The number houses for sale in the United States reached a record low in December, realtor.com reported Thursday in its Monthly Housing Trends Report. There were fewer than 700,000 homes for sale in the US for the first time in the report’s history. The report found: The number of homes for sale was down 39.6 percent – which amounts to 449,000 fewer homes for sale than last December.The median listing price grew 13.4 percent over last year to $340,000.Homes sold in 66 days on average in December, which is 13 days faster than last year. “The shortage of homes for sale has been an ongoing issue for the last couple of years, but in December the combination of the holiday…
The new year brought the same old story – record low mortgage rates. Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey released Thursday showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage plunged to their lowest levels in the survey’s history, dating back to 1971. The survey found: The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.65 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week’s 2.67 percent and 3.64 percent last year at this time.The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.16 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week’s 2.17 percent and last year’s 3.07 percent.The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.75 percent with an average 0.3 point, up from last week’s when it averaged 2.71 percent and last year’s 3.30 percent. “A new…
Mortgage applications closed 2020 slightly lower than mid-December, according to the latest weekly survey released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Overall, applications were down 4.2 percent from two weeks earlier – with the Refinance Index down 34 percent and the Purchase Index down 0.8 percent. Year over year, however, refinances were up 100 percent from this time last year while purchases were up 3 percent. The FHA share of total applications remained unchanged from 10.1 percent. The VA share of total applications increased to 13.6 percent from 12.1 percent and the USDA share of total applications increased to 0.4 percent from 0.3 percent. “The steady demand for home buying throughout most of 2020 should continue in 2021,” said Joel…
New year, same old story when it comes to the number of homeowners in forebearance plans in the United States. The total number of mortgages in forbearance remained unchanged in the last Mortgage Bankers Association report released Tuesday, with 2.7 million homeowners pausing their mortgages as of December 27. The weekly report found: Total loans in forbearance remained unchanged relative to the prior week at 5.53 percent.The share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance increased from 7.87 percent to 7.92 percent.The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased from 3.26 percent to 3.24 percent.Independent mortgage bank-managed mortgages in forbearance decreased from 6.04 percent to 6.01 percent.Bank-managed mortgages increased from 5.43 percent to 5.44 percent. “The share…
The value for Black and Latino-owned homes lags behind overall home values, but the gap is narrowing, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by Zillow. The analysis found that Black and Latino-owned homes are worth 16.2 percent and 10.2 percent less than the typical U.S. home – values that have closed by roughly 4 percentage points in recent years. “It has taken nearly a decade for the home value gap to return to pre-recession levels, but still, the gap remains very large,” Zillow economist Treh Manhertz said. “With Black and brown communities and jobs hit disproportionately hard in the pandemic, there has been reason to worry another dip may be on the horizon that could slow or stop the…
Mortgage rates closed 2020 where they spent much of the year – near historic lows. For the week ending December 31, Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey found: The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.67 percent with an average 0.7 point, up slightly from last week’s record low 2.66 percent and well below last year’s 3.72 percent.The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.17 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week’s 2.19 percent and last year’s 3.16 percent.The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.71 percent with an average 0.4 point, down from last week’s 2.79 percent and last year’s 3.46 percent. “All eyes have been on mortgage rates this year, especially the 30-year fixed-rate, which has dropped more…
Pending home sales declined for the month in November but remained significantly higher than a year earlier, according to a new report released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors. Contract signings were up 16.4 percent from November 2019 – and were a record high for the month of November. Still, sales decreased 2.6 percent from October. “The latest monthly decline is largely due to the shortage of inventory and fast-rising home prices,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “It is important to keep in mind that the current sales and prices are far stronger than a year ago.” Regionally, the Northeast Pending Home Sales Index was 15.3 percent higher than November 2019 (and down 3.3 percent for the month),…
Home prices surged 14 percent and pending home sales were up 34 percent year over year for the four-week period ending December 20, according to a new report released Tuesday by Redfin. The medium home price for the period was $320,714, according to a market review of more than 400 metropolitan areas in the United States. The report found: New listings of homes for sale were up 12 percent from a year earlier.Active listings fell 31 percent from 2019 to a new all-time low.39 percent of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market – up from 26 percent a year ago.The average sale-to-list price ratio was 99.4 percent – 1.5…
Another week, another new record low for mortgage rates. Freddie Mac released its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey on Thursday, showing the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 2.66 percent – the lowest rate in the survey’s 50-year history. The survey found: The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.66 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Christmas Eve, down from last week’s 2.67 percent and last year’s 3.74 percent.The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.19 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from last week’s 2.21 percent and last year’s 3.19 percent.The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.79 percent with an average 0.2 point, unchanged from last week and down from last year’s 3.45 percent. “The housing market…
Mortgage applications in the United States held largely steady last week, increasing 0.8 percent from the week before, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The Refinance Index increased 4 percent for the week ending December 18 and was 124 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 7 percent compared with the previous week and was 26 percent higher than last year. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 74.8 percent of total applications from 72.7 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity increased to 1.9 percent of total applications. “There are still signs of relative strength in the housing market as 2020 ends,”…
