Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 19, 2023
Have we finally hit the limits of the massive boom in 5-unit apartment construction that has been a positive driver of jobs and the fight against inflation since January of 2021? Tuesday’s housing starts report was a mixed bag: housing starts and completions fell with a big hit to 5-unit housing starts. However, housing permits continued to slowly increase, as we’ve seen over the last several months.
Sacramento Appraisal Blog
SEPTEMBER 19, 2023
There is some serious pent-up demand building. The number of sellers who have not listed their homes this year is really starting to add up – not to mention a growing pile of buyers. And speaking of building, new construction has been glowing this year. Let’s talk about it. UPCOMING (PUBLIC) SPEAKING GIGS: 9/26/23 Orangevale […] The post Pent-up demand & glowing new construction first appeared on Sacramento Appraisal Blog | Real Estate Appraiser.
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Real Estate News
SEPTEMBER 6, 2023
A new survey from Zillow found that more than 80% of homebuyers evaluate climate and environmental risks when considering where to live.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 26, 2023
New home sales missed estimates today but had three months of positive revisions, which continues the story of the builders managing the higher mortgage rate environment. But they still only have 76,000 completed units for sale today. That’s right — for all the hype of massive housing inventory coming from the builders, today we sit here still trying to work back to pre-COVID-19 levels with just 76,000 completed homes ready to be moved.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 21, 2023
Existing home prices are up 3.9% year over year, with demand near 21st-century lows. How is this possible? NAR ‘s existing home sales report on Thursday gives us insight into the why factor. The median existing-home price for all housing types in August was $407,100, an increase of 3.9% from August 2022 ($391,700). All four U.S. regions posted price increases.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 30, 2023
Why are mortgage rates rising? This is a question many people are asking — even some of the Federal Reserve members. We have had back-to-back weeks of the bond market getting wild since the key 10-year yield level of 4.34% broke higher. It didn’t help that the Fed was hawkish after the Fed meeting , as their forward outlook surprised some market players.
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Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 10, 2023
Last week we saw a noticeable decline in new listings and active inventory was barely positive. Does this mean housing inventory has begun its seasonal decline? Here are the weekly numbers: Weekly active listings rose by only 343 Mortgage rates rose from 7.08% to end the week at 7.22% Purchase apps fell 2 % week to week Weekly housing inventory At first glance, it seems we’re now seeing the seasonal active inventory decline since new listings data fell noticeably and active listings slowe
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 29, 2023
Even with demand buoyed by a sparse housing inventory, growing financial challenges for buyers are forcing home sellers to cut prices to close deals, a new Redfin research report found. According to the brokerage, 6.5% of U.S. homes for sale posted a price cut during the four weeks ending September 24, up from 5.8% the month prior. In some markets, more than 50% of active listings have experienced a price cut, according to Altos Research.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 26, 2023
After a boost in July, the sales pace of new homes slowed in August, according to data published on Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development ( HUD ). In August, the sales pace of new homes fell 8.7% compared to July , reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 675,000. On a year-over-year basis, new home sales were up 5.8%.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 7, 2023
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Thursday announced that it has issued a waiver to a requirement that FHA-approved lenders flag rejected loans in the FHA Connection (FHAC) system, an effort the agency says will improve access to government-insured mortgage financing for qualified borrowers. “FHA has determined that this flag does not improve risk management and is often why other lenders will reject an applicant even when that applicant might otherwise qualify for a loan,” the agency
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 26, 2023
Available inventory of homes for sale is on the rise in late September, which is very unusual for this time of year. In fact, inventory is growing faster than this time a year ago. This is a demand-driven slowdown, because new listings supply is still running 9% to 10% fewer homes for sale each week than this time last year. We’re seeing fewer new sellers each week, but inventory is building as homebuyers wait to see if mortgage rates will come down to make purchases more affordable.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 18, 2023
