Mortgage rates inched up but remained within the mid-6% range, a welcome moment of stability after a rollercoaster year.
Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.69%, up from the week prior’s 6.60%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.13%.
The 15-year fixed also rose to 5.96% from 5.76%. A year ago, it averaged 5.17%.
“The 30-year fixed-rate has remained within a very narrow range over the last month, settling in at 6.69% this week,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.
“Given this stabilization in rates, potential homebuyers with affordability concerns have jumped off the fence back into the market. Despite persistent inventory challenges, we anticipate a busier spring homebuying…
New home sales spiked in December as cooling rates encouraged purchase-shy buyers to make the leap.
That’s according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which reported sales up by 8% from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 664,000, a jump from the month priors’ revised rate of 615,000.
December saw rates cool to the mid-6’s, a process that began in November but needed time to bear out fully. The data suggests potential buyers who were cautious at first eventually came to terms with slightly lower rates and jumped into the market.
New home sales were up 4.4% from the same time last year.
There were 453,000 new homes for…
By ERIN FLYNN JAY
Foreclosure numbers are up by double-digit numbers and industry leaders say they will continue to rise this year.
Earlier this month, ATTOM, a curator of land, property, and real estate data, released its Year-End 2023 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions — were reported on 357,062 U.S. properties in 2023, up 10% from 2022 and 136% from 2021.
CEO Rob Barber told The Mortgage Note several elements may be contributing to the rise in foreclosures.
“Key among them is the increase in interest rates, especially for adjustable-rate mortgages, leading to higher monthly payments for homeowners. Additionally, escalating unemployment rates are a concern,” Barber said.
Barber said…
Many Americans still can’t afford to buy a home as prices remain elevated and rates cool slowly, but sellers are already experiencing the unavoidable next step of price declines: falling profits.
Profits on home sales fell last year for the first time since 2011 despite price gains, according to new data from ATTOM. Home sellers made a $121,000 profit on the typical sale in 2023, a 56.5% return on investment.
This is a historically strong number – more than double what it was five years ago – but both gross profits and profit margins were down from 2022.
At the same time, the national median home price increased at the slowest pace in 12 years.
ATTOM noted that the data…
By ERIN FLYNN JAY and KIMBERLEY HAAS
As business models continue to change in the post-Covid economy, some market experts are predicting a commercial real estate crash while others are saying there could be a revival in investment opportunities.
Desmond Lachman, an American Enterprise Institute senior fellow, recently wrote that high vacancy rates have already caused commercial property prices to decline. At the same time, property owners need to roll over around $500 billion in maturing loans at higher interest rates.
Lachman said this spells trouble for the banking sector in general and the regional banks in particular. He predicted commercial real estate troubles could lead to the failure of 385 regional banks.
“With as much as 18% of their…
Mortgage applications rose again despite rates moving slightly up last week.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey shows the adjusted Market Composite Index – a measure of mortgage loan application volume – jumped 3.7%, adding to the week prior’s 10.4% spike.
Adjusted purchase applications rose by 8%, while the unadjusted index increased by 3% and was 18% lower YOY.
Demand may have been tempered by rates ticking up slightly from 6.75% to 6.78%. Still, even as buyers remain sensitive to rate movement they do appear to be leaping to lock in rates under 7%.
“Mortgage rates increased slightly last week, but there continues to be an upward trend in purchase activity. Conventional and FHA purchase applications drove most of the…
Nearly 80% of potential buyers are willing to get creative when it comes to purchasing a home.
A new survey from RE/MAX found that homebuyers burdened by unaffordable listings and high interest rates are willing to consider atypical options to buy a home in the next 12 months.
Those options include purchasing a home two or more hours away from the workplace and signing up for a super commute, buying a multi-family home, and moving into a tiny home.
Purchasing a home in need of remodeling, for either cosmetic or structural reasons, is the most popular option with 56% of buyers saying they would buy a fixer-upper.
Millennials in particular see buying a house in need of repairs as a…
Single women are beating their male counterparts in homeownership rates.
A report from Maxwell found that single women account for 22% of the homebuying market. Overall, they own 2.71 million more homes than single men.
Millennials and Gen Z buyers are spearheading this trend, representing the biggest age demographic of these solo buyers, with over half of female applicants under the age of 34 compared to 40% of men.
Part of the shift comes from the changing financial status of the youngest generations. While the gender pay gap remains a problem, women younger than 30 earn at least as much as men younger than 30 in 22 U.S. metros, especially large economic centers like New York, D.C., and Los Angeles.…
Existing-home sales slipped in December to their lowest point since 1995.
Sales declined by 1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.78 million, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors. They were down 6.2% from the same time last year.
The South and Midwest experienced declines month-over-month, while the Northeast saw effectively no change. Notably, sales in the West spiked by 7.8%. All regions clocked decreases YOY.
This is a turnaround from November, which saw sales increase for the first time in five months, and a break from predictions. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected sales of previously owned homes would rise to a seasonally adjusted 0.3%.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun suggested…
Mortgage rates have slipped to their lowest levels since May.
Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.60%, down from the week prior’s 6.66%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.15%.
The 15-year fixed fell to 5.76% from 5.87%. A year ago, it averaged 5.28%.
“This is an encouraging development for the housing market and in particular for first-time homebuyers who are sensitive to changes in housing affordability,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.
“However, as purchase demand continues to thaw, it will put more pressure on already depleted inventory for sale.”
Rates are the primary concern of most potential buyers, but the market remains crippled by ongoing stock shortages…
