Mortgage rates once again remained basically the same over the last week, averaging 3.10%, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.10%, sticking with a weeks-long pattern of hovering around 3.10% or 3.11%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.71%. “Mortgage rates have moved sideways over the last several weeks, fluctuating within a narrow range,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “Going forward, the path that rates take will be directly impacted by more information about the Omicron variant as it is revealed and the overall trajectory of the pandemic. In the meantime, rates remain low and stable, even as the nation faces declining…
Millennials spend more of their monthly income on homeownership costs than other generations and are at the greatest risk of becoming house-rich and cash-poor, according to a new study from Hometap. The study, a survey of 1,000 US homeowners, found that 83% of millennials carry at least some debt, compared to 72% of baby boomers. Of everyone surveyed, 47% were negatively impacted by the pandemic, and 77% carried some debt. More than a quarter of all homeowners say they plan to tighten their budgets until their debts are paid. But as homeownership costs rise, paying down the debts may become increasingly difficult. Hometap found that 52% of homeowners spend at least 16% of their monthly income on mortgages, and 46%…
Mortgage loan application volume rose 2% last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey reported. The seasonally adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, rose 2%. The seasonally adjusted purchase index fell 5%, while the unadjusted purchase index rose 28% and was 8% lower YOY. The share of refinance applications rose 9% and was down 37% YOY. Refinances made up 53.9% of total applications, up from 59.4% the previous week. The report noted that mortgage rates fell after rising for several weeks, which resulted in the surge of refinances. “While the 30-year fixed mortgage rate and 15-year fixed mortgage rate both declined only one basis point, the FHA rate fell 7 basis points, driving the…
Delinquencies on commercial and multifamily mortgages fell in Q3 2021, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Commercial/Multifamily Delinquency Report. Loans delinquent by more than 90 days or in non-accrual fell by 0.06 points in Q2 to 0.69% for banks and thrifts. Life company portfolios saw a decrease of 0.01 to 0.04% for loans 60 or more days late. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac delinquencies of 60 or more days fell to 0.42% and 0.12%, respectively. For CMBS, the delinquency rate for 30 or more days or in REO fell 0.82 percentage points to 4.86%. “Commercial mortgage delinquency rates for every major capital source have come down since the early months of the pandemic,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Vice President…
Renters were three times more likely to miss payments than homeowners during September and October, according to research from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Research Institute for Housing American (RIHA). The study, titled Housing-Related Financial Distress During the Pandemic, found that the share of renters who missed, delayed, or made a reduced payment rose to 9.6% in September and 10.9% in October. In July, that number was 9.6%. The share of homeowners who missed payments declined in the same period, to 3.2% in September, though it rose again in October to 3.8%. In July, that number was 3.8%, while in June it was 4.6%. Of those who missed their June rent, 17.2% also missed their September rent. Of homeowners who…
Tappable equity soared to a new all-time high in October 2021, increasing almost a quarter-trillion dollars in Q3, according to Black Knight’s October 2021 Mortgage Monitor Report. Black Knight reports that Q3 home price growth added more than $250 billion to Q2’s “history-making rate.” The average homeowner’s equity has risen by $53,000, working out to $178,000 available in tappable equity before reaching an 80% combined loan-to-value ratio. Homeowners tapped their equity in Q3 at the highest rate in 14 years, with cash-outs accounting for 54% of all refinances. The aggregate total of $9.4 trillion is up 32% YOY and almost 90% higher than the peak in 2006. “Data points like these inevitably, and understandably, lead to comparisons with the run-up…
Investors and economic analysts are closely monitoring Omicron, the Covid-19 variant taking the news cycle by storm, as the country enters the busy holiday season. The question on mortgage professionals’ minds is: how will Omicron affect the housing market? Analysts’ answers are mixed, but the overall trend is cautious optimism. “Right now, we are looking at pretty severe reactions to the omicron news in the stock market,” Tomas Jandik, a finance professor at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, told Realtor.com. “The residential market may be more immune to COVID because of what we have already seen in the past waves of the virus.” “It is unlikely that rates will move down any further due to the new Omicron variant,”…
Mortgage lending declined in both Q2 and Q3 2021, the first consecutive decline in two years and the first time since 2000 that lending fell in Q2 and Q3, according to ATTOM’s Q3 2021 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report. The report showed that 3.59 million mortgages secured by residential property originated in Q3, up 3% YOY but down 8% from Q2. It is the largest quarterly drop in more than a year, and a surprise considering the second and third quarters are usually peak buying season. Lenders overall issued $1.15 trillion in mortgages in Q3, up 11% YOY but down 6% from Q2, the first quarterly drop since early 2020. Both refinance and purchase lending fell, with refinancing taking…
Mortgage rates remained basically the same over the last week, averaging 3.11%, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.11%, up only a smidge from last week’s 3.10%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.71% “Mortgage rates continue to remain stable notwithstanding volatility in the financial markets,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “The consistency of rates in the face of changes in the economy is primarily due to the evolution of the pandemic, which lingers and continues to pose uncertainty. This low mortgage rate environment offers favorable conditions for refinancing.” The emerging Omicron variant of Covid-19 has dampened hopes of normalcy returning, and…
The median net worth of American households rose 17.6% between 2016 and 2019, according to a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Research Institute for Housing America (RIHA). The report, titled The Distribution of Wealth in America Since 2016, found that median net worth increased from $103,000 in 2016 to $127,000 in 2019, the highest amount since 2007. “The increase in homeownership, and the steady rise in home values and the stock market drove the increase in middle-class wealth. The median net worth of every racial and ethnic category also increased, with the largest increases coming from Black and Hispanic households,” said Dr. John C. Weicher, author of the report and Director for the Center for Housing and…