Yet another national real estate brokerage firm has reached a settlement agreement in two of the major class action antitrust lawsuits facing the real estate industry. According to court documents filed on Monday, RE/MAX and the home sellers suing the firm in both the Moehrl and Sitzer/Burnett cases, which both deal with buyer brokers’ commissions, have reached a preliminary settlement agreement, settling all claims in both suits.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 16, 2023
What’s going on with housing inventory ? The last four weeks of new listings data have been the most volatile since mortgage rates breached 6% in 2022. One week, we had the biggest decline in new listings data all year, which might indicate Americans are giving up on listing their homes. But the next week we had the biggest increase of the year, which might show that people are rushing to list their homes.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 20, 2023
Housing markets in Western states like Idaho, Wyoming and Utah are stumbling on a year-to-year basis, while markets east of the Mississippi are heating up, according to CoreLogic data provided exclusively to HousingWire. As of Sept. 1, the top 10 states by year-to-year growth in the CoreLogic House Price Index are located exclusively in the Midwest or Northeast, with Vermont’s 8.52% gain leading the nation.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 24, 2023
Mortgage rates shot up last week after a hawkish Federal Reserve meeting, even though they didn’t raise rates. In addition, jobless claims data had another solid print, showing that the labor market hasn’t broken yet, which led to more selling of the 10-year yield. Mortgage rates did find some relief on Friday as bond yields headed lower. On housing inventory , new listings data saw a small decline last week, but active listings grew at a healthy clip.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 18, 2023
Dark Matter Technologies , formerly Black Knight Origination Technologies, is focused on mainly two things: the smooth transition to new owners, and lowering the cost to originate loans for lenders. Executives from Dark Matter Technologies, under the Constellation Software umbrella, said that a down market is the best time to make investments in technology and prepare for the next cycle.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 28, 2023
Mirroring the trend for new home sales , pending home sales fell 7.1% in August, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). All four regions of the U.S. posted month-over-month and year-over-year declines in transactions. Year over year, pending home sales were down 18.7%, an even greater decrease than the 14% annual drop recorded in July.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 28, 2023
Real estate media just got funnier as Actually Agents will join The Broke Agent within BAM , a real estate media company. While continuing to operate independently, Luca Alboretti of Actually Agents and Eric Simon of The Broke Agent will “collaborate to produce funny and engaging content that both entertains and educates real estate professionals,” BAM announced in a press release Thursday.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 18, 2023
For the first time in five months, homebuilder sentiment levels dropped below the key break-even measure of 50, mostly reflecting the difficulties of persistent 7% mortgage rates. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) report showed that builder confidence fell 5 points in September to a reading of 45, following a six-point drop in August.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 19, 2023
Housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,283,000 in August, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It’s a 11.3% drop from the revised July estimate of 1,447,000 and 14.8% below the August 2022 rate of 1,505,000. On the bright side, permits for future construction recorded a 6.9% gain from July, indicating some builders might be more hopeful that things will turn around soon.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 13, 2023
The growth rate of inflation has been falling for a year, but mortgage rates are still near multi-decade highs. Why? While it is true that mortgage rates traditionally fall alongside inflation, I believed 2023 was going to be about the labor market. This was the core premise of my 2023 forecast, and so far it has worked. In my 2023 forecast , I set the range on the 10-year yield between 3.21%-4.25%, emphasizing that the bond yields can go lower than 3.21% only if the labor market breaks — which
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 10, 2023
Rate lock volume fell 1.5% in August, the third consecutive decline as mortgage rates climbed to the highest level in more than 20 years. Overall lock volumes were down 9.5% over the last three months and were 55% below that of August 2022, according to Black Knight ’s August originations market monitor report. “Interestingly, we saw very slight upticks in both cash-out and rate/term refinance locks in August,” Andy Walden, VP of enterprise research for Black Knight, said in a statement.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 6, 2023
United Wholesale Mortgage (UMW) has enhanced its Safe Check program , which provides credit reports without initiating unwanted trigger lead solicitations to brokers’ competitors. In some cases, the lender will provide a hard credit report at no additional cost to borrowers. The program was launched in October 2022 to provide brokers $10 single-bureau soft credit checks for conventional loans.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
