Inside this issue
  Continue to oppose egregious changes to landlord/tenant law  
  SB256 has been discussed in the last three weeks' separate Advocate newsletter (3/29, 3/22, 3/15), and how it would make several changes to landlord/tenant law that are of concern for property managers and homeowners. YOU CAN HELP US FIGHT! Two ways: NVR staff will be hosting presentations on the impacts of SB256, should it become law, throughout the state in the coming weeks. If your brokerage would like to host a presentation or if you have SB256-related questions, you can email NVR Legal Counsel Tiffany Banks.   

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  Median homes not affordable for average earners in most markets  
 

ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation's premier property database and first property data provider of Data-as-a-Service (DaaS), today released its Q1 2019 U.S. Home Affordability Report, which shows that median home prices in the first quarter of 2019 were not affordable for average wage earners in 335 of 473 U.S. counties analyzed in the report (71 percent).

The report determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to make monthly house payments - including mortgage, property taxes and insurance - on a median-priced home, assuming a 3 percent down payment and a 28 percent maximum "front-end" debt-to-income ratio. That required income was then compared to annualized average weekly wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (see full methodology below). Click here to keep reading.

  

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  Curbed: Why high rents are a health care problem  
 

A new survey looking at housing and health outcomes supports a growing body of scholarship showing how rent-burdened Americans face potentially damaging delays in medical care.

Commissioned by Enterprise Community Partners Inc., a national affordable housing nonprofit, the survey found that more than half of renters surveyed delayed health care because they couldn't afford it, and 100 percent of medical professionals surveyed said they had dealt with patients in the past who expressed concerns and anxiety about affordable housing. When these doctors and nurses advised patients to reduce stress, 92 of them percent said financial issues were their biggest stress trigger. Click here to view the full article.

  

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  Housingwire: Low mortgage rates may drive lending to 14-year high  
 

The recent drop in mortgage interest rates is already having an impact on overall mortgage demand as well as the demand for refinances, but just how much could the return of low interest rates impact the market? 

Quite a bit, according to new data. iEmergent, a mortgage forecasting and advisory firm, is projecting a 3.9% jump in total home-loan volume this year. That puts iEmergent at the head of the forecasting pack.

Freddie Mac is expecting a gain of 1.5% for total mortgage lending, according to its March mortgage finance forecast. The Mortgage Bankers Association pegs the increase at 1%, and Fannie Mae expects a drop of about half a percentage point. Click here to read more. 

  

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