Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, June 22. The Jan. 6 committee presented evidence that Donald Trump was involved in the effort to overturn the 2020 election using fake electors. The Senate advanced its gun safety bill. A jury found that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl in 1975. The Mortgage Note Reports Applications Up: Mortgage loan application volume rose by 4.2% last week despite rates surging to their highest point since November 2008. Multifamily Investment: Investment opportunities in multifamily housing slipped in Q1 2022 as NOI was again overwhelmed by property price growth and rising interest rates. And in other mortgage and housing news… At-Risk Markets: New Jersey, Illinois, and California have the highest concentration of markets vulnerable to declines, based on home affordability, unemployment, and other measures. Rents Reach…
Investment opportunities in multifamily housing slipped in Q1 2022, with the Freddie Mac Multifamily Apartment Investment Market Index (AIMI) falling by 4.8% from Q4 2021 and 2.4% year-over-year. AIMI analyzes multifamily rental income growth, property price growth, and mortgage rates to measure multifamily market investment conditions. A decline such as this indicates that attractive investment opportunities are becoming more difficult to find. For the second quarter in a row, increases in net operating income (NOI) were overwhelmed by property price growth and rising interest rates. AIMI fell nationally and in 18 of the 25 individual markets analyzed by Freddie Mac. Only seven markets experienced growth. Quarter-over-quarter NOI grew 2.5% and was up in every metro. Miami saw the fastest increase…
Mortgage loan application volume rose by 4.2% last week despite rates surging to their highest point since November 2008, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey shows. The adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased by 4.2%. The adjusted purchase index rose 8%, while the unadjusted purchase index was up by 6% and was 10% lower YOY. The refinance index dropped by 3% and made up 29.7% of total applications. Refi volume is down 77% in the last year. ARM activity rose to 10.6% of total applications. Mortgage rates increased by 33 basis points to 5.98%, their highest since 2008 and the largest single-week increase since 2009. MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry…
Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, June 21 and the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Biden said that he was considering suspending the federal gas tax to ease fuel prices. Moscow says it has two American fighters in its custody. The Mortgage Note Reports Existing-Home Sales Slip: Existing-home sales dropped for the third consecutive month, falling 2.4% month-over-month and 5.9% year-over-year. Affordability Challenges: Affordability is at a 15-year low, with mortgage payments up in 45 of the 50 largest U.S. metros. And in other mortgage and housing news… Market Normizational Stays Slow: Potential existing home sales fell 2% month-over-month and are down 10.5% YOY, which FirstAm says is partially the result of homeowners with no incentive to sell hanging on to their properties. Spending Power: A homebuyer…
April’s existing-home sales slipped for the third consecutive month, falling 2.4% from March to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.61 million, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported. Sales were down 5.9% year-over-year, with each of the four major regions seeing declines. The median price for existing homes of all types was $391,200, up 14.8% YOY. This is the 122nd consecutive month of YOY price growth, the longest-running streak on record. “Higher home prices and sharply higher mortgage rates have reduced buyer activity. It looks like more declines are imminent in the upcoming months, and we’ll likely return to the pre-pandemic home sales activity after the remarkable surge over the past two years,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. Housing…
Affordability is at a 15-year low, with mortgage payments up in 45 of the 50 largest U.S. metros, according to Zillow’s latest market report. Buying a typical U.S. home with interest rates of 5.78% would result in monthly payments of $2,127. That’s up 36% year to date, and 51% YOY. Those monthly payments would account for 28% of homeowners’ monthly income, inching closer to the 30% benchmark that means homeowners are cost-burdened. The report noted that since rates have risen above the April data it references, homeowners may already be at that 30% threshold. Rising interest rates and soaring home prices have pushed mortgages out of reach for many Americans, leading to diminishing demand that has economists worried that recession…
Good Morning! Today is Friday, June 17. Today is Friday, June 17. US stocks tumbled a day after the Fed’s biggest rate increase since 1994. Some European leaders said they would support Ukraine’s candidacy to join the E.U. The Mortgage Note Reports Rates Surge: Mortgage rates exploded this week, rising from an average of 5.23% to 5.78%, the largest one-week increase in the history of Freddie Mac’s data. Competition Cooling: Bidding wars dropped to their lowest level since February 2021, with only 57.8% of home offers facing competition in May. And in other mortgage and housing news… Price Drops Up: The highest share of sellers on record dropped their list price during the four weeks ending June 12 as mortgage rates rose to levels…
Bidding wars dropped to their lowest level since February 2021 as the housing market begins to cool, with only 57.8% of home offers facing competition in May, according to Redfin. Though more than half of prospective buyers are still facing competition when bidding on a home, that number is down from 60.9% the month prior and a pandemic peak of 68.8% a year earlier. A typical home received 5.3 offers in May, down from 6.8 in April and 7.4 in YOY. This is the fourth straight month of declines. The unadjusted bidding war rate was 60.8%, down from 67.8% month-over-month and 71.8% YOY. “Homes are now getting one to three offers, compared with five to 10 two months ago and…
Mortgage rates exploded this week, rising from an average of 5.23% to 5.78%, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. It is the largest one-week increase in the history of the GSE’s survey, which dates back to 1987. Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.78%, up from last week’s 5.23%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.93%. “These higher rates are the result of a shift in expectations about inflation and the course of monetary policy,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “Higher mortgage rates will lead to moderation from the blistering pace of housing activity that we have experienced coming out of the pandemic, ultimately resulting in a more…
Good Morning! Today is Thursday, June 16. The Justice Department charged the Buffalo shooting suspect with hate crimes. A lawyer advising Donald Trump claimed to know about a “heated fight” among Supreme Court justices over whether to hear 2020 election arguments. The Mortgage Note Reports Will Biden’s Plan Work?: Biden’s Housing Supply Action Plan is designed to ease the challenges of housing costs over time by increasing inventory, but will it work? Builder Confidence Falls: Builder confidence dropped two points in June to its lowest level since June 2020, the sixth consecutive month of declines and a “troubling sign for the housing market.” And in other mortgage and housing news… 75 Point Hike: The Fed raised its benchmark rate by 75 basis points to a range of 1.5%-1.75%, the biggest increase since…
