Rocket Fuel Newsletter – 03/05/22

close up of male hands with newspaper and coffee

NASCAR champion Tony Stewart listed his Indiana mansion for $30M this week. Race on over before someone else crosses the finish line – this property will go fast!

This week’s edition includes younger home buyer demographic trends and how you can help buyers young and old save on their purchase loan.

Fuel Up! 🚀 

Biz Buzz

February private payrolls beat estimates; January count dramatically revised.

ADP reported this week that private companies added 475,000 jobs in February, beating the estimate of 400,000. Leisure and hospitality posted the greatest gains as winter comes to an end and virus restrictions continue to be lifted.

In addition, January’s loss of 310,000 jobs was revised to an increase of 509,000, which puts ADP’s count more closely in line with the U.S. Labor Department’s reported 476,000-job increase.

San Diego supplants San Francisco for a dubious title.

Good news, San Francisco! San Diego is now the most unaffordable housing market in the country, according to a study by OJO Labs.

San Diego’s median income ($30,000/year less than San Francisco’s) coupled with a 14.3% increase in January’s median sale price (vs. San Francisco’s 4.2% decrease) was enough to beat out the San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mobile, Pensacola and Boise markets for the top spot.

March is officially here, and that means two things: the beginning of purchase season and Women’s History Month! Let’s dive into some stats to know around these two topics in housing.

Cue Beyoncé; after married couples, single ladies run the home buyer world, accounting for 18% of all home buyer households. Single women remain an elevated portion of the market regardless of age.

Women have increased their presence in the housing market by significantly growing homeownership compared to men since 1990.

Increases in attaining higher education and income levels have put homeownership in reach. Add in societal trends like marriage rates declining from 59% in 1990 to 52% in 2020, and the picture is clear that women will continue to remain an important segment of what drives housing.

Also worth noting: There is not a single metro area among the largest 50 where single men own more homes than single women.

Purchase Power Play

Have you taken advantage of our Purchase Power Play? Give your clients a 30 bps credit now through March 15, 2022! That’s industry-leading pricing, and it’s on ALL conventional and government purchase loans, including jumbo and high-balance loans meeting the following criteria: 

  • FICO >= 740 
  • LTV <= 90% 
  • Primary residence only

What The Pros Are Reading

  1. January 2022 Home Prices Up 19.1% YoY, Forecasted To Be Up 3.8% In January 2023
  2. New Single-Family Home Size Continues To Grow

TPO Travel

Rocket ProSM TPO leaders are back on the road this week, as Senior Vice President Mike Fawaz and Vice President Paul Yatooma are visiting partners in Houston and Dallas!

Pro Puzzles

Our fastest time continues to drop, as solver Dan M finished last week’s puzzle in an incredible 11 seconds! All told, our 160+ finishers averaged 3:47.

Who will win this week? 

Click here to solve this week’s crossword. Good luck!