The city of Manchester in New Hampshire is May’s hottest housing market, ranking first for the 10th time in the past year, Realtor.com reported. Realtor.com’s monthly Hottness ranking looks at market demand, as measured by unique viewers per property on its website, and the pace of the market as measured by the number of days a listing remains active on Realtor.com. The Northeast dominated the top 20 hottest markets, with multiple cities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Wisconsin also made its way onto the list. Manchester took the top spot for the first time in 2020 and has been number one 15 times since then. The Northeast has had the least price hikes, which likely plays a role…
Rate lock volumes dropped again in May by 4.8% despite interest rate growth slowing, according to Black Knight’s latest Originations Market Report. While conforming 30-year rates rose at the beginning of the month to 5.5%, they cooled by month-end to 5.34%, 7 basis points down from April. Still, lock volumes fell for both rate/term and cash-out refis, down 23.6% and 11.9% respectively. Cash-outs are now down 42.2% from last year. “Ultimately, our OBMMI daily interest rate tracker showed 30-year conforming offerings finishing the month at 5.34%, down 7 basis points from last month. Still, despite this plateau in rates, rate lock volume continued to slide in May, with declines seen across all loan purposes,” said Scott Happ, president of Optimal…
Second-home destinations saw YOY price surges in April, with four of the five most popular areas seeing more than 25% growth, Redin reported. While average rental prices increased 10% in areas not considered second-home destinations by Redfin, prices rose by 17.1% in vacation hotspots to $1,893. Redfin found a similar trend in the for-sale market, with the typical home in second-home markets selling for $516,423 in April, up 19.9% YOY and a new record. Prices in non-second-home markets increased by 14.8%. Phoenix, Cape Coral, FL, Naples, FL, Myrtle Beach, SC, and Las Vegas– the top five destinations for second homes– saw significant increases in both rental and home-sale prices. All but Myrtle Beach experienced rent growth above 25% YOY, and…
Mortgage loan application volume dropped by 6.5%, the fifth decrease in six weeks, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey shows. The adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell by 6.5%. The adjusted purchase index fell 7%, while the unadjusted purchase index fell by 18% and was 21% lower YOY. The refinance index fell 6% and was down 75% YOY, though refinances made up a higher share of total applications (32.2%, up from 31.5%) as purchase applications dwindle. ARM activity fell to 8.2% of total applications. “Weakness in both purchase and refinance applications pushed the market index down to its lowest level in 22 years. The 30-year fixed-rate increased to 5.4% after three consecutive declines.…
Construction of single-family homes fell across several market types in Q1 2022, with an especially large dip in large suburban markets, according to the National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) Home Building Geography Index (HBGI). Four-quarter moving average single-family growth rates in large metro suburban counties fell from 18.7% in Q1 2021 to 5.2% in Q1 2022. At the same time, multifamily construction in large metros has jumped after falling during the pandemic. Large metro core counties recovered from a negative 3.6% growth rate to a 17.4% rate. Multifamily construction was largely centered in large metro core areas (36.9% of development), followed by large metro suburbs (25.8%), small metro core areas (23.5%), and other submarkets (13.7%). “Single-family growth rates have…
Home prices rose in Q1 2022 for the majority of Opportunity Zones, with the pace of gains in half of all zones besting quarterly and annual increases across the nation, ATTOM reported. Opportunity Zones are areas targeted for economic improvement, defined in the Tax Act legislation as census tracts in or alongside low-income neighborhoods that meet specific criteria for redevelopment. ATTOM analyzed 5,092 zones in the U.S. that had at least five home sales in Q1 2022. The report found that median single-family home and condo prices increased in 55% of zones between Q4 2021 and Q1 2022. In 50%, prices rose by at least 20%, despite the fact that the pace of increases slowed in Q1. “Home price trends…
The national median payment applied for by homebuyers rose 8.8% to $1,889 in April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI). PAPI measures changes in monthly mortgage payments relative to income across time. An increase shows the payment to income ratio is up due to increasing application loan amounts or mortgage rates, or a decline in earnings. The national PAPI was up 7.8% to 162.7 in April. This shows affordability declining as payments increase, accounting for a larger share of a typical person’s income. The index is up 27% YOY. Borrowers in the 25th percentile of prices saw their mortgage payment rise 9.6% to $1,236. “Rapid home-price growth, low inventory, and an 80-basis-point surge in…
Dr. Maggie Deichert has advanced from director of Policy Development & Research (PD&R) to vice president of PD&R at DHA, Housing Solutions for North Texas. In her new role, Dr. Deichert will lead DHA research initiatives and implementation involving affordable housing and self-sufficiency to help underserved communities achieve upward mobility. During her time as director, starting in 2019, she helped develop programs aimed at increasing housing access in North Texas, including the Children First North Texas program, designed to combat segregation and provide support services for voucher families living in areas of poverty. She was also in charge of disbursing $24 million in Covid-19 rental assistance, for which she and her team used an automation-driven system based on an equity-focused…
New home sales fell to a four-month low in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 763,000, down 8.6%, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The massive dropoff can be attributed to the rising cost of buying a home. Home price appreciation and increasing interest rates are pricing potential buyers out of the market. Between rates and prices, monthly mortgage payments are 19.5% higher than they were three months ago and 38% higher than a year ago. Meanwhile, some sellers are opting not to put their homes up for sale, exacerbating the stock shortage and driving up competition. The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end…
Rents posted another double-digit gain in February, rising 13.1% YOY, according to CoreLogic’s Single-Family Rent Index. They are now at their highest level in the history of the index. The largest price increases were in warm areas of the country as Americans keep moving to Sun Belt states. Miami saw a spike of 39.5% from February 2021, outpacing the second and third places, Orlando (22.2%) and Phoenix (18.9%). Washington, D.C., and St. Louis had the lowest annual increases, both at 6.5%. Lower-priced rentals (75% or less than the regional median) saw increases of 12.7%, up from 3% in February 2021. Lower-middle priced rentals (75% to 100%) were up 13.8%, from 3.2% the year prior. Higher-middle priced rentals (100%-125%) were up…
