C. Renee Wilson has been named executive director of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), NAREB announced. Wilson has served as interim executive director for the last seven months, before which she served as special assistant to the president, special projects manager, executive and management consultant, and national relationship manager. She has been a NAREB member since 2005. “NAREB is fortunate to have someone with Renee’s qualifications as our Executive Director,” said NAREB President Lydia M. Pope. “Her long-standing relationship with NAREB and wealth of on-the-job experience makes her uniquely qualified to fill this vitally important position.” Wilson plays a critical role in compiling NAREB’s annual “State of Housing in Black America” report, a study documenting root causes…
Mortgage rates took a surprise turn down last week, averaging 3.89% after weeks of rising, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.89%, down from 3.92%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.97%. “Even with this week’s decline, mortgage rates have increased more than a full percent over the last six months,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “Overall economic growth remains strong, but rising inflation is already impacting consumer sentiment, which has markedly declined in recent months. As we enter the spring homebuying season with higher mortgage rates and continued low inventory, we expect home price growth to remain firm before cooling off…
Good Morning! Today is Thursday, February 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine. President Biden will address the nation with an update on the attacks at 12:30 p.m. The Mortgage Note Reports “Battling It Out”: A Redfin report found that 70% of homebuyers faced bidding wars in January, making it the most competitive month in Redfin’s data. Loan Applications Down: Mortgage loan application volume fell 13.1% last week to their lowest level since December 2019, MBA’s weekly survey shows. And in other mortgage and housing news… Seeking Comment: MISMO is seeking public comment on updates to Engineering Guideline 7 establishing class words that enable consistency in the naming and structure of data point names. Panel Market: …
Bidding wars hit their highest level since at least April 2020, with 70% of home offers from Redfin agents facing competition in January, a new Redfin report found. This is up from 67.7% in December and 61% in January 2021. The report chalks up the increased bidding to a combination of rising interest rates, high demand, and low inventory. January marked the first time rates hit 3.5% since the beginning of the pandemic, and have jumped to nearly 4% in the first weeks of February. New listings continue dropping, hitting record lows. “Rising mortgage rates are intensifying an already-severe shortage of homes for sale because buyers are feeling more urgency to buy while homeowners are feeling less urgency to sell—an…
Mortgage loan application volume fell 13.1% last week, continuing last week’s trend down, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey shows. The adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, dropped 13.1%. The adjusted purchase index fell 10%, while the unadjusted purchase index fell 6% and was 6% lower YOY. The refinance index fell 16% and was down 56% YOY. Refinances made up 50.1% of total applications. “Mortgage applications dropped to their lowest level since December 2019 last week, as mortgage rates continued to inch higher. The 30-year fixed rate was 4.06%, almost a full percentage point higher than a year ago. Higher mortgage rates have quickly shut off refinances, with activity down in six of the…
Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, February 23. U.S. truckers plan to embark on a 2,500-mile cross-country drive to DC in protest of coronavirus restrictions. Germany put a stop to an $11 billion Russian natural gas pipeline that would link the two countries. The Supreme Court will hear a case from a web designer who objects to providing services for same-sex marriages. The Mortgage Note Reports Getting A Mortgage Online: Leaders at Bank of America say home loan applications initiated through their Digital Mortgage Experience accounted for 81% of total mortgage applications in 2021. That is up from 45% in 2020. FHFA HPI: Home price appreciation cooled slightly in Q4 2021, with prices rising 17.5% YOY and 3.3% from Q3 2021.…
Home prices rose 17.5% year-over-year in Q4 2021 and 3.3% from Q3 2021, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index (FHFA HPI). Home prices were up 1.2% from November to December. Home prices increased in every state between Q4 2020 and Q4 2021, with the highest appreciation in Arizona (27.4%), Utah (27.1%), Idaho (27%), Florida (25.6%), and Tennessee (24.1%). Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL, saw the greatest annual price increases. The metros with the least annual appreciation were Washington, D.C. (6.6%), Louisiana (10.2%), North Dakota (10.3%), Maryland (10.8%), and Alaska (11.3%). “House prices continued to climb but not as rapidly during the final quarter of 2021 as in earlier quarters,” said William Doerner, Ph.D., Supervisory Economist in FHFA’s…
The number of loans in forbearance fell 11% in January to 1.30% of servicers’ portfolio volume, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Loan Monitoring Survey. MBA now estimates that 650,000 homeowners remain in forbearance plans. This is the second consecutive month that forbearance exits hit a new low since June 2020. Of Fannie and Freddie loans, the number in forbearance dropped 4 basis points to 0.68%. Ginnie Mae loans saw a 3 basis point drop to 1.60%, while PLS and portfolio loans saw a 41 point decline to 3.02%. But re-entries and new forbearance requests rose, especially for Ginnie Mae loans. While forbearances keep falling, January saw the smallest monthly decline in a year. Of all forborne loans, 26.8%…
Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, February 22. In a speech, Putin laid claim to Ukraine as a country “created by Russia.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson lifted all restrictions in England and announced an end to most free testing. A Biden administration plan to reduce drug deaths will include clean-needle exchanges. The Mortgage Note Reports Rental Rates Up By More Than 15%, Adding To Inflation: Monthly asking rates for rentals increased 15.2% year-over-year in January, and some economists say this is accounting for a significant portion of recent inflation. Foreclosures In New Jersey: $10 Million Set Aside To Help: State officials in New Jersey will use $10 million in federal funding to purchase mortgage notes of homes on the verge of…
Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said the Fed could hike rates by half a percentage point in March, suggesting the move is necessary to fight inflation. Inflation is currently at a four-decade high, with the Consumer Price Index up 7.5% year-over-year in January 2022. “The nation is dealing with inflation at its highest level in decades, much of it driven by corporate greed and anticompetitive behavior, and the federal government must use every tool available to prevent price gouging and reduce prices for Americans,” Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote in a letter to the Department of Justice, asking it to take action against companies violating antitrust laws to hike prices for consumers. Bowman said Monday that inflation is “much too high” and suggested…
