likely be successful in the housing market. Out of 300 majors evaluated by realtor.com®, petroleum engineers had the highest salaries that translated into being able to afford more house. Petroleum engineers had a midcareer salary of $168,000 and grads of that major could afford to buy up to $744,000 – more than three times the national average list price.

On the other end of the spectrum, education and liberal arts majors didn’t fare as well as engineering jobs. Early-childhood education had a midcareer salary of $38,000, which is barely enough to purchase a home at $168,000 (which is below the national median). Social work is also among the lowest paid careers, with a midcareer salary of $45,700.

Realtor.com® used Payscale’s midcareer salary estimates and realtor.com®’s own affordability calculator to calculate the maximum price typical grads could afford after working for 10 years according to their major. Midcareer employees with a bachelor’s degree earn a median salary of $77,006, which means they can afford a house costing up to $341,000 – about 60 percent more than a high school graduate.

Source: “How Your College Major Predicts What House You Can Afford,” realtor.com® (Sept. 14, 2015)