Daily News 8/26/2015
August 26, 2015
Wednesday – August 26
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported on Wednesday that a recent study showed that housing demand will surge over the next ten years. The MBA feels that between 13.9 and 15.9 million households will be formed by 2023, making the next 10 years one of the strongest in housing in U.S. history. The MBA went on to say that the housing demand will be driven by Hispanics, Baby Boomers and Millennials.
Online real estate company Zillow reported on Wednesday that it sees the housing market slowing down a bit as home prices saw their first negative monthly change since the recovery four years ago. Zillow said that home prices declined 0.1% in July, falling to $179,900. On an annual basis, prices rose 3.0% from July 2014 to July 2015, down from 3.4% in the year ended in June. Of the 517 metro cities covered by Zillow, 204 saw a slowdown in prices and were back to more normal levels of appreciation.
With oil prices continuing to decline in world markets due to slowing demand and a surge in supply, prices at the gas pumps are falling. The national average price for a regular gallon of gasoline is at $2.55, down from $2.72 a month ago. Recently, gas prices have been slow to push lower with the big drop in oil and this is due to outages at several major refineries. Gas analyst Tom Kloza from the Oil Price Information Service sees prices below $2 per gallon by Thanksgiving. Mr. Kloza says that the summer driving season ends this month and with refineries able to refine oil into gas at less expensive prices for its winter blend, prices will begin declining.