Jobs week cleared up the skies for the Federal Reserve members, who are smiling — big time — after a series of data lines gave them what they wanted: a softer labor market! While the labor market isn’t breaking , it has become more pliant in the data lines the Fed focuses on. After Friday’s jobs report , which had some one-time variables, we can say that the economy is heading into an area where the Fed will feel much more comfortable, and we should not have any more rate hikes.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 28, 2023
Mortgage rates climbed again this week as investors braced themselves for ‘higher-for-longer’ conditions following last week’s Fed meeting. Additionally, the yield on 10-year treasuries shot up to 4.6% on September 27 from 4.3% a week prior. Just before noon on Thursday, they were Freddie Mac ‘s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which focuses on conventional and conforming loans with a 20% down payment, shows the 30-year fixed rate averaged 7.31% as of Sept. 28, up 12 basis point from last week ’s
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 26, 2023
After three consecutive months of annual price declines, home prices in July were up 0.98%, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Month-over-month, the U.S. National Index posted an increase of 0.6%, while the 10-City posted a 0.8% increase and 20-City Composite a 0.9% increase. “U.S. home prices continued to rally in July 2023,” Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI , said.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 28, 2023
HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler sat down with John Ashley, chief information officer and chief information security officer at PRMG , to talk about what the company is building versus buying, and how regulators are ramping up privacy and security standards. Sarah Wheeler: Tell me a little bit about your background and what you’ve done at PRMG.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 22, 2023
Soaring mortgage rates and home prices are continuing to dampen affordability for homebuyers. Pending-home sales fell 13% from a year ago for the four weeks ending Sept. 17, according to a new report from Redfin. Combined with elevated mortgage rates, monthly housing payments are at an all-time high. This is pushing many prospective homebuyers to the sidelines until the market becomes healthier.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 3, 2023
We had a crazy jobs week last week, with tons of data that the Federal Reserve was happy to see, but did those labor reports mean we’ve hit peak mortgage rates for 2023? Mortgage rates did fall, purchase application data rose and new listings data came back to trend. Weekly active listings rose by only 5,654 Mortgage rates went from 7.37% and ended the week at 7.08% Purchase apps rose 2 % week to week Mortgage rates and the bond market The 10-year yield and mortgage rates were wild last we
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 25, 2023
Right-to-list agreement firm MV Realty has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 33 states. The story was first reported by CBS News. MV Realty currently faces lawsuits in multiple states for allegedly misleading consumers and homeowners. In addition, the Florida-based firm has been essentially banned from operating in 14 states through legislation. MV Realty operated in 33 states and has more than 500 real estate agents.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 22, 2023
The Federal Reserve ‘s effort to temper inflation has cooled the housing market that remains subdued with mortgage rates north of 7%. While the central bank left the benchmark rate unchanged in the target range of 5.25%-5.5% this week, Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan believes that mortgage rates will stay elevated before the Fed makes further rate cuts.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 20, 2023
The Federal Open Markets Committee paused its interest-rate hikes on Wednesday for the second time this year. However, the door remains open for another increase as early as November. Most Fed officials last June had penciled in two more rate rises this year, one in July and one more in the fall. Most investors are already wondering what it would take for the central bank to lift rates again later this year.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 19, 2023
You’ve found a house for your buyer or a buyer for the home you’re selling. The negotiations were successful, and a deal has been reached. A home inspection hasn’t yielded any problems, so nothing is standing in the way of closing, right? Not necessarily. One of the final hurdles to clear is the appraisal , and it has the power to leave a deal dead in the water.
Housing Wire
SEPTEMBER 19, 2023
Home sales each week continue to be at depressed levels. We counted only 59,000 new pending sales this week. Meanwhile, the available inventory of unsold homes is growing. This week, inventory grew faster than it did last year at this time. This is alarming because this was the moment last year when the market turned south. This week was the biggest week of inventory increase all year, with inventory growing by over 9,000 single-family homes.
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