Morning Roundup (5/29/2024) — Planning For A Fixer-Upper

Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, May 29. The jury in Donald Trump’s criminal trial will begin deliberating today. A storm killed one person in Texas and left half a million without power. Pope Francis apologized after reports that he used an anti-gay slur in a private meeting with bishops.

The Mortgage Note Reports

Planning For A Fixer-Upper: Home repair costs continue to increase nationwide, but buyers can budget for that by working with lenders who build renovation costs into a mortgage. Writer Erin Flynn Jay has the story.

Prices Keep Rising: Home prices rose 6.5% YOY in March, on par with last month and the sixth record high reached in the last year.

Applications Fall: Mortgage applications slipped, breaking a weeks-long upward streak, as rates ticked up to 7.05%.

In other mortgage and housing news…

Lawmakers Speak: Republicans sent a letter to the FHFA saying they oppose Freddie Mac’s closed-end second mortgage proposal.

Still Not There: Black homeownership has grown faster than average since 2019, but it’s still below the high point reached in 2004, before the Great Recession.

Agents Out: Real estate agents are fleeing the field and “running out of money” thanks to depressed demand for homes and new rules for buying and selling.

Company News: Verification tech company VeriFast expanded its sales leadership team; ATTOM added Building Footprint data to its property database.

Tech Explained: Rocket Homes Chief Technology Officer John Fair unpacked the “Explore Spaces” visual search tool.

Check This Out: Locked out of the housing market? Investing in mortgage-backed securities can help you get “revenge” in the meantime, one analyst argues.