The housing market is leveling out, with smaller, more affordable homes being listed and sellers pricing more competitively as 423,000 new homes go up for sale, according to Realtor.com’s August Housing Market Trends Report. The data show the number of homes actively for sale was up 4.3% nationally in August over the past year, and up 5.1% specifically in large metro areas. “A deceleration in the decline of inventory means the market is heading in an encouraging direction, but active inventory still remains historically low,” the report said. Freddie Mac estimates the US is short 3.8 million single-family homes. That estimate represents a 52% rise in the nation’s home shortage compared with 2018. “Low mortgage rates have motivated homebuyers to endure this…
Signs of softening housing markets and a leveling of mortgage interest rates have some industry observers asking if America is heading back to a ‘normal’ home-buying market. “For first-time buyers, more options and favorable financing offer the promise that after a year of frustrating bidding wars, finding the right home may finally be within reach,” George Ratiu, manager of economic research at Realtor.com said this week. “More listings are coming to the market these days, which is alleviating some of the supply crunch that prompted record increases in home prices.” Marco Santarelli, founder of Norada Real Estate Investments, says “new sellers are entering the market at near-normal levels,” in part thanks to cooling home prices. “Median listing prices in several…
Good Morning! Today is Thursday, September 2. New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued a state of emergency after remnants of Hurricane Ida caused flash flooding and power outages, resulting in at least nine deaths. A Texas law banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected (appoximately 6 weeks) took effect when the Supreme Court declined to block it. Purdue Pharma will be dissolved and the Sackler family will pay $4.5 billion to settle claims related to the national opioid epidemic.And in mortgage and housing news…Freddie Mac Says Weekly Mortgage Rates Remain Unchanged: The rate on a 30-day fixed rate mortgage averaged 2.87%, the same as last week and lower than the 2.93% average a year ago. Pending Home Sales…
Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, September 1. President Biden defended his Afghanistan withdrawal strategy in a speech Tuesday. Hospitals in New Orleans are operating on backup power after Hurricane Ida left the city powerless. Trustees for the Social Security trust fund said the program is expected to pay benefits that exceed its income in 2021. The S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq ended August near record highs.And in mortgage and housing news… Mortgage Applications Down: Mortgage applications decreased 2.4% last week despite continuing low rates, according to the MBA’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey. FHFA HPI: The FHFA’s Q2 House Price Index saw the largest annual gain in its history, with house prices rising 17.4% year-over-year, up from 12.6% in the…
The FHFA’s Q2 House Price Index (HPI) saw its largest ever annual gain, with house prices rising 17.4% year-over-year, up from 12.6% in the last quarter. This surge in home prices breaks the previous record, set in Q1. The FHFA HPI measures the movement of single-family house prices by reviewing repeat mortgage transactions on homes whose mortgages have been purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac since January 1975. “During the second quarter, house prices peaked in June with an 18.8 percent growth rate compared to a year ago,” said Dr. Lynn Fisher, Deputy Director of FHFA’s Division of Research and Statistics. “For the quarter, annual gains surpassed 20 percent in the Mountain, New England, and Pacific census divisions and…
Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, Aug. 31. The war in Afghanistan ended yesterday when the final US military plane left Kabul. President Biden, who was silent yesterday, is expected to address the nation this afternoon. Hurricane Ida left more than one million people with no electricity or water on the Gulf Coast. California ordered an evacuation along Lake Tahoe due to the Caldor fire.And in mortgage and housing news… Forbearance Numbers Hold: The number of mortgage loans in forbearance remains unchanged from last week, holding at 3.25% according to the latest report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Freddie’s Here To Help: Freddie Mac reminded homeowners and mortgage servicers of its immediate disaster relief options for those affected by Hurricane Ida. In Further Freddie News: Freddie Mac now projects that…
Homebuyers in June 2021 had 129 percent more house-buying power than in 2006, according to the June 2021 First American Real House Price Index (RHPI), released today. “House-buying power, how much one can buy based on changes in income and interest rates, increased by 6.8 percent in June compared with a year ago, propelled by lower mortgage rates and higher household income,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American Financial Corporation, which releases the RHPI. First American is a leading global provider of title insurance, settlement services, and risk solutions for real estate transactions. “The affordability gain from increased house-buying power, however, was offset by the third component of the RHPI, nominal house price appreciation, which reached a record…
House prices continued their climb in February across the nation and in every region, according to the latest House Price Index released Tuesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The Index found: House prices rose 0.9 percent for the month.From February 2020 to February 2021, prices skyrocketed 12.2 percent.For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly house price changes for the month ranged from a 0.3 percent increase in the Middle Atlantic division to a 1.6 percent increase in the Mountain division. The 12-month changes ranged from 10.5 percent increase in the West North Central division to 15.4 percent increase in the Mountain division. “Annual house price growth acheived a new record high in February,” said Dr. Lynn Fisher, FHFA’s Deputy…
Pending home sales dropped by 10.6 percent in February, with every region of the nation showing significant declines due largely to low inventory, according to a National Association of Realtors report released Wednesday. Not only did sales drop month over month for the second straight month, they dropped 0.5 percent from a year ago as well – breaking a streak of eight months with year-over-year gains. The Northeast Pending Home Sales Index fell 9.2 percent to 92.3 in February, a 3.9 percent drop from a year ago. The Midwest index dropped 9.5 percent to 102.4 last month, down 6.1 percent from February 2020. Pending home sales in the South dropped 13 percent to 133.2 in February, up 2.9 percent from…
What do rising interest rates mean for homebuyers? A whole lot, it turns out. A new report released by Redfin on Monday found that homebuyers lose $23,250 in spending power with a mortgage rate of 3.25 percent versus a 2.75 percent rate, where they were sitting earlier this year. For example, a homebuyer can afford a $506,000 home for $2,500 per month at a 3.25 percent interest rate – down from the $529,250 they could afford on the same budget with a 2.75 percent rate. To put it another way, the monthly payment on a $506,000 home would rise $110 with the higher mortgage rate, from $2,390 to $2,500. “If the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package that’s set to provide…
