Housing Supply Still at Historic Lows Existing home sales in the US decreased from February to March, yet there is still a record-low amount of housing inventory—just 2.6 months’ worth. To return to the pre-COVID-19 sales range, the existing home sales trend would have to be between 4.72 and 5.31 million for at least 12…

Mortgage Applications for New Homes in March Increased by 10% The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that mortgage applications for new home purchases increased by 10% in March compared to February and by 0.6% compared to the previous year. The MBA Builder Applications Survey estimated new single-family home sales to be at a seasonally adjusted…

As The Market Declines, the Typical Down Payment Has been Reduced By 10%  New data from Redfin real estate brokerage shows that the typical down payment made by homebuyers in the U.S. decreased to $42,375 in January, which marks a 10% year-over-year decline and is the lowest level seen in almost two years. While the…

Dropping Mortgage Rates Spurs Housing Recovery This week, home sales are increasing while mortgage rates keep falling, encouraging a potential strong spring market. According to Freddie Mac’s Thursday report, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.32% for the week ending March 30. Since crucial housing indicators, including existing-home sales, new-home construction, and contract signings for house…

Is The Long Descent of Home Prices Finally Over? The FHFA and Case Shiller House Price Indices (HPIs), produced simultaneously once per month, are two of the most formal ways to monitor home price growth. The results of January’s update, released last Tuesday, are conflicting. Price appreciation continues to fall quickly in annual terms. It…

In February: First Median Price Slide in Over a Decade, Home Sales Up 14.5% According to a seasonally adjusted report by the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously owned homes increased 14.5% in February compared to the previous month. With that, sales were at a 4.58 million unit yearly rate. It was the most…

Mortgage Market Surges Amid Fluctuating Interest Rates Despite some fluctuations in mortgage rates, demand for mortgages rose for the second consecutive week. The seasonally adjusted index from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that the total number of applications increased by 6.5% last week compared to the week before. Despite higher interest rates, the number of…

Challenge for the Fed: Majority of U.S. Mortgage Rates Were Fixed During Pandemic Lows According to Black Knight, a company that provides mortgage technology and analytics, over one-fourth of all mortgages are from 2021. Another 18% of mortgages are from the year before the epidemic. That year, a 30-year fixed-rate loan’s average cost fell as…

January Saw a Significant Increase in Pending Home Sales Pending home sales increased for the second consecutive month in January, the biggest since the pandemic recovery in June 2020. According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) increased by 8.1% in January to 82.5%, in addition to a December gain…

2023 Kicks Off with Slow Housing Starts With U.S. housing starts declining 4.5% month over month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.309 million units in January, high-interest rates continued restraining residential construction activity. As a result, the housing starts fell for the sixth consecutive month, the longest run since 2009. Building for single-family…