Good Morning! Today is February 3, 2022. The U.S. is deploying 3,000 more troops to Eastern Europe. The Army said it would immediately discharge unvaccinated soldiers. Jeff Zucker resigned as the president of CNN over a romantic relationship with an executive. The Mortgage Note Reports Millennial Domination: Despite challenging conditions for first-time homebuyers, Millennials make up a majority of homebuyers in most of the US’s largest metros, especially Denver, Seattle, and Boston. Home Value Record: December 2021 saw a record annual surge in U.S. home value led by Austin, TX, which saw total home values equivalent to the 2020 GDP of Ecuador. And in other mortgage and housing news… Love In The Air: A survey from Zillow found 34% of…
December 2021 saw a record annual surge in US home value, the largest gain seen in any December since at least 2001, according to a new analysis of Redfin’s Housing Value Index. U.S. home value rose 18.6% year-over-year (YOY) to $38.6 trillion. Austin, TX, saw home values double that, jumping 39.2% YOY. That shakes out to $365.9 billion, roughly the 2020 GDP of Ecuador and the biggest gain of any metro tracked by Redfin. December marked the 17th consecutive month of double-digit price gains as inventory shrank to a record low. Cape Coral, FL, saw the second-highest gains (36.9%), followed by Grand Rapids, MI (33.1%), Phoenix (32.8%), and Boise, ID (32.8%). Cape Coral and Phoenix have consistently made the list…
Despite challenging conditions for first-time homebuyers, Millennials are actively engaging in the housing market, especially in the nation’s largest metros, according to a new analysis from LendingTree. The analysis found that Millennials– people aged 25 to 40 in 2021– make up a majority of homebuyers in most of the US’s largest metros, especially Denver, Seattle, and Boston. Of mortgages offered in Denver, 63.3% were offered to Millennials. In Seattle, 61.35% were offered to Millennials, and in Boston, 61.08%. Miami, Jacksonville, and Tampa have the smallest share of buyers in this age group, at 46.54% across all three markets. San Francisco, New York, and San Jose have the greatest portion of older Millennials, with an average age of 33.51%, while Indianapolis,…
Good Morning! Today is February 1, 2022. Moderna’s Spikevax won full FDA approval for adults 18 and up, making it the second fully approved Covid-19 vaccine. Pfizer is planning to ask the FDA to authorize its vaccine for children under 5. A prosecutor dropped the last criminal inquiry into sexual misconduct allegations against Andrew Cuomo. The Mortgage Note Reports Getting Pushed Out Of The Housing Market? You’re Not Alone: Low-income and minority buyers will continue to be crowded out of the housing market in 2022, according to the director of research at the AEI Housing Center. Home Showings Skyrocket: Showing traffic rose 11.5% YOY in December 2021 as buyers continued scouring the market for a new home. New Construction Record: …
Home showings skyrocketed in 2021 as potential buyers scoured the hot housing market for a new home, according to a new report from ShowingTime. ShowingTime, a residential real estate showing management and market stats technology provider, released a report showing 2021 ended with an 11.5% year-over-year (YOY) increase in home showing traffic. The report notes that showings slowed as stock shortages continued to plague the housing market, but the ratio of showings per listing remained high in busy areas. “2021 was a banner year for residential real estate as buyer demand was up nationally for most of the year, pushing the ratio of showings per listing to historic highs,” said ShowingTime Vice President and General Manager Michael Lane. Seattle and…
Mortgage lenders should expect a small uptick in home purchases, while refi’s fall off the fiscal cliff. That’s the finding of the latest Freddie Mac’s latest Quarterly Forecast. Housing demand is expected to remain high, with home sales forecast to reach 6.9 million in 2022, then 7 million in 2023. “As mortgage rates rise, we do expect some moderation in housing demand, causing house price growth to temper. However, the combination of a large number of entry-level homebuyers facing a shortage of entry-level inventory of homes for sale should keep the housing market competitive,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “In 2022, we expect purchase originations to grow from $1.9 trillion in 2021 to $2.1 trillion in 2022 while…
Monthly home value appreciation accelerated for the first time since July as potential buyers continue to outnumber new listings, driving December inventory to an all-time low, according to Zillow’s latest market report. “Home shoppers picked the shelves clean this December, leaving fewer active listings than ever before in the U.S. housing market,” said Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow. “Enough determined buyers kept up their house hunt to reignite monthly price appreciation. Rising mortgage rates could be the next potential headwind, but demand has proven persistent; neither high prices nor slim inventories have deterred buyers so far.” The typical home value is now $320,662, 19.6% above that of December 2020 and a record high for Zillow’s data, which dates back…
December was a hot month for homebuyers, but supply couldn’t keep up with demand. Monthly home sales saw their largest decline since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Redfin. Month-over-month sales fell 3.6%, the largest drop since May 2020, and were down 11% year-over-year (YOY), the largest annual decline since June 2020. The drop was the result of continuing stock shortages. Active listings declined 19% YOY, reaching a record low. New listings dropped 13%, down annually in 82 of the 88 metro areas Redfin tracks. In addition, home prices were up 15% YOY, marking the 17th straight month of double-digit price increases. “Home sales are slumping, but not for lack of demand,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “There…
Mortgage loan application volume dropped 2.7% from the week ending December 31, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey reported. MBA adjusted the results to account for the holidays. The adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell 2.7%. The adjusted purchase index fell 4%, while the unadjusted purchase index fell 32% and was 12% lower YOY. The refinance index fell 2% and was down 40% YOY. Refinances made up 65.4% of total applications. The survey attributed the drop in refinances to an increase in the 30-year fixed rate, which rose to 3.33%, its highest point since April. “The higher rates to close 2021 caused refinance activity to decrease 2.2%. Refinance demand continues to dwindle, as…
Zillow announced it has sold about half of its backlog of homes and will begin buying back stocks after shuttering its home-flipping arm, Zillow Offers. In a statement, the company said it had already sold or agreed to sell more than half of its properties, hitting a much faster pace than expected. “We are pleased with the progress of our wind-down efforts and recognize that no longer operating Zillow Offers will allow us to have a more capital-efficient balance sheet and business moving forward,” Chief Executive Officer Rich Barton said in the statement. “We see today as an opportune time to announce a share repurchase program.” Zillow had initially announced it would not buy more homes in 2021, and instead…
