Mortgage Roundup (7/6/20) – Recovery, Records & Rates

Good morning! Today is Monday, July 6. Soaring coronavirus cases and hospitalizations put a damper on July 4th celebrations. NASA’s “smell of space” could soon be available in a perfume. Sony is using multiple robots to make a new PS4 every 30 seconds. 

And in mortgage and housing news …

DISPARATE RECOVERY: A Redfin report highlights the “wealth divide” in the United States, looking at unemployment rates, demographic housing sales data, and racial breakdowns among industries hit hard by the economic shutdown versus those that appear to have weathered the storm. 

ANOTHER RECORD: Mortgage rates just hit another record low. Freddie Mac announced that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.07 percent for the week ending Thursday, the lowest rate in the surveys history dating back nearly 50 years.

EVEN LOWER: Could average mortgage rates drop below the 3% mark? If the recent trend continues, that’s a distinct possibility.

“STRANGELY OBLIVIOUS”: America’s housing market is so far unfazed by the recession

NYC LUXURY BUYING: The pace of closings slowed in New York City during the month of June as the coronavirus took a toll on buying activity.

NAVIGATE REFINANCINGRefinancing your mortgage isn’t free. There are several options to consider in getting the best deal. 

SELLERS MARKET: One real estate agent says he has never seen the market more aligned with the interests of sellers and residential real estate investors. Why sellers are so scarce and what it means for the market. 

GSE REFORM: Releasing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government conservatorship has been a decade in the making. When is the right time to transition?

IRON’S HOT: Whenever positive economic news pushes stocks higher, interest rates tend to rise, too. So if you’re hoping to score an unbelievably low mortgage rate to buy a home or refinance right now, you may need to move quickly.

BLUE-LINING: How new flood risk maps could undermine marginalized neighborhoods.

RETIREMENT FINANCE: Many people worry about running out of money in retirement. That’s understandable, since we don’t know how long we’ll live, what our future costs might be and what kind of returns we can expect on our savings.