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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 77 New York STRENGTH THROUGH LEADERSHIP WISDOM THROUGH EXPERIENCE Mitigating Your Risks and Maximizing Your Returns NEW YORK'S FINEST PROVIDER OF DEFAULT REAL ESTATE SOLUTIONS SINCE 1988 Todd Yovino Broker/Owner Island Advantage Realty, LLC Serving Metro New York & Long Island Todd@iarny.com | 631-820-3400 www.islandadvantage.com be true, the BH&J Index suggests that existing renters would be financially better served by continuing to rent rather than purchasing a home, and investing the difference, a move the BH&J Index suggests would have "an increas- ingly better chance at creating wealth." "On the heels of information concerning slowing housing starts, rising mortgage rates, decreased demand and unsustainable price increases, these numbers provide additional evidence that housing markets around the country are slowing, resulting in many to opt for renting," said Ken Johnson, Ph.D., a real estate economist and one of the index's creators in Florida Atlantic University's College of Business. Of the 23 separate metro areas in the BH&J Index, many are "nearing the top of their cur- rent housing cycle, meaning they are above their long-term pricing trend." Cities operating above their long-term pricing trends include Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and St. Louis. On the other hand, cities operating below their long-term pricing trends include Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, New York, and Philadelphia. Eli Beracha, Ph.D., co-creator of the index and associate professor in the Hollo School of Real Estate at Florida International University, said rising home prices are a primary factor driving up the overall cost of homeownership, but they're not the sole contributor. "e current scores driving the markets in the direction of renting and reinvesting appear to be the results of higher mortgage rates, increase in returns—on average— in the stock market, and the cost of ownership, which in- cludes your mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc.," Beracha said. "All of these costs are rising faster than the cost of renting a comparable property. erefore, renters who take the money they're saving each month and reinvest it are going to build wealth faster than those who buy a home, on average." Not that renting itself will be exactly cheap—a recent study by RENTCafe found that millennials are paying an average of $100k in rent by age 30. at certainly suggests there are plenty of opportunities for savvy investors targeting sectors such as single-family rental. Of course, plenty of consumers are eager to get out of the rental market, regardless of how the current market will impact long-term wealth creation. What should those borrowers keep in mind when it comes time to finding a home? "Don't be afraid to walk away from a deal in which you are not comfortable with the price," Johnson said. "Never buy because you are afraid that you will not be able to afford to buy later. is was the attitude that many took in 2007, resulting in market collapse." Produced by Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University faculty, the BH&J Index is released two months after the end of every quarter. PENNSYLVANIA Premium Home Searches Surge in Philadelphia Homebuyers and sellers are moving closer together on home prices for the first time in two years according to a study by Trulia, which found that the measure of the price gap between search interest and available listings remained flat from a year ago, but had dropped by 15 percent from 11.1 to 13.1 in the last quarter. is is the first such drop since prior to the start of 2016. "In other words, more homebuyers are searching at price points where listings are more common," the study said. To evaluate the market mismatch, Trulia calculated the measure of the difference be- tween the price points where searches occurred and price points of listed properties on a scale of 0 to 100, with zero being perfectly matched and 100 being completely mismatched. During the first quarter of 2018, Trulia found that the housing market mismatch score remained well above the 7.5 scored in the first quarter of 2016. During the same quarter-over- quarter period a year ago, the mismatch score grew 14.2 percent, the study found. It also re- vealed that 55 of the 100 largest metros saw their mismatch rates fall since the last quarter and 51 had fallen since the same quarter a year ago. It also found that premium home searches made up 41.4 percent of all searches and comprised 52.5 percent of listings, while San Francisco and Philadelphia saw the biggest improvement for starter home shoppers from the last quarter. is piece of information is particularly heartening for millennial homebuyers in San Francisco and Philadelphia, who make up one of the largest chunks of the homebuyer markets in these two cities, according to Trulia. According to the study, nationally, the mismatch gap shrunk to 11.1 from 13.1 last quarter as the share of searches for starter homes also declined to 28.7 percent from 31.1 percent. However, despite this shrinking gap, the study said that what looked like relief for homebuyers

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