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41 » VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM RISING LEASE EXPIRATIONS DO NOT DETER SFR VACANCY RATE e vacancy rate remained low across the 24 single-family rental securitizations rated by Morningstar Credit Ratings in May despite rising for a second straight month, according to Morningstar's June 2016 Performance Summary Covering All Morningstar-Related Securitizations. A fifth straight month of increases in lease expirations in May contributed to the uptick in the vacancy rate across the 24 transactions, according to Morningstar. During that period, lease expirations have increased from 4.1 percent up to 8.1 percent, which, despite being a large increase, is not unusual for the time of year, Morningstar reported. "Lease expirations tend to rise during summer months, as tenants prefer moving when children are out of school," the report noted. Even with the increases, however, the overall vacancy rate has risen from 4.2 percent to 4.3 percent from March to April and 4.3 percent up to 4.4 percent from April to May, according to Morningstar. e delinquency rate across the 24 transactions increased to 0.5 percent in May after four consecutive months of declines. e delinquency rate increased in 20 out of the 24 transactions in May but still remained low at 0.5 percent; only two transactions (ARP 2014-SFR1 at 1.2 percent and SWAY 2014-1 at 1.1 percent) were above 1 percent for May, and both rates were a decline from April. Retention rates remained strong for both full-term leases and month-to-month leases in April, the most recent month for which data was available. Twenty-three out of the 24 transactions had a retention rate of 70 percent or higher for regular leases, and 17 out of 24 reported a retention rate of 80 percent or higher on month-to-month leases, according to Morningstar. "Because more leases are scheduled to expire as the summer months approach, turnover continues to increase and has now risen for four consecutive months," Morningstar reported. WHERE WILL THE HOUSING MARKET STAND POST- ELECTION? A recent poll conducted within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Trulia found that Republicans and Democrats have contrasting opinions on how they foresee the evolution of the housing market after the election in November. ough issues connected to the housing market have not been discussed at the depth that they were in the previous presidential election cycle during this primary season, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump hold varied stances on what housing policy should look like post-election. In the limited moments that Clinton has shared her thoughts on what she would do with the housing market if she were to be elected, she stated that $25 billion of her proposed $125 billion Economic Revitalization Initiative would be targeted towards facilitating homeownership among households that have been traditionally underserved. Trump doesn't want to fund government programs. He wants to eliminate them by implementing his plan to do away with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). e poll was conducted among 2,034 U.S. adults ages 18 and older and found that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents held varied opinions when asked what they thought would happen to home prices if Clinton or Trump were elected president. If Clinton were to be elected, the Democrats polled felt that housing prices would likely rise instead of fall as did the Republicans polled. e same was true for Trump. Both Republicans and Democrats agreed that with Trump as president, housing prices would be more likely to rise as opposed to fall. e variance in opinion stemmed from which of the candidates each respective party felt would be more likely to raise or lower the housing prices. Republicans showed that they believed the housing prices would be more likely to rise during Clinton's presidency over Trump's. For Democrats, the data showed more believed that the prices would more likely rise during Trump's presidency than Clinton's. In addition to these findings, e Harris Poll found that Americans gave the edge to Trump when it came to who they trusted for a higher-priced housing market. ese results would seemingly contradict a recent Zillow survey of over 100 economists and real estate experts who thought Clinton would have the biggest positive net effect on the housing market. But according to David Weidner of Trulia, the Zillow survey did not conclude whether the positive effect would take into account home prices. It was concluded though that both candidates performed better during the primaries in counties that had risen only minimally from the deepest part of the recession during the second quarter of 2009. Despite the fact that conversation on the housing market and homeownership has been minimal this election season, Ralph McLaughlin, Chief Economist for Trulia, said that voters shouldn't be surprised. "Eight years ago, housing and the economy were the main talking points of Obama and Romney because millions of homeowners were going through foreclosure and the economy was in shambles. Today, the housing market and U.S. economy look much healthier, and as such, candidates have turned their attention to more popular issues such as immigration, gun control, and national security." HARP refinances represented 9 or more percent of total refinances in Florida and Georgia, more than double the 4 percent of total refinances nationwide over the same period as reported by the FHFA. KNOW THIS

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