Housing Wire

DECEMBER 31, 2020

Jeff Tucker Zillow Senior Economist. This is the fourth installment of our economist Q&A series, as we work to answer the top 2021 housing market questions. Every Tuesday in December, HousingWire interviewed a top economist in the HW+ Slack channel. The 2021 housing market forecasts have focused on everything from home prices to mortgage rates. In this installment, HousingWire interviewed Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow , on his forecast for next year.

Housing Market 546

Housing Market Marketing Mortgage Real Estate 546

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 28, 2020

Although I had pockets of joy in 2020, these moments were subsumed in a haze of stress, uncertainty and fear for our country. And, at times, I have found it difficult to keep these emotions from clouding my economic thinking. But despite all the sorrow and frustrations of this year, I have found solace in the immortal world of math, facts and data. From this stronghold I have been able to see past the chaos and view the economy and the future of the housing market through the lens of my core eco

Housing Market 545

Housing Market Marketing Law Mortgage 545

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 22, 2020

In recent articles, I have written that although current sales data for the U.S. housing market has outperformed expectations, I expected these upward trends to moderate. Growth in home sales in recent months, I proposed, was primarily due to the catch-up demand from the stalled sales during the worst weeks of COVID-19. Today, the National Association of Realtors reported a 2.5% decline in existing home sales compared to last month, which I guess could be considered moderation.

Housing Market 545

Housing Market Buyers Realtors Marketing 545

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 17, 2020

The average U.S. mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan fell four basis point this week to 2.67% – the lowest rate in the Freddie Mac ’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey’s near 50-year history. This week’s mortgage rate broke the previous record set on Dec. 3 and is the first time the survey has witnessed it fall below 2.7%. “The housing market continues to surge higher and support an otherwise stagnant economy that has lost momentum in the last couple of months,” said Sam Khater, Fred

Mortgage 546

Mortgage Housing Market Lending Marketing 546

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 17, 2020

2020 has been a remarkably strong year for the housing market. Sales volume has remained elevated compared to last year since about mid-June, home values are growing more quickly than they have in 15 years and homes are typically selling a full three weeks faster than a year ago. Incredibly, next year’s housing market outlook is poised to be much stronger.

Housing Market 546

Housing Market Marketing Home Value 546

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 25, 2020

Real estate agents across the U.S. have been busy as a result of the pent-up demand from homebuyers due to COVID-19. From facing uncertainty in March from COVID-19-related shutdowns, to seeing home sales skyrocket through the summer into fall, it looks like homebuyers won’t be slowing down anytime soon, despite the holiday season approaching. Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan said he expects existing home sales to ultimately “be up a percent or more in 2021.

Real Estate Agent 545

Real Estate Agent Housing Market Inventory Real Estate 545

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 11, 2020

2020 was a truly unprecedented year. With it behind us, let’s look ahead at several housing market trends that are likely in 2021 and beyond. First, exceptionally low mortgage rates are likely to be around for an extended period. The Federal Reserve is expected to continue an accommodative monetary policy and keep the federal funds target below 0.25% through 2022.

Housing Market 545

Housing Market Marketing Contracts Mortgage 545

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 7, 2020

The U.S. housing market was the single best outperforming economic sector globally during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The reasons for that are solid demographics and low mortgage rates , which will not change much in 2021. Due to the solid demand for homes, housing supply for both new and existing homes are at all-time lows. New Home Supply. The monthly supply for new homes is currently at 3.3 months.

Inventory 545

Inventory Construction Government Housing Market 545

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 3, 2020

Even prior to the pandemic , housing inventory had hit record lows, and the problem has only gotten worse as demand continues to rise. Total home sales are outpacing new listings by a wide margin every month, and real estate tech company Homesnap foresees the shortage continuing in 2021 unless more sellers enter the market. The divide between supply and demand is striking: compared to last year, total new listings increased.22%, while total sales increased 19.29%.

Inventory 546

Inventory Housing Market Marketing New Listings 546

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 30, 2020

While the United States may not have been prepared to combat a deadly virus, a quick and robust response from the Federal Reserve , along with changing consumer preferences, created a perfect storm that resulted in a record year for the housing and mortgage industries. Mortgage rates would fall to record lows 16 times throughout 2020, with origination volume expected to eclipse $4 trillion.

Mortgage 545

Mortgage Investors Housing Market Marketing 545

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

The average U.S. mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan remained unchanged at 2.72% this week, Freddie Mac said in a report on Thursday – the second week in a row rates have sat at the lowest recorded level in the survey’s near 50-year history. The average fixed rate for a 15-year mortgage also remained unchanged from last week at 2.28%. After another week at the record low, there have now been 18 consecutive weeks when average mortgage rates have been below 3%.

Mortgage 545

Mortgage Inventory Marketing Housing Market 545

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 24, 2020

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced new conforming loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for 2021: $548,250. This is a 7.5% increase from 2020’s limit of $510,400 and marks the fifth consecutive year of increases from the FHFA. In 2016, the FHFA increased the Fannie and Freddie conforming loan limit for the first time in 10 years, and since then, the loan limit has gone up by $131,250.

