The Los Angeles City Council voted today to lay the groundwork for creating “anti-displacement zones” around new market-rate or “luxury” residential buildings that contain no affordable units.
The vote directs the city’s housing and community investment department, city planning, department, and the city attorneys to draft an ordinance that would put in place a battery of protections aimed at helping renters in a one-mile radius around new developments.
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The Federal Housing Administration announced that it is increasing its loan limit for most of the country in 2020. The 2020 FHA loan limit will be $331,760—a $17,000 increase from 2019’s loan limit.
In about 70 designated high-cost counties, the FHA’s 2020 loan limit will climb to $765,600—a $40,000 increase from 2019. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will have higher limit ceilings than the rest of the country because of higher construction costs, the FHA says. Those areas will have a 2020 FHA loan limit of $1,148,400. The Los Angeles housing market is not a hospitable one for first-time buyers.
Only 25 percent of all LA residents can afford a median-priced home, according the California Association of Realtors. It can be even harder for first-time buyers, who don’t have a property they can sell to cover the cost of a down payment. But some programs at the local, state, and federal level can help buyers purchase their first homes—and many of them provide borrowers with help to make those costly down payments. When it comes to mortgages, VA loans are about the best you can get. With no down payment, no mortgage insurance, and super-low interest rates, they save homebuyers significantly—both up-front and over the long haul.
And while VA loans have historically been underutilized, it seems Millennials are looking to buck that trend. In fact, according to data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the share of Millennials using a VA loan jumped 14% over the last year alone. VA loan activity jumped with Generation Z buyers, too, and combined, the two generations accounted for 45% of all VA purchase loans originated in the past year. According to the Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.66 percent.
"The housing market continues to steadily gain momentum with rising homebuyer demand and increased construction due to the strong job market, ebullient market sentiment and low mortgage rates," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's Chief Economist. "Residential real estate accounts for one-sixth of the economy, and the improving real estate market will support economic growth heading into next year." Freddie Mac News Facts
Credits: FreddieMac.com |
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