News

Did You Know?

- 07/19/21

Did You Know?

Top 6 Housing Trends

• Inventory is starting to rise, up 8% in the last two weeks with the largest gain of the year.
• Demand is on the decline after reaching its peak in early spring
• Closed Sales are at the highest level since 2005
• Fewer Homeowners are opting to list, 19% fewer listings in June compared to the prior 5-year average.
• Mortgage rates are on the rise, impacting affordability and demand.
• Appreciation will continue at a reduced pace.

Goldman Sachs argues that US housing isn't a bubble. They argue there is no "over-building of housing, over-leveraging of household balance sheets, loosening of lending standards, and over-exuberant homebuyer expectations". They also think Fed's buying of MBS has been limited as demand has been driven by other factors such as low supply and high demand.

Did You Know?

- 06/29/21

Did You Know?

US Banks are healthy and all 23 firms performed well in annual stress tests. The stress tests gauge banks’ ability to maintain strong capital levels and keep lending to businesses and households in a severe recession. In a worst-case scenario, featuring a severe global recession in which the U.S. sees double-digit unemployment, the 23 large banks would collectively lose more than $470 billion, the Fed said in a release. Their capital ratios would decline to 10.6%, still more than double their minimum requirements. (WSJ)

Federal tax stimulus to states has resulted in massive state surpluses.  29 states took in more revenue in 2020 than 2019...... California has a $75 billion surplus: the state will also pay overdue rent for low and middle-class renters worth $5.2 billion! Expect this additional money to circulate in the economy and boost it even further. YIKES!

U.S. home prices in May experienced their biggest annual increase in more than two decades, as a shortage of properties and low borrowing rates fueled demand. The median existing-home sales price in May topped $350,000 for the first time, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. The figure was nearly 24% higher than a year ago (in the midst of massive lock-downs!), the biggest year-over-year price increase NAR has recorded in data going back to 1999. (WSJ).

Did You Know?

- 06/21/21

Did You Know?

The Fed - under Jerome Powell's leadership that started in 2018 - signaled they expect to raise interest rates twice by late 2023, sooner than they anticipated in March, as the economy recovers rapidly from the effects of the pandemic and inflation heats up. 18 more months of super-low interest rates?  I'll take that!  Some expect rates to rise sooner with rising inflation, an indicator of massive economic activity. We should be reminded that rates are at record lows..... (WSJ)

GOOD NEWS: Futures for July Lumber delivery ended Tuesday at $1,009.90 per thousand board feet, down 41% from the record of $1,711.20 reached in early May. Futures have declined 14 of the past 16 trading days. Hopefully this roller coaster price see-saw is an indicator of the overall markets trajectory whereby soaring prices due to massive economic re-awakening calm down after an intial surge..... (CNBC)

U.S. single-family rent growth increased 5.3% in April 2021, the fastest increase since May 2006. The index slowed in 2020, but even when compared with 2019, rent growth is running above pre-pandemic levels. The index measures rent changes among single-family rental homes, including condominiums, using a repeat-rent analysis to measure the same rental properties over time. (CORELOGIC)

The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage moved higher, hitting 3.25%, according to Mortgage News Daily. Last fall, mortgage rates dropped dramatically, and by February of 2021 the average rate on the 30-year fixed was at 2.75%.

Did You Know?

- 05/31/21

Did You Know?

Among the country’s 85 largest metro areas, Austin recorded the biggest year-over-year rise in April for median home-sale prices — a jaw-dropping 42.3%. In 2nd place were Oxnard, California, and Miami, each at 25.8%!

Nearly 50% of homes sold for more than their list price during the four weeks ending May 16, but there are signs that housing market demand may be reaching its peak. (Housingwire)

For the fourth consecutive month, lenders were able to speed up times to close, as timelines start to near pre-pandemic processing times. “The decrease in average time to close is not surprising, given the increase we have observed in the adoption of digital transformation tools,” says Joe Tyrrell, ICE president. “Digital mortgage technologies are making it faster and easier to close a mortgage loan, thus improving the overall experience for participants.” (RealtorMag)

A much-anticipated inventory rebound failed to materialize in April as the Spring home shopping season arrived in full force, helping drive home value growth to new highs and accelerating an already fast-moving market. And this broad-based housing strength is increasingly spilling over into the previously soft rental market, according to the April 2021 Zillow Real Estate Market Report.