Plano Leads Nation in Tech Job Growth for 2020
One city in the nation has taken some key top spots in 2020. Plano leads the US when it comes to tech jobs as well as 12th place overall to find any job.
The North Texas city took the No. 1 spot for technology job-post growth among cities in the U.S. according to a dice.com, which cited data by Burning Glass. The report showed Plano had 48 percent growth, a tie with Pittsburgh, in April compared to the year-ago period.
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It’s twelfth place spot for finding a job overall was given by Wallethub.com. There are other accolades this year as well. The Municipal named it the third safest city in America. It’s the best city to save money according to House Method and is the third most recession-proof place according to Smart – Asset.
That technology ranking puts it ahead of Arlington, Va., where Amazon is investing for its second headquarters. Dallas’ tech-focused cousin, Austin, was No. 4 with 38 percent and Phoenix came in at No. 5.
Dallas fared well at No. 7 with 25 percent growth.
The Silicon Valley? Two hubs there showed declines with San Francisco dropping 26 percent and San Jose declining 16 percent.
The technology sector – while not getting hit as hard as some sectors — has been under pressure as shelter-in-place rules have hampered some businesses and the overall economy has slowed. Digital jobs are typically easier to do from home, and some parts of the sector have seen sturdy demand.
The Silicon Valley? Two hubs there showed declines with San Francisco dropping 26 percent and San Jose declining 16 percent.
The technology sector – while not getting hit as hard as some sectors — has been under pressure as shelter-in-place rules have hampered some businesses and the overall economy has slowed. Digital jobs are typically easier to do from home, and some parts of the sector have seen sturdy demand.
Allen’s Giact, a financial-technology company, saw sales more than double in April – a strong month even by its fast-growth measures that saw a more than 40 percent expansion last year,according to Melissa Townsley-Solis.
Fort Worth’s ECI Software Solutions, which assists the manufacturing and construction industries, among others, could see organic revenue growth of more than 5 percent this year, according to Ron Books.
Yet Southlake’s Sabre, which serves the travel industry, saw revenue decline by more than one-third in the first quarter.
Jobs in demand include software developers and cyber-security engineers, the report said.
Luxury Real Estate Market Report April 2020
The Institute’s Luxury Market Report is your guide to an analysis on the trends and comparative data on the top-residential markets throughout Canada and the United States.
April’s report reviews the current statistics for the luxury market in North America month over month, as well as the 13-month trend.
The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing both appreciates and recognizes the impacts that the Coronavirus pandemic will have globally on both human life and economically… and that it is highly unlikely that the luxury real estate market will remain immune from its effects.
However, at this time the figures for the luxury real estate market for the first quarter of 2020 showed very little slow down and are higher compared to the same period in 2019.
The report gives a detailed explanation and statistics that show this is due to a strong rebound in the last quarter of 2019 which then continued into the start of 2020. The luxury market numbers continued to trend up even into March for both single-family and attached properties.
According to Realtor.com’s Chief Economist Danielle Hale, who stated during her recent interview with RIS Media, “A low-interest-rate environment combined with a flourishing economy and record-setting stock markets pushed luxury sales into the double digits for the first time as 2019 came to an end.”
While many experts are predicting a 30-35% drop in inventory during April, at this current time there seem to be little signs of panic selling and property prices are remaining fairly steady. Real estate transactions are still moving forward and the recent pause over that last couple of weeks gave many the opportunity to calmly assess how to work within this new environment.
For an industry that 10 years ago would have shut down during this crisis, we review the effects of increasing inclusion of technology and online capabilities. How this has enabled not only the industry to carry on but how the ingenuity and collaboration of associated services are opening up a new way of doing business, which will probably change how transactions are conducted in the future.
Homeowners looking to sell or buy their luxury home in today’s market are cautioned to work with a Realtor who can provide critical knowledge of local markets, maintain a high level of security during transactions and are experts in leveraging technology to provide maximum exposure of their home on all social media channels and internet outlets.
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2020 Predictions – Are We in For a Rocky Real Estate Market?
The beginning of every year sees experts crawling out of the wood work with predictions in hand. The question on everyone mind this year revolves around the 2020 real estate market. Will it be steady? Will it be rocky?
