Good Morning! Today is Friday, June 24. The Supreme Court struck down a New York law that required people who wanted to carry a concealed handgun in public to demonstrate a need to do so. The Senate passed the gun safety bill with 15 Republican votes. Ukraine is now a candidate for E.U. membership.
The Mortgage Note Reports
Cost-Burdened: Mortgage rates increased again this week to 5.81%, with fixed mortgage rates now up 2 full percentage points from the beginning of the year.
Demand Plummets: Soaring interest rates pushed homebuyer demand down 16% YOY in its largest annual decline in more than two years.
And in other mortgage and housing news…
New Home Sales: May’s new home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 696,000, 10.7 % above the revised April rate but 5.9% May 2021 estimate of 740,000.
Application Costs: The national median payment applied for by applicants rose slightly in May to $1,897 from $1,889 in April.
Fix-And-Flip Profits: ATTOM reports that 9.6% of all homes sold in Q1 2022 were flipped, the highest level since 200, but profits fell to a 13-year-low.
Fair Lending: Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies released its State of the Nation’s Housing report which predicts housing to stay strong even as cooling begins.
JP Morgan Layoffs: JPMorgan Chase is laying off or reassigning more than 1,000 employees in its mortgage division in response to declining demand.
UWM Says “Game On”: UWM is lowering rates across the board by 50-100 bps, making a play for volume at a time when demand is dropping.
FraudGuard: FirstAm launched FraudGuard Home Equity, a fraud risk management tool designed to help home equity lenders streamline their use of third-party vendors.
Hispanic Homeownership: More than 49% of Hispanic families own their home, basically static from 48.9% before the pandemic began but up from 46.3% a decade ago.
Second Home Demand: Vacation home demand fell below pre-pandemic levels for the first time in two years, with rate locks down 4% from before the pandemic in May.