Housing-News-Report-August-2017

HOUSINGNEWS REPORT

LEAD ARTICLE

SHARED EQUITY — STARTER HOMES FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

BY PETER MILLER, STAFF WRITER

It might seem like a strange idea but buried in an old piece of legislation designed to help coal miners is a magical key which can potentially open the ownership door for millions of new homebuyers. The idea is called “shared equity” and there’s reason to think that it’s time has come. More than 16 percent of all single family purchases in the first quarter of 2017 were to co-buyers — multiple,

non-married buyers listed on the sales deed — up from less than 15 percent in Q1 2016 and up from less than 14 percent in Q1 2015, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. A similar trajectory can be seen in the share of co-borrowers — multiple, non-married borrowers listed on the purchase mortgage or deed of trust — which accounted for 22 percent of all single family purchase loan originations in Q1 2017, up from 20 percent in Q1 2016.

What makes shared equity interesting? It’s an example of an old idea getting new life, an approach to real estate ownership which can help those who want to buy but lack capital or credit, investors who want more real estate activity but less hassle, and — listen up — maybe the last chance to free your rec room if you’re among the millions of parents who now have a Millennial living at home.

Traditionally the tax code has taken a dim view of shared ownership.

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JULY 2017 | ATTOM DATA SOLUTIONS

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