Your inside source for real estate, development and construction information serving the counties of Mecklenburg, Union & Iredell VOLUME 107 NUMBER 20 ■ MECKTIMES.COM
Part of the
TUESDAY, MAY 16, 2023
network
Modern Farmhouse is the most popular interior design style in America according to Google Page 2
Construction employment rises in 44 states between March 2022 and 2023 Page 3
CLT Receives Green Globes certification Page 4
ENNICO: Fan Fiction, ‘Robot Chicken,’ fair use and the copyright laws Page 5
GOLDMAN: When your boss doesn’t trust you, trust me. Page 6
Is a recession coming? 75% of Americans think so’ Page 7
U.S. home-sellers experience further decline in profits in Q1 2023 ATTOM has released its first-quarter 2023 U.S. Home Sales Report, which shows that profit margins on median-priced singlefamily home and condo sales across the United States decreased to 44.2 percent as home prices stayed flat or kept declining around most of the nation. The drop-off in typical profit margins, from 48.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, marked the third straight quarterly decrease nationwide and resulted in the lowest investment return since mid-2021. It came as the national median home price rose just 1 percent quarterly, to $321,135, and values commonly went down in almost three-quarters of major housing markets around the country. The typical investment return nationwide did remain high in the first quarter – almost double where it stood four years ago. But the margin was off by 12 points from the peak of 56.1 percent hit in the second quarter of last year. “Homeowners are starting to take a significant hit in the form of lost profits from the recent market slowdown. Nine months of varying price declines around the country have carved away almost a quarter of the profit margin sellers were enjoying in early 2022. That’s a striking reversal of what we saw for a decade,” said Rob Barber, chief executive officer for ATTOM. “It is possible that the upcoming peak buying season of 2023 could lead to increased profits, owing to favorable mortgage rates and other factors. Over the next few months, we can expect
to gain more clarity regarding whether the current market stagnation is a short-term aberration or a more significant trend.” The latest round of faltering profits and prices around the U.S. reflects a housing market that has been stalled since the middle of last year following a decade of almost continuous gains. The nationwide median home price fell 7 percent from the record hit in the second quarter of last year, taking profit margins with it. That happened as home mortgage rates doubled to more than 6 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate loan, consumer price inflation soared to 40-year highs and the stock market fell back from all-time records. Those forces cut into what prospective home buyers could afford, helping to tamp down demand and lower prices despite short supplies of properties for sale. As the 2023 home-buying season kicks into gear, the forecast for the market remains murky. Small declines in mortgage and inflation rates over the past few months have come amid predictions among economists of more interest rate hikes and a possible recession.
Profit margins stay the same or decrease in two-thirds of U.S.
Typical profit margins – the percent difference between median purchase and resale price – stayed the same or went down from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023 in 93 (68 percent) of the 137 metropolitan statistical areas around the
U.S. with sufficient data to analyze. They were flat or down in 123, or 90 percent, of those metros compared to the second quarter of last year, when returns hit a high point nationwide. Metro areas were included if they had a population greater than 200,000 and at least 1,000 single-family home and condo sales in the first quarter of 2023. The biggest quarterly decreases in typical profit margins came in the metro areas of Akron, OH (margin down from 66.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 47.8 percent in the first quarter of 2023); Stockton, CA (down from 76.7 percent to 59.4 percent); Louisville, KY (down from 48.6 percent to 32 percent); Prescott, AZ (down from 73.3 percent to 58.1 percent) and Buffalo, NY (down from 66.2 percent to 51.5 percent). Aside from Louisville and Buffalo, the biggest quarterly profit-margin decreases in metro areas with a population of at least 1 million in the first quarter of 2023 were in St. Louis, MO (return down from 33.7 percent to 23.6 percent); San Francisco, CA (down from 58.9 percent to 49.1 percent) and Salt Lake City, UT (down from 53.6 percent to 44.5 percent). Typical profit margins increased quarterly in just 44 of the 137 metro areas analyzed (32 percent). The biggest quarterly increases were in Trenton, NJ (margin up from 43.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 78.6 percent in the first quarter of 2023); Scranton, PA (up from 63.3 percent to
PLEASE SEE PROFIT ON PAGE 3
“Investments in home rehabilitation and accessibility modifications help keep some of our state’s most vulnerable citizens in their homes.” Scott Farmer NC Housing Finance Agency.
Story, page 4