Industry News

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday shuttered all real estate agent and brokers’ offices in the state as part of a sweeping edict to all “non life-sustaining” businesses to close. The order covers “lessors of real estate,” “real estate agents and brokers,” and “activities related to real estate,” including open houses and settlements. It also includes residential construction.  “To protect the health and safety of all Pennsylvanians, we need to take more aggressive mitigation actions,” said Gov. Wolf. “This virus is an invisible danger that could be present everywhere. We need to act with the strength we use against any other severe threat. And we need to act now before the illness spreads more widely.” The governor posted a five-page yes/no…

After reaching historic lows earlier this month, mortgage rates climbed for the second week in a row, Freddie Mac announced Thursday in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.65 percent – up from 3.36 last week. “Mortgage rates rose again this week as lenders increased prices to help manage skyrocketing refinance demand. This is expected to be a short-term phenomenon as lenders work through their backlog,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “On the purchase front, daily loan purchase applications were rising as of mid-February but started to decline last Friday.” The survey found: The 30-year fixed rate of 3.65 percent – with an average 0.7 point – was still significantly lower than last year’s…

People have begun isolating themselves across the country – and that means fewer are out and about looking to buy a house. A survey released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors found that 48 percent of realtors said home buyer interest has decreased due to the coronavirus. That’s triple the number from a week ago, when it was 16 percent. “The decline in confidence related to the direction of the economy coupled with the unprecedented measures taken to combat the spread of COVID-19, including major social distancing efforts nationwide, are naturally bringing an abundance of caution among buyers and sellers,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.  The survey, conducted Monday and Tuesday of this week, also found: 69 percent…

The coronavirus is shaking up every corner of the economy – and that includes the iBuyer market. Redfin disclosed in a filing Wednesday to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is temporarily shelving its homebuying business, known as RedfinNow “RedfinNow, our business that buys homes directly from homeowners and resells them to homebuyers, will temporarily pause making offers on homes,” the company said in the filing. CEO Glenn Kelman said in a blog post that the coronavirus impact on housing is “now nearly nationwide” and that the “housing market took a turn for the worse” this week – noting that there has been a 1 percent contraction in demand over the last three days. This comes on the heels after…

Total housing starts in the United States dropped 1.5 percent in February from the month before to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.6 million units, according to a monthly report released Wednesday by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. That is still 39.2 percent above February 2019 numbers Single-family housing starts were 6.7 percent above January. “Housing starts were strong at the outset of 2020, as builders started production of homes to meet consumer demand at the beginning of the year,” National Association of Home Builders Chairman Dean Mon said. “While these are solid numbers, the report is backward looking. Challenges lie ahead due to broad economic weakening stemming from the coronavirus crisis.” Building permits for…

Mortgage applications dropped 8.4 percent last week as interest rates climbed slightly, according to a report released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 13 found that the refinance index dropped 8 percent from a week earlier – but was 402 percent higher than the same week a year ago. “The ongoing situation around the coronavirus led to further stress in the financial markets late last week, with unprecedented volatility and widening spreads,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “This drove mortgage rates back up to their highest levels since mid-February and led to a 10 percent decrease in refinance applications.” The refinance share…

Mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 25.9 percent in February over a year ago – though they were down 1 percent from a month earlier, according to data released Tuesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Despite a monthly decrease in February new applications and estimated new home sales, the year-over-year trends were strong, with new applications increasing 26 percent, and our estimate of new home sales increasing 8 percent,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “Looking ahead, there is significant uncertainty regarding how the coronavirus epidemic will impact the housing market, and some of January’s record-level activity could have been attributed to the warmer winter weather, lower mortgage rates, and the tight inventory…

Confidence levels of builders of newly built single-family homes remained high in March, though it remains to be seen what impact the latest market turmoil will have going forward, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Association of Home Builders. Builder confidence dropped two points to 72 in March, the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) showed. Confidence levels have held steady in the low- to mid-70s for the past six months. “Builder confidence remains solid, although sales expectations for the next six months dropped four points on economic uncertainty stemming from the coronavirus,” NAHB Chairman Dean Mon said. “Interest rates remain low, and a lack of inventory creates market opportunities for single-family builders.” The HMI gauges…