By TYRONE TOWNSEND Renters continue to engage in bidding wars as Americans struggle to find affordable places to live. The demand for rental properties is growing due to rising mortgage rates, increasing inflationary concerns, and supply chain problems. Michael Scuito is a Savannah, Georgia, resident and an Army veteran who says he had to rearrange his budget to fit the current rental market. In 2020, he moved into a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment and was paying $1,575 a month. Later that year, the price was raised by over $200. “I live in one bed and one bath, paying $1650 a month. That’s not including utilities. I’ve constantly rearranged my budget to adjust to raising rent, food, and gas prices,” Scuito told…
Home price growth saw the largest single-month slowdown on record since at least the 1970s in June, coinciding with a huge increase in inventory, according to Black Knight’s most recent Mortgage Monitor Report. Annual home price growth fell from 19.3% to 17.3% between May and June. “For context, during the 2006 downturn the strongest single-month slowing was 1.19 percentage points – about what we saw last month – and June topped that by 66%,” said Black Knight Data & Analytics President Ben Graboske. However, while the slowdown was historic, home price growth would need to fall at this pace for a while yet before annual price appreciation returned to 5%. “Still, while this was the sharpest cooling on record nationally,…
James “Jace” Stirling has been named the Southeast’s regional sales manager for Embrace Home Loans, the company announced in a press release. “I’m excited to join such an incredible organization,” Stirling said. “I was drawn to Embrace’s fantastic culture, leadership, and the long-term stability of a nearly 40-year-old company. I was also attracted by Embrace’s wide variety of innovative mortgage products, its great technology, and the marketing tools it offers originators.” Stirling will succeed former SVP and Sales Director Cary Reines, who is retiring. As regional sales manager, Stirling will lead Embrace sales from Virginia to Florida, including Alabama. He will also recruit new talent for both branch management and mortgage originator positions. He brings more than two decades of…
Good Morning! Today is Friday, July 29. Flooding killed at least eight people in Kentucky. The Biden administration plans to administer Covid boosters that target Omicron in September. JetBlue reached a deal to buy Spirit. The Mortgage Note Reports Earnings Roundup: Some major players in the mortgage industry released their reports this week– check out our roundup of their data. Rates Tank: Mortgage rates plunged by 24 basis points last week, averaging 5.30%. And in other mortgage and housing news… Consumer Spending: Consumers boosted their seasonally adjusted spending by 1.1% in June, up from a revised 0.3% increase in May, the Commerce Department said. Buyer Demand: Since mortgage rates came down from their June high, measures of early demand like online real estate searches and home tours have ticked up…
Mortgage and real estate companies are releasing their earnings reports for Q2 2022, providing information on the state of the housing market and where it might be headed. NPR’s David Gura noted on Morning Edition that earnings reports “can shape our understanding of what the economy may look like in the future.” “So while earnings reports and calls executives do with analysts may seem dry, not relevant to most people, they are worth paying attention to because companies have access to tons of data about themselves, their customers, talking about customer spending patterns, how they’re feeling,” he said. Some major players in the mortgage industry released their reports this week. Freddie Mac said its earnings fell by 33% YOY, netting…
Mortgage rates plunged by 24 basis points last week, averaging 5.30%, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.30%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.80%. “Purchase demand continues to tumble as the cumulative impact of higher rates, elevated home prices, increased recession risk, and declining consumer confidence take a toll on homebuyers,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “It’s clear that over the past two years, the combination of the pandemic, record low mortgage rates, and the opportunity to work remotely spurred greater demand. Now, as the market adjusts to a higher rate environment, we are seeing a period of deflated sales activity…
Gross domestic product declined for a second quarter, down 0.2% on the heels of Q1’s 0.4% dip, the Commerce Department said. By a common definition, this means that the U.S. has entered into a recession. The National Bureau of Economics, a non-profit that determines when the U.S. is officially in recession, defines it as a “significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months.” Many economists say they don’t believe the economy has fully entered recession, pointing out that falling GDP is only one measure of many. Fed chairman Jerome Powell said the data should be taken with “a grain of salt.” But formal definitions notwithstanding, a majority of Americans…
The national median payment applied for by mortgage applicants dropped slightly in June, down to $1,893 from May’s $1,897, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI) found. PAPI measures the variations in new monthly mortgage payments across time and relative to income. The national PAPI fell 0.2% to a read of 163.9 in June, indicating that new mortgages account for a smaller share of a typical person’s income. A decrease in PAPI shows affordability improving for borrowers due to loan application amounts or mortgage rates falling, or earnings rising. But affordability remains high compared to the same time last year, with the index up 37.4% YOY. “Median mortgage applications payments have held steady during the last two…
Pending home sales tumbled in June after a slight increase in May, falling 8.6% month-over-month and 20% YOY. The National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index posted a reading of 91 last month. A reading of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001. The PSHI is a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings. “Contract signings to buy a home will keep tumbling down as long as mortgage rates keep climbing, as has happened this year to date,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “There are indications that mortgage rates may be topping or very close to a cyclical high in July. If so, pending contracts should also begin to stabilize.” Buying a…
Mortgage loan application volume fell by another 1.8%, the fourth straight week of declines and the lowest level of activity since February 2000, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey shows. The adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased by 1.8%. The adjusted purchase index dropped 1%, while the unadjusted purchase index decreased by 0.4%% and was 18% lower YOY. The refinance index fell by 4% and made up 30.7% of total applications, down 83% from the same time last year. ARM activity dropped to 9.1% of total applications. As affordability challenges continue and potential buyers decide to hold off searching for a home, purchase activity is now inching closer to pre-pandemic levels. “Weakening purchase applications…
