First American: Housing affordability spiked during spring home buying season

In July, home prices rose 0.5%, declining 3.8% year over year, according to First American’s Real House Price Index. According to First American’s data, unadjusted house prices sit 7.4% above the housing boom peak. Whereas consumer buying power ticked up 0.5% between June and July, increasing 12.2% year over year. This means when consumer house-buying power is factored in, home prices are actually 41.1% below their 2006 peak and 17% below prices from January 2000.

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Real Estate Technology

Venterra Realty Acquires Avasa Grove West Community in Wesley Chapel

PR Newswire | October 03, 2023

Venterra Realty recently acquired the Avasa Grove West community located in Wesley Chapel, Florida. The 330-unit, multi-family community was built in 2023 and offers modern one, two, and three-bedroom garden-style residences that range from 782 – 1563 square feet in eight unique floor plans. The apartments offer high-end unit interiors that feature quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, prep islands, large soaking tubs or stand-up showers, ample closet space, and screened-in patios. The property provides renters with a best-in-class amenity package that includes a resort-style pool area, complete with pergolas, poolside grills, a California kitchen and TVs, our 24/7 fitness center, a Yoga / Spin studio, and an upscale clubhouse. Located in the fast-growing area of Wesley Chapel, Florida, the community is approximately 20 miles north of downtown Tampa, along Interstate-75. The property is directly adjacent to The Grove at Wesley Chapel and Krate, two large retail developments that boast an array of unique shopping and dining experiences for residents to enjoy. Venterra will implement its resident-focused programs such as the Live it. Love it. Guarantee.™, the 48-Hour Maintenance Guarantee, and SMARTLEASING. "We have seen excellent growth in the Tampa metropolitan area, and are excited to expand our Florida portfolio with the addition of the amenity-rich property Avasa at Grove West," said John Foresi, CEO of Venterra Realty. "Venterra has become known as a company that is committed to providing a market-leading living experience, and we look forward to identifying opportunities to further enhance the standard of living at Avasa Grove West by implementing Venterra's customer-focused management platform," added Venterra Chairman, Andrew Stewart. About Venterra Founded in 2001, Venterra Realty owns and manages approximately 80 communities and more than 23,000 apartment units across 19 major US cities that provide housing to over 45,000 people and 15,000 pets. The organization has completed over $9 billion in real estate transactions and currently manages a portfolio of multi-family real estate assets valued at over $4.8 billion. Venterra is committed to improving the lives of its residents by delivering industry-leading customer experience.

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Real Estate Investment

Newmark Launches NewliticQuest, an Advanced Analytics Solution to Empower Corporate Portfolio Real Estate Decisions

Newmark | September 26, 2023

Newmark Group, Inc. a leading commercial real estate adviser and service provider to large institutional investors, global corporations, and other owners and occupiers, announces the launch of NewliticQuest. Bringing together Newmark's expertise in real estate, technology and consulting onto a single platform, NewliticQuest offers accelerated insights to develop strategic and tactical recommendations, inform business case development and achieve optimal results for property portfolios. Together with Newlitic, Newmark's proprietary data visualization platform, NewliticQuest is another addition to Newmark's growing suite of technology solutions serving corporate real estate leaders. Leveraging NewliticQuest, organizations are better equipped to plan for and respond to business change, disruptive events, mergers and acquisitions and real estate opportunities through strategic insights, including location and market rate optimization, ideal vacancy rates, talent retention, commute times and more. "Newmark is committed to investing in leading-edge technology that drives real decision-making dynamics to define the future of the workplace," said Rick Bertasi, Chief Executive Officer of Newmark Global Corporate Services. "Given the changing nature of corporate real estate, technology advancements will further amplify the value and potential of an organization's real estate strategy as companies pivot towards more data-centric cultures. NewliticQuest offers several self-serve capabilities and insights into business and real estate performance with dynamic and simple dashboards, which can be accessed directly by clients. The software's automated data validation capabilities help users quickly pinpoint data issues to ensure that information is accurate before being executed. Coupled with Newmark's best-in-class consulting expertise, the tool can enable in-depth portfolio assessment, delivering tailored and tangible solutions for clients assessing their portfolio. About Newmark Newmark Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries ("Newmark"), is a world leader in commercial real estate, seamlessly powering every phase of the property life cycle. Newmark's comprehensive suite of services and products is uniquely tailored to each client, from owners to occupiers, investors to founders, and startups to blue-chip companies. Combining the platform's global reach with market intelligence in both established and emerging property markets, Newmark provides superior service to clients across the industry spectrum. For the year ending December 31, 2022, Newmark generated revenues of approximately $2.7 billion. As of June 30, 2023, Newmark's company-owned offices, together with its business partners, operate from approximately 170 offices with over 7,400 professionals around the world.

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Real Estate Advice

Zillow unveils a new look for property pages, their biggest redesign in 5 years

PR Newswire | October 25, 2023

Zillow is launching a big update to the look and feel of for-sale property listings on its website, improving home shoppers' experience with a more intuitive and simplified layout. The enhanced design of for-sale property listings on Zillow.com offers a wider, single-scroll format, making it easier for home shoppers to find key information, such as square footage, the Zestimate feature, lot size and home type. The new layout also introduces a media section at the top of the page that better showcases photos and 3D tours. By clicking on a photo, the media section expands, providing a full-page, magazine-style layout for seamless navigation through the rest of the home's photography. "The new design delivers a fun and efficient way to browse homes on the Zillow website, making it easier for home shoppers to navigate and process information," said Jenny Arden, chief design officer at Zillow. "We introduced a wider layout for images, larger fonts for the most important facts and a clearer articulation of what makes the home special to help our users quickly understand if the home is right for them." Zillow's app updates: Navigate with ease and simplify financing with the Home Loans tab In addition to the redesign on the Zillow website, for-sale property listings on the Zillow app (iOS) are also receiving an update. This new look minimizes excessive scrolling by allowing users to more easily find the information that matters the most to them, whether that's home facts and features, a cost calculator or the Zestimate history. When viewing a for-sale listing on the app, users will see a new look that presents the home details categorized into sections such as "What's Special,"' "Market Value," "Monthly Cost" and "Neighborhood." Users can click into particular sections of interest to find more details. This new look will be available before the end of the year on the Zillow iOS app. Zillow is also introducing a new "Home Loans" tab on the Zillow app to help shoppers become buyers. Users can now easily figure out their budget, connect with a lender, get prequalified with Zillow Home Loans℠, and track their loan status — all in one place. "Financing is a critical part of the home-buying process, and 60% of buyers say setting their budget is their first step when buying a home. With this update, we're helping the millions of people browsing the Zillow app better understand what they can afford within their budget and see a clear path toward getting the mortgage they need," said Matt Daimler, senior vice president of product at Zillow. "We're already seeing an impact: Customers are saying it's easier than ever to access and use our financing tools and get prequalified with Zillow Home Loans."

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