By KIMBERLEY HAAS Guild Mortgage has launched a national program that can help potential homebuyers compete with all-cash offers. Vice President of Product Strategy Erin Watts said in a recent interview with The Mortgage Note that they are doing everything they can to help homebuyers compete in today’s market. “We were getting these really well-qualified homebuyers that needed to get mortgage financing but they just kept missing out due to these cash offers,” Watts said. How does CashPass Work? When homebuyers apply for a loan with Guild Mortgage, they let them know they are interested in CashPass. They then provide the same information that they would need for pre-approval for a conventional loan. A minimum credit score of 680 is…
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…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS New data shows that 79% of Americans would rather renovate their current home than move to a different one and with $420 billion spent on remodeling projects in 2020 those in the mortgage, real estate, and building industries are taking notice. Discover Home Loans commissioned a national survey of 1,531 homeowners. The independent survey research firm Dynata fielded the first of the online surveys in January and found that nearly four in five people would rather make improvements on their homes than move in the current housing market. The maximum margin of sampling error was +/-3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. The top five reasons given for why homeowners would rather renovate are:…
Pending home sales dropped for the fourth month in a row in February, down 4.1% from January and 5.4% YOY, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported. NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), which measures home sales using contract signings, fell in three of the major regions. The Northeast was the only region that saw an increase from January. All four regions saw year-over-year declines. “Pending transactions diminished in February mainly due to the low number of homes for sale. Buyer demand is still intense, but it’s as simple as ‘one cannot buy what is not for sale,'” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. The Northeast PHSI rose 1.9% to 85.0 in February, down 9.2% YOY. In the Midwest, the…
Existing-home sales fell in February as rising interest rates and inflation continue to put pressure on consumers, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.02 million, down 7.2% from January and 2.4% year-over-year. The inventory of unsold existing homes rose slightly to 87,000, or 1.7 months of supply at the current sales pace. Each of the four major U.S. regions saw sales fall on a month-over-month basis in February. Sales activity year-over-year was also down overall, though the South experienced an increase while the remaining three regions reported drops in transactions. The median existing-home sales price increased to $357,300, up 15% YOY and the 120th straight month of annual price increases. It’s…
Pending home sales continued a three-month streak of declines in January, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported. NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) found contract signings fell 5.7% to 109.5 in January, down 9.5% year-over-year (YOY). Only the West saw any increases, with contract signings rising 1.5% from December to January, but down 9.7% from a year earlier. The Northeast saw the largest annual drop in contract signings, 16.7%, plus a 12.1% drop in the month-to-month numbers, down to 84.3. The Midwest saw a 5.9% drop both monthly and annually, while signings in the South fell 6.3% from December and 8.7% YOY. “With inventory at an all-time low, buyers are still having a difficult time finding a home,” said…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS The typical American spends between five and six hours a day on their mobile phone so mortgage companies are developing new technologies to help them meet customers where they are. Brett Bivenour, Chief Technology Officer at Nationwide Mortgage Bankers in Melville, New York, explained during an interview with The Mortgage Note last week that for too long, the process seemed arduous for the average person. Even prior to the pandemic, consumer expectations about what they could do online had shifted because of what was happening outside his industry, he said. “As more and more aspects of people’s everyday lives were happening online, that certainly influenced their expectations of what it looks like to get a mortgage in…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and workers reevaluate their commitment to metropolitan life, lenders in smaller cities stand to benefit from what is being termed the “Great Resignation.” It is estimated that about 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in September after months of dramatic departure numbers, which means those employees are looking for and taking new jobs, often choosing to live in a different location if they have the option of working remotely. Since 87% of employees say they would like to work remotely at least one day a week, and one in three workers would not want to work for an employer that required them to be onsite full time, potential homebuyers are taking these…
Existing-home sales rose in October for the second month straight, though sales year-over-year (YOY) dropped, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales of existing homes rose 0.8% from September to October, at a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.34 million. However, sales fell 5.8% YOY, down from 6.73 million in October 2020. “Home sales remain resilient, despite low inventory and increasing affordability challenges,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Inflationary pressures, such as fast-rising rents and increasing consumer prices, may have some prospective buyers seeking the protection of a fixed, consistent mortgage payment.” Though sales were down compared to the same time last year, prices were up: the median price for an existing home was $353,900, up 13.1% from October…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS When the holiday season starts, people are typically reluctant to put their homes on the market due to a lack of potential buyers. But this could be the year when that changes. In a recent article at Realtor.com, the company’s Chief Economist Danielle Hale said sellers can expect to see plenty of buyers this winter. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at the National Association of Realtors, agreed. He expects there will be more home sales this winter than there were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. That is good news for sellers, especially since CNN Business reported last week that the median price of single-family existing homes rose in 99% of the 183 markets tracked by employees at the…