The answers are in and they seem unanimous. We won’t see a recession or a depression as some have predicted. What will see is a slower and smaller market.
This may not spell great news for everyone though. Slower means healthier and smaller means more affordable. Yes, we expect a slower market than we’ve become accustomed to the last few years.
Buyers shouldn’t mistake this for a buyer-friendly environment. Consumers will continue to absorb available inventory. The market will remain competitive throughout much of the country.
National Trends That Will Dominate
There’s a national story and a local story. That’s been true every year. This year ‘location, location, location’ may mean a whole lot more to home buyers than in previous years.
There’s another unusual characteristic to the predictions of this year’s trends. They expect these trends to last for the next decade!
The United States Will NOT Enter a Recession in 2020
A survey conducted by Zillow of economic experts expected a recession in the US in 2020. They went further and suggested a shrinking economy by 2021. They cited possible causes such as trade volatility, a geopolitical crisis occurring, or a stock market retreat.
We’re a tough economy though and these conditions aren’t likely to happen as of now. Consumer spending bounced back in October after a slowdown in late summer. It’s continuing on a steady course and isn’t expected to be knocked off track.
Consumer confidence is up. This happened despite some modest declines in it lately. It bounced back, still remains at high levels and points to continued growth in the near term.
Employers are adding jobs at a decent rate. Our unemployment rates are at near record lows. This helps push wage growth up. It’s been at or above 3% per year since October 2018.
It’s important to be mindful of what could happen. The threat to the economy from trade volatility is real. The manufacturing sector of the economy in particular has been hit hard lately after steadily building orders throughout much of 2018.
The stock market itself, while still testing new highs, is very sensitive to ongoing trade discussions. This is a reflection of overall investor faith and business leaders’ confidence in their ability to make effective, long-term, strategic decisions.
Finally, the potential for a minor conflict in any corner of the globe to become bigger at any time cannot and should not be ignored.
Small is the New Big
Bye bye McMansions. The trend has slowly been dying out.
The new single-family home dimensions are roughly one-third smaller than 2015.
Expect single family homes to be less about size and more about amenities.
First, the fine print: Yes, today’s new single-family home is roughly a third larger than it was 30 years ago, up to a median of 2,386 square feet in 2018 from 1,810 in 1988. But it’s also true that between 2015 and 2018 (despite a very slight increase between ’16 and ’17) the typical square footage of those homes fell from 2,467 to 2,386 – the largest such drop since at least 1988, not including the housing crash in the mid-aughts.
There are several 50,000-foot reasons why we expect this gentle downsizing to continue:
- Many of today’s younger, millennial home buyers have expressed a preference for denser, more urban homes that are more walkable to shared amenities.
- Younger buyers are struggling to afford large homes built in prior decades
- Eco-consciousness is also growing broadly.
- Today’s older homeowners are expressing a desire for smaller, less maintenance-heavy and more accessible (read: fewer stairs) homes as they age and move into newer homes. In 2019, 56% of new construction home buyers were 40 or older, according to the 2019 Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report.
- Home builders are constrained by a shortage of buildable land in desirable areas. Prices on key building materials including lumber and steel are increasingly volatile. And competition for skilled construction labor is fierce, pushing wages up.
Each of these trends points to a continuation of this downsizing of new homes – smaller homes are inherently more dense, walkable and affordable; smaller homes are efficient and eco-friendly; smaller homes require less maintenance and are more accessible; smaller homes enable builders to do more with less.
There will always be demand for large, suburban homes on big lots – but on net, we expect attitudes to shift away from that and toward a lifestyle with a smaller footprint.
Home Value And Rent Growth Will Be Slower, More Stable and More Sustainable
Since hitting a recent high of 8.3% in December, annual growth in the median U.S. home value has been slower than the month prior in every month so far in 2019 – currently standing at 4.7% in October (the latest month for which data is available as of this writing). At the same time, annual rent growth – while largely stable – has crept up modestly in each month since June.
In 2020, we expect both rent and home value growth to slow somewhat further, stabilizing at a sustainable pace in line with wage growth and inflation and to a level indicative of greater balance between buyers and sellers, tenants and landlords.
