Today’s housing market proves that history does, in fact, recycle its best hits. But it’s not 2008 getting a re-do.
That’s according to First American Financial’s Chief Economist Mark Fleming, who notes that the market of today is closer to that of the 1980s– not an exact comparison, but close enough to glean insights.
“Today’s housing market isn’t anything like the housing market of the mid-2000s – the housing market today is not overbuilt, nor is it driven by loose lending standards, sub-prime mortgages, or homeowners who are highly leveraged,” he said.
“However, the current housing market is similar to the market of the 1980s. History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
First American’s Potential Home Sales Model slipped…
Monthly payments are going up as mortgage rates continue to climb but a boost in new listings could signal a fall price cooldown.
Rates have soared to their highest level in more than two decades, sending monthly housing payments to record highs. A buyer with a $3,000 monthly budget has lost almost $40,000 in purchasing power YOY as rates rose from 6.5% to nearly 8% today, according to a new analysis from Redfin.
This is exacerbated by stagnant home inventory, which continues to trend down as stock shortages are keeping home prices high even as competition peters out. The total number of homes for sale is down 14%, Redfin noted.
The typical home sold for $371,000 during the four weeks…
Nearly 5.5 million homes are sitting vacant in the U.S.’s largest metros, but they’re not going to save the housing market.
LendingTree analyzed the latest U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data to find out what cities have the highest shares of unoccupied homes and why.
Their survey found that 5,475,687 housing units are vacant in the country’s 50 biggest metros, with a vacancy rate of 8.02% across them all.
New Orleans (16.11%), Miami (14.48%), and Tampa, FL (13.83%), have the highest vacancy rates, with 600,000 empty housing units vacant collectively.
Minneapolis, Austin, and Washington, D.C., have the fewest vacancies.
While it’s important to know the number of houses sitting empty, the reasons behind them are far more significant.
LendingTree…
Mortgage applications fell last week, stepping back after a spike as rates reached 20-year highs.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey shows the adjusted Market Composite Index – a measure of mortgage loan application volume – declined by 1.3%, down from the week prior’s 5.4% increase.
Adjusted purchase applications sank by 2%, while the unadjusted index fell by 2% from the week before and was 27% lower YOY.
Declines can be attributed to the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed loan increasing 10 bps to 7.41%, the highest rate since December 2000.
Meanwhile, the jumbo rate hit its highest point ever in MBA’s jumbo series data at 7.34%, which dates to 2011.
“Based on the FOMC’s most recent projections,…
As floods, fires, and devastation become commonplace in areas with high climate impact, more Americans than ever are factoring disasters into their homebuying decisions.
A majority of buyers in every region of the U.S. consider at least one climate risk when home shopping, according to a new report from Zillow.
Americans living in the West are the most likely to say climate fears are “very or extremely” impactful on their purchase decisions, with Northeastern buyers in second place. Southern and Midwestern shoppers are less concerned, though two-thirds report that disaster risk affects their searches at least somewhat.
Millennial and Gen Z buyers are the most likely to worry about global warming’s impact on their new homes. They also make up…
Pending home sales were up in July, marking a second month of increases, but there is still lots of room for improvement.
NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index rose by 0.9% to a reading of 77.6 in July. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.
“The small gain in contract signings shows the potential for further increases in light of the fact that many people have lost out on multiple homebuying offers,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
“Jobs are being added and, thereby, enlarging the pool of prospective home buyers. However, rising mortgage rates and limited inventory have temporarily hindered the possibility of buying for many.”
Only seven of the nation’s 200 largest…
Maui already had a housing crisis before wildfires ravaged the island, destroying up to 3,000 homes.
Hawaiian governor Josh Green declared a state of emergency over the lack of housing stock in July 2023 in response to worsening affordability. The pandemic housing boom resulted in a flood of wealthy buyers to the islands, pushing home sales worth more than $10 million six times higher in 2022 than in 2020.
“It’s like nothing anyone has ever seen before,” Matthew Beall, CEO of Hawaii Life, told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s almost like a hot nightclub. It’s not can you get a deal, it’s can you get behind the rope and to the door.”
Just days before the fire, the U.S. Department…
Listings took a hit in July, but both listed and closed prices saw positive YOY growth, according to new data from HouseCanary.
The company’s latest Market Pulse report found that net new listings dwindled in July, down 40.3% YOY. The number of properties that went under contract also fell by 13.4% from the same time last year.
“In June, the housing market initially showed signs of resilience, but these reversed as we continued to face the effects of rate hikes initiated in March 2022,” said Jeremy Sicklick, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HouseCanary. “July has followed suit with stagnant performance as the Federal Reserve implemented another rate increase and potential homebuyers remained cautious amidst market uncertainties.”
New listing volume…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Buyers waiting on the sidelines for home prices to drop may be out of luck this year.
During a webinar on Thursday afternoon, Mike Simonsen, founder and president of Altos Research, said that by now it has been clear enough for long enough that even the most strident of bubble-bursters recognizes that the housing market has held up well despite gloomy predictions walking into 2023.
Simonsen said the results have been surprising.
“Very few of us forecast what was going to happen, and forecasts are always tricky, but the key is that those of us watching the data right now, and those of us on this webinar right now, are those who have been able to pay…
Veterans are taking the difficult housing market in stride, according to a recent survey by Veterans United Home Loans.
About 75% of veterans and service members considering homeownership in the next three years plan to buy a home in the next 12 months, despite having fears that home prices in their desired area will be higher (60%) and interest rates will rise (68%).
On top of that, more than half feel that buying a house is within reach for them. Though most believe that both home prices and interest rates will rise before they enter the market, they are confident about their financial futures. Nearly 70% expect to be better off financially a year from now, and more than half…
