Your inside source for real estate, development and construction information serving the counties of Mecklenburg, Union & Iredell VOLUME 97 NUMBER 114 ■ MECKTIMES.COM
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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2021 ■ $2.00
Bad Time to Buy? Survey: Strong Interest In Eco-Friendly Construction Page 4
Most Employers Plan to Offer Hybrid Work After Pandemic Page 2
Single-Family Rentals Drive All 2021 Rent Increases Page 3
Why Mobile Home are a Smart Investment Opportunity Page 4
Job Pressures Bigger than COVID-19 Fears Page 4
You Don’t Say: Honesty, Kindness Go Together
High Home Prices Continue to Weigh on Homebuying Sentiment
The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) decreased 1.2 points to 74.5 in September, as survey respondents continued to report divergent opinions of homebuying and home-selling conditions. Overall, three of the index’s six components decreased month over month. Most notably, an even greater share of consumers reported that it’s a bad time to buy a home – with that number now sitting at 66 percent, up from 63 percent last month and significantly higher than the 28% of respondents who believe it’s a good time to buy. The home-selling conditions component remained mostly flat, with a strong
majority of consumers maintaining that it’s a good time to sell. Year over year, the full index is down 6.5 points. “The HPSI declined slightly this month but remains within the general bounds we’ve seen since the end of last year,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “The survey’s story is also largely unchanged: Consumers feel it’s a bad time to buy a home but a good time to sell – and they continue to cite high home prices as the primary reason. Across all consumer segments, renters and younger consumers were slightly more likely to indicate
PLEASE SEE HOMES ON PAGE 6
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A Securities Law Primer for Startups Page 7
Wall Street was encouraged by comments from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, who said early indications suggested that the omicron variant of COVID-19 may be less dangerous than the delta variant. It will still take a few weeks to learn whether omicron is more contagious, causes more severe illness or evades immunity.
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