The median U.S. home value is expected to end 2020 up 2.8 percent from the end of 2019, according to the Q4 2019 Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, a quarterly survey of more than 100 economists and experts sponsored by Zillow and conducted by Pulsenomics. That’s down from the average prediction of 3.6% annual growth expected from the same panel by the end of 2019 compared to the end of 2018. Since 1996, the average annual pace of growth in the Zillow Home Value Index is 3.8%, so a slowdown from current levels would still represent a return to long-term norms.
On the rental side, annual rent appreciation has been on the rise since June and currently sits at about 2.3%. We expect this recent uptick in rental growth to continue through the start of 2020 before petering out sometime around the start of Spring. By the end of next year, we expect annual rent growth to fall below two percent, or about a half a percentage point lower than where they currently stand.
By keeping monthly mortgage payments within reach even as home prices rise, continued low mortgage interest rates will help ensure that rent growth doesn’t again reach the highs experienced just a few years ago. Low rates will encourage more renters to pursue homeownership, further boosting overall homeownership rates that have been on the rise since 2016.
Mortgage Rates Will Stay Low, Keeping Housing Demand High
Mortgage rates fell markedly in 2019, and are expected to remain near their current, relatively low levels for the bulk of 2020. Softening GDP growth and investment, continued global weakness due in part to the U.S.-China trade conflict, and below-target inflation will continue to hold rates in check. Barring marked improvements in these indicators, the Fed will have no reason to return to rate hikes.
If low mortgage rates persist, this will keep home purchase demand strong and continue to fuel decent price growth in the nation’s most broadly affordable markets. But low rates won’t be enough to reignite high growth rates in the nation’s highest-priced markets, notably on the West Coast and in the Northeast. In these markets, buyers seem to have hit an affordability ceiling where even low rates can’t bring many homes into the typical first-time buyer’s budget range, especially because low rates don’t help overcome the upfront hurdle of high down payment requirements. In those high-priced markets, buyers will continue to fan out in search of more affordable areas.
Color Will Make a Comeback
Goodbye, Hygge (look it up). Hello, color! Fun will return to home design in the form of bold prints, lively wallpaper and brightly hued walls. After a decade of Scandinavian modern design that dominated retail and social media feeds as Americans embraced neutrals, minimalism and clutter-free living, expect a shift toward playful, creative design. Look for color to be injected in unexpected ways in kitchen cabinetry and appliances, in lighting fixtures and on interior doors and moldings.
Home Sales will climb slightly and slowly
After bottoming out in January 2010 during the depths of the housing crash, overall annual U.S. existing home sales didn’t consistently top 5 million until late 2014. By late 2016, a growing number of first-time home buyers drove the annualized rate of national home sales to bounce around 5.5 million for over a year.
But by spring 2018, things started to turn down again: The seasonalized annual sales rate dropped back to 5 million by December 2018, and the impact of rising mortgage rates and the increasing difficulty in saving for an adequate down payment were the talk of the town. As sales pulled back, available inventory started to swell and what had been aggressive home value appreciation began to slow.
But 2019 brought another swing. Home value growth continued to soften, but mortgage rates came back down, what inventory that had accumulated was quickly scooped up and home sales rebounded.
Looking ahead at 2020, we think home sales will continue to climb, but slowly. Why?
- Although a small fraction of overall sales, new homes sales grew significantly in 2019. That has helped buoy builder confidence and lead to some of the most robust permit and starts numbers in a long time.
- If builders in 2020 deliver on their promises to build smaller and at more affordable price points, new construction will continue to be attractive to buyers unable to find a match in the competitive and limited existing home market.
- Yes, inventory is tight – but when we say that, we’re really talking about the number of homes available to buy relative to demand from buyers. Sales can remain strong while inventory remains tight – and a sudden jump in the number of sales will result in a corresponding drop in inventory.
- What really matters is the flow of homes onto the market – the turnover or velocity of home sales, not months’ supply or overall level of available inventory, that constrains home sales numbers.
- And we have reason to believe that turnover among a given segment of homeowners will be made more possible now in a way that it wasn’t before. iBuyer business models, like Zillow Offers, are ultimately about lowering sellers’ transaction costs. Economics 101 says that lowering transaction costs and making transactions themselves easier will mean those transactions will happen more often.
