DS News

» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 83 The Worst Home Markets for Millennials Includes Minneapolis More than any other age group, millennials are feeling the one-two punch of tight inven- tory and consistently climbing housing prices. Realtor.com, in fact, calls the current state of the market "the toughest home buying season in history" in a new look on which metros are the hardest for millennials to buy into. "Millennials want to buy, but record-low inventory is making it extremely difficult," Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for Realtor. com. said. "Our analysis shows millennials are facing challenges in both established markets such as San Jose and Seattle, as well as more recently popular areas like Omaha and Salt Lake City." Minneapolis is in the top five too. Accord- ing to the report, homes in these five cities are increasingly out of reach for millennial buyers, despite that this group of buyers is flocking to them for their strong economies and high- paying jobs. "As a result, millennials make up a higher share of the population, at 14.6 percent, com- pared to 13.4 percent for the U.S.," the report stated. "Household income among 25- to 34 year-olds in these five locations is also signifi- cantly higher, at roughly $79,000, compared to the U.S. median of $59,800. And millennials are definitely interested in buying. Realtor.com said that in Q1, millen- nials accounted for 25 percent of views, higher than any other age group. But the economic hopes for San Jose, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Omaha, and Minneapolis are meeting with the economic realities of living there. While the median U.S. home price is $280,000, the median price in San Jose is $1.24 million. e report stated that the Bay Area is "replete with young students and scholars" chasing tech salaries— the average millennial salary in San Jose is $102,000 a year—at companies like Google and Apple. e competition for houses, therefore, is intense, and non-tech workers are increasingly getting shoved to the outskirts of the city. e same story is occurring in the other four cities, just with different numbers. Mil- lennials average $78,300 a year in Seattle, where the median home price is $533,000; they average about $68,000 a year in Salt Lake City, where the median home is almost $400,000; $73,600 a year in Minneapolis, where the median house can cost $283,000; and $63,500 a year in Omaha, where the median home price is the same as in Minneapolis. All that combines with especially low inventory. Nationally, inventory is 35 percent lower than the spring of 2012, the report found. Compared to this time last year, active listings in these five metros remain 8 percent lower, the age of inventory is 7 percent lower, and list prices are 8 percent higher. "Supply is nearly three times lower than the rest of the country, at 5.7 listings versus 16.1 list- ings per 1,000 households,": the report stated. "Additionally, listings in these areas are scarcer and selling faster for more money. In these five metros, active listings are 9 percent lower, the age of inventory is 13 percent lower, and list prices are 14 percent higher from a year ago." OHIO Ex-CFPB Director Cordray Wins Ohio Democratic Governor Primary Richard Cordray, formerly the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) clinched the Democratic nomination for the governorship of Ohio. Campaigning on both his history at the CFPB and a promise to focus on economic matters affecting Ohioans, Cordray defeated five other contenders dur- ing the Ohio Democratic primary, including former Congressman and Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich. During a May 7 interview with Bloom- berg Radio, Cordray said, "Having practical proposals that improve people's economic lives is where it's all about in Ohio, and that's what we're focused on." On the Republican side of the Ohio gov- ernor ticket, Attorney General Mike DeWine came out ahead of the other primary candi- dates. Cordray has a long history in Ohio. Before his stint as head of the CFPB, Cordray served as an Attorney General, Treasurer, and Solici- tor General for the Buckeye State. President Obama nominated Cordray as the first director of the CFPB in July 2011 and then installed him via a recess appointment on January 4, 2012. Cordray was officially confirmed by the Senate on July 16, 2013, by a vote of 66–34. Cordray's surprise resignation from the CFPB last November kicked off a period of dramatic change for the Bureau. After the announcement of his resignation, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, released a statement saying, "We are long overdue for new leadership at the CFPB, a rogue agency that has done more to hurt consumers than help them. e extreme overregulation it imposes on our economy leads to higher costs and less access to financial products and services, particularly for Americans with lower and middle incomes." Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D- California) called Cordray a "true cham- pion for American consumers" at the time, adding, "Under his outstanding leadership, the Consumer Bureau has made the finan- cial marketplace stronger and fairer for hard working Americans across the country. As the first director of the Consumer Bureau, he has overseen the implementation of much-needed rules on mortgages, prepaid cards, and payday and auto title loans, clamping down on unfair practices and ensuring that consumers are not ripped off." In Cordray's resignation letter, he highlight- ed the work the CFPB had done during his tenure, including $12 billion in relief recovered for nearly 30 million consumers; stronger safe- guards against irresponsible mortgage practices; giving people a voice by handling over 1.3 million complaints that led to problems getting fixed for vast numbers of individuals; and creat- ing new ways to bring financial education to the public so that people can take more control over their economic lives. On his way out, Cordray named his Chief of Staff, Leandra English, as Deputy Director of the CFPB. However, President Trump then appointed White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to head the CFPB. is kicked off a series of legal challenges between the two over who was the rightful leader of the organization, with Mulvaney eventually prevailing. Mulvaney, a longtime, outspoken critic of the CFPB, has worked to shift and scale back the Bureau's focus during his tenure. With the release of the CFPB's strategic plan for fiscal years 2018 - 2022, Mulvaney vowed to hew to the Bureau's statutory responsibilities but go "no further," explaining that "pushing the envelope in pursuit of other objectives ignores the will of the American people" and "also risks trampling upon the liberties of our citizens." According to a report by Experian, one in every 1,289 homes in Ohio was in foreclosure as of March, with a "skyrocketing" one-month bank-owned foreclosure rate of 77.3 percent from the previous month. KNOW THIS

• Cover