Mortgage Roundup (11/20/20) – Rates, Sales & Loans

Good morning! Today is Friday, November 20. Georgia’s secretary of state must certify the state’s election results today. After a surge in Covid-19 cases, the CDC is pleading with people not to travel for Thanksgiving. President Trump will announce new rules reducing drug costs today.

And in mortgage and housing news …

5-MONTH CLIMB: Existing home sales climbed for the fifth straight month in the United States in October, with all regions of the country experiencing growth, according to a monthly report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

2.7: For the 13th time this year, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates set a new record low – this time falling to 2.72 percent, according to a Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

EMERGENCY LOANS TO HALT: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined to extend several pandemic emergency-loan programs established jointly with the Federal Reserve that are set to expire on Dec. 31. The Fed said it would prefer to continue the programs. 

SUSPICIOUS SPACS: A handful of billionaires are structuring fairer deals with their SPACs, but most SPAC deals don’t come with benevolent billionaires attached.

REAL ESTATE AI: Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in real estate, offering methods to drill down into data in new ways that could drive business decisions and automation and increase productivity

MORE SPACE, MORE DEBT: Americans are taking on much more debt during the pandemic, but it’s not because they’re buying more stuff, it’s because they are acquiring more space.

HOUSING RELIEF BILL: A New Jersey COVID housing relief bill has been stuck since April. What would the ‘People’s Bill’ do?

BUYER/SELLER PROFILES: NAR recently released its annual Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers report, which found that the pandemic encouraged buyers to search out multi-generational homes, while pushing sellers to sell their homes faster.

AG LENDER SURVEY: The Fall American Banker Association 2020 Agricultural Lender Survey report shows that ag lenders continue to remain focused on credit quality, even as the farm economy continues to work through the prolonged downturn caused by COVID.  

MORTGAGE RELIEF SCHEME: Nine people allegedly involved in a $6 million scheme that claimed to prevent the foreclosure of properties throughout Southern California have been indicted, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Thursday.