Original article:https://www.zillow.com/research/2020-predictions-26100/
January 2020 List of Open Houses in Collin County
The Dos and Don’ts of Sellings Your Home with Pets
Your pet is adorable, funny, furry and just the best. Everyone loves him or her, until 
you go to sell your home. Then you’ll (inadvertently) some buyers who aren’t so in love with your precious fur baby. Through your Realtor you’ll hear about agents who brought buyers into your home and yes, they adored it.
They loved the are, the curb appeal, they loved the layout, and everything else until the realized you had a pet. Then they scoffed. They huffed and the puffed and they blew out through the door. Well maybe they wheezed out the door because they where allergic but you get the picture.
Animals can and have broken real estate sales before they’ve even had a chance to happen. There are people who believe that they will never be able to remodel away whatever you little darling is shedding.
Now we know better, especially fastidious pet owners who take care of our animals and their homes. They’re our family and family deserves the best. There are some ways to curtail the allergic buyer reaction and get your home on the road to offer.
The following seven hacks offer some solutions to keep you sane during your home sale.
7 Pet Hacks for Home Sales
- Talk to your veterinarian before you put your home on the market.
Your pet is about to go through a stressful time. Unfamiliar smells, noises and people are going to run havoc on their nervous system. This is true especially if the pets are older where stress can be especially damaging. You vet may be able to offer some help in the way of scents or other stress-relieving advice.
2. We LOVE you – believe when we tell you your carpet stinks!
Okay, it’s a smiggen of tough love but it needs to be said. There are too many agents that dance around this issue. Any cat owners who have ever had a cat 
that has done his or her business on the carpet has a smell in their home. Unless you have replaced that carpet, or have had it professionally cleaned someone who does not have animals will smell the residual odor. Replace the carpet or have it professionally treated.
3. A Deep Cleaning is in Order
Speaking of smells, when you have pets they leave their odor around the house. This isn’t necessarily a bathroom smell it’s just ‘their’ smell. Animal loves come over and don’t care, some would prefer to visit the pet over you. There are buyers with allergies or sensitivities that will care, and deeply, about the effervescence d’fido wafting through your home. When putting your home on the market with pets get it professionally cleaned before you put it on the market. The best time to do this might be when you get the carpets cleaned.
4. Add a little scent to your paint
A step beyond cleaning your walls is painting your walls. Maybe you’re doing this to tone down colors to make your pallet more neutral for buyers. This is a great opportunity to tone down the pet smell as well. Add some vanilla to the paint before it goes on the wall. A couple teaspoons per gallon mixed in will do and it won’t alter the color of the paint! There are also scented paints out there. Technology, who knew!?
5. Think about having giving them a vacation
This one isn’t for everyone but if you have a relative or friend that they can spend some time with now is a good time to send them. This minimizes the stress on them and you and allows the smells in your home to decrease rapidly. You may not be able to do this through the whole process but at try to do it least through the showings. It may mean a quicker sale for you and a lot less hassle.
6. Check that homeowner’s policy before you list
Okay, so Fido is so well behaved, non allergenic and stink-free that you’re betting the bank your home will sell right away, no problem. These hacks aren’t for every homeowner with pets, but, every homeowner with pets needs to check their insurance before listing. What is your liability if someone gets bit by your dog or otherwise injured by your pet? Do you know? Make sure you look it over and get your agent to decode the insurance jargon so you know exactly where you stand.
7. Don’t beat em – join em!
According to NAR, over 61% of homes have pets and 91% of those at least think of their pet when purchasing a home. 31% are heavily influenced looking for additions such as dog/cat doors or dog wash stations in the home. The most popular feature for pet owners? The clear winner is a fenced yard. You could work with your Realtor to showcase your pet features and market to pet owners. Advertise such amenities as a nearby park or walking trail.
These hacks should put your home out there as a show-runner for the pet-owner listings. Having a game plan that includes you pets when you list your home for sale is your best strategy as a home owner. Your Realtor, future buyer and your pets will thank you for the extra effort you put in to taking everyone into consideration.
November Collin County Open House List
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This list is just one of the many benefits we work hard to make available to you. Here at Ritz Group Realty we work hard to exceed expectations.
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