Pending home sales rose for the first time since May, breaking a six-month streak of declines, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The Pending Home Sales Index increased by 2.5% between November and December. Year-over-year it dropped by 33.8%, an improvement over November’s 37%.
All four regions saw pending sales fall YOY, but the South and West saw gains month-over-month.
“This recent low point in home sales activity is likely over,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Mortgage rates are the dominant factor driving home sales, and recent declines in rates are clearly helping to stabilize the market.”
Mortgage rates fell again last week to 6.13%, drawing some buyers back to the market.
Purchase loan applications increased again as…
Home seller return on investment rose to 51% at the end of 2022 despite slowing sales, new data from ATTOM shows.
Sellers nationwide earned $112,000 on the typical sale in 2022, up 21% from 2021 and 78% from before the pandemic.
Both raw profits and ROI have now improved across the country for 11 consecutive years.
Ninety-eight percent of markets with enough data to analyze saw profits increase from 2021 to 2022. The latest number is the highest profit level seen by home sellers since at least 2008.
Sellers in Southern and Western markets saw the highest ROI, led by Hilo, HI (100% ROI); Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ (88.4%); Spokane, WA (86.2%); Fort Myers, FL (85.4%) and Port St. Lucie,…
Mortgage loan application volume increased again last week, continuing a trend of rising demand as mortgage rates slip.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey showed the adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, rose by 7%.
The results included an adjustment for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Refinances drove the increase, up 15% from the week prior as mortgage rates fell to 6.2%, their lowest level since September.
They remain 77% lower than the same time last year, however, comprising only 31.9% of total applications. In the past decade, refis averaged 58% of total activity.
Purchase demand saw a boost as well, though not as drastic. Applications increased at a seasonally adjusted rate of 3%, but…
More Americans than ever are searching for new homes outside their current metro, driven to more affordable areas by high interest rates and economic uncertainty.
New data from Redfin found that fewer people purchased homes in Q4 2022 and 24.6% of its users looked to move to a different metro, up from 22.1% YOY.
Though fewer people actually bought a home last quarter, those who did swapped cities at an “unprecedented rate.” Redfin analysts noted that the data was driven by remote workers with the flexibility to seek out more affordable areas.
But the same high rates and inflation that push potential buyers into new places are keeping them in their homes. Eight of the top ten destinations in Q4…
Forbearances may have finally hit a floor, staying flat in December for a third straight month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s monthly Loan Monitoring Survey.
The data found that the total number of loans in forbearance was 0.70%, the same as the month prior. This totals about 350,000 homeowners.
The GSEs saw improvement, with Fannie and Freddie loans in forbearance down one basis point to 0.31% and Ginnie Mae loans down to 1.45%.
The share for portfolio loans and private-label securities rose by three basis points to 1%, however, canceling out declines.
“For three consecutive months, the forbearance rate has remained flat — an indicator that we may have reached a floor on further improvements,” said Marina Walsh, CMB,…
Single women who live by themselves are most likely to own a home than single men in 48 of 50 states, according to a new analysis by LendingTree.
LendingTree looked at data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and found that women own about 2.46 million more homes than single men.
Single women own about 10.76 million homes, about 12.90% of all owner-occupied homes in America, while men own only 8.12 million, 10.06%.
Louisiana has the highest share of homes owned by single women, but Florida has the largest gap in ownership rates among single men and women – 4.55% – nearly two percentage points higher than the national average of 2.84%.
North Dakota and South Dakota are the…
By SCOTT KIMBLER Three leaders in the mortgage industry recently got together to discuss the challenges for lenders in 2023. A webinar was hosted by Augie Del Rio, founder and CEO of Gallus Insights. It included Rob Chrisman, capital markets consultant and founder of the Chrisman Commentary, as well as Tammy Richards, CEO of LendArch. All three lending veterans had various thoughts on what mortgage lenders need to do to not only survive in the current volatile mortgage market but also thrive in the down economy. “We are experiencing one of the most significant downturns in decades,” Del Rio said. “We are kind of all at the crossroads of the perfect storm. We are experiencing the fastest rising rate environment…
Existing-home sales dropped for the eleventh straight month in December, down 1.5% from November and 34% YOY, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors. Sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million from 4.09 million the month prior. Three of the four major regions saw declines month-over-month, though the West’s sales were unchanged from November. All four regions saw annual declines. “December was another difficult month for buyers, who continue to face limited inventory and high mortgage rates,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “However, expect sales to pick up again soon since mortgage rates have markedly declined after peaking late last year.” The 30-year fixed rate fell to 6.15% last week. Limited…
The 30-year fixed rate continued to slip last week, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.15%, down from 6.33% the week prior. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.56 percent. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell from 5.52% to 5.28%. A year ago, it averaged 2.79%. “As inflation continues to moderate, mortgage rates declined again this week,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “Declining rates are providing a much-needed boost to the housing market, but the supply of homes remains a persistent concern.” Housing construction slid in December to a five-month low. Residential starts fell 1.4% from November to an annualized rate of 1.38 million, while…
Housing construction slid again in December to its lowest point since July, but an increase in single-family starts may signal improvement to come. Residential starts fell 1.4% from November to an annualized rate of 1.38 million, down 21.8% from the same time last year, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the fourth consecutive decline for these data. It was driven largely by a dip in multifamily construction, which is volatile month to month. The picture for all of 2022 was fairly bleak. In the entire year, only 1 million homes were started, down 10.6% from 2021 and the largest drop since 2009. Permits for new homes fell 1.6% to a rate of 1.33 million. Single-family permits…