Home Value 546

Home Value Finance Mortgage 546

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

The pandemic has shifted the pecking order of the real estate industry’s location-location-location axiom for many homebuyers — high-cost and high-density urban is out, while suburban is back in vogue and rural is experiencing a bit of a revival. Many real estate investors were serendipitously ahead of this shift even before the pandemic started, driven by both affordability and an affinity for overlooked markets.

Real Estate 545

Real Estate Investors Marketing Buyers 545

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

The average U.S. mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan fell this week to 2.72%, Freddie Mac said in a report on Thursday – the lowest rate in the survey’s near 50-year history. This week’s rate broke the previous record set on Nov. 5 by 6 basis points. The average fixed rate for a 15-year mortgage also fell by 6 basis points to 2.28%. After this week’s record drop, there have now been 17 consecutive weeks when average mortgage rates have been below 3%.

Mortgage 546

Mortgage Construction Valuation Buyers 546

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Thursday, alleging a series of violations of antitrust law, including commission arrangements and consumer disclosure requirements. NAR has adopted a “series of rules, policies, and practices governing, among other things, the publication and marketing of real estate, real estate broker commissions, as well as real estate broker access to lockboxes, that have been widely adopted by NAR’s m

Real Estate 545

Real Estate Buyers Realtors Sellers 545

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

With COVID infection rates exploding and hospitalization rates rising as we go into the cold winter months, the risk this poses to our recovering housing market is a question that should be addressed. In a previous article, I identified infection rates during the winter months as one of the economy’s high-risk variables. Before COVID-19 hit our shores, we were trending at 10% growth, working at cycle highs in demand.

Housing Market 545

Housing Market Marketing Mortgage 545

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 13, 2020

In today’s red-hot market, you need a real estate agent who can get creative, play hardball in negotiations, and help you stand out from the pack in a bidding war. And not everyone — even an agent recommended to you by a friend or loved one — is up to the task. Want to make sure you’re getting the best real estate agent possible for your home purchase?

Real Estate Agent 545

Real Estate Agent Real Estate Agents Contracts 545

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Existing home sales came in at a whopping 6,850,000 , beating estimates with the highest print since 2006. Days on market fell from 36 days to 21 days on a year-over-year basis. Cash buyers remain at a historically high level of 19%, the same as last year, while sales grew 26.6% year over year. The housing market is hot. While we celebrate these strong numbers, keep in mind these three points: First, expect the data to moderate, so don’t freak out when we see the rate of growth cool down.

Housing Market 545

Housing Market Marketing Inventory Buyers 545

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

With Halloween now in the rearview mirror, we still have one more spook to survive in 2020 – and no, I’m not talking about the upcoming election. I’m talking about housing market crash headlines. The housing data has been wild this year. We’ve seen waterfall declines and parabolic rebounds. These dramatic peaks and valleys in the data have fed the demons of greed and fear that infest the minds our extreme housing bulls and the fierce housing market bears – leading to equally wild spe

Housing Market 545

Housing Market Marketing Inventory Design 545

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 19, 2020

The U.S. forbearance rate measuring the share of mortgages with suspended payments fell to 5.92% last week, the lowest since mid-April, according to the Mortgage Banker Association. The rate dropped from 6.32% in the prior week, MBA said in a report on Monday. The decline was largely led by portfolio loans and private-label securities as their share of mortgages in forbearance fell to 8.86% from 10.06% the week prior.

Mortgage 545

Mortgage Marketing Housing Market 545

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 13, 2020

In the largest increase since 2013, luxury home sales rose 41.5% in the third quarter, according to a new report from Redfin. While sales in this segment of the housing market have skyrocketed, the sales of medium-priced homes went up only 3% and sales of affordable homes actually declined by 4.2%. “The luxury housing market normally takes a hit during recessions as wealthy Americans tighten their purse strings, but this isn’t a normal recession,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in

Housing Market 545

Housing Market Buyers Inventory Marketing 545

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Existing home sales grew for the fifth consecutive month in October, up 4.3% from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.85 million, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors on Thursday. Compared to last October, sales are up 26.6%. “The surge in sales in recent months has now offset the spring market losses,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “With news that a COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available, and with mortgage rates projected to

Inventory 545

Inventory Realtors Housing Market Marketing 545

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 21, 2020

The housing market faced a lot of uncertainty when COVID-19 caused the real estate industry to pause under shut-downs, but low interest rates and the desire for more space has turned this year into a boom time for real estate agents. “It’s been a circus, really,” said Anthony Lamacchia, Realtor and owner of Lamacchia Realty in the Boston suburbs. “Anything right outside of Boston is going like wildfire, but especially the single-family homes.” Even though the averag

Housing Market 545

Housing Market Marketing Real Estate Agent Real Estate 545

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

Realtors can usually count on their biggest season being spring, followed by summer, but nothing about 2020 has been normal, including home-buying patterns. With shut-down orders in the spring, summer became the new home-buying season, but homebuyers were still incredibly active in August. Now, believe it or not, fall home-buying season is in full swing.

Real Estate Agent 546

Real Estate Agent Real Estate Agents Realtors 546

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 27, 2020

This year’s housing market has been plagued with low inventory, rising home prices, and endless bidding wars, making it hard for some would-be homeowners to get their foot in the door. Will 2021 be any different? Or, will it be a good time to buy a home? If you’ve been eyeing a home purchase but have sat out due to 2020’s competitive market (not to mention the other challenges the year has come with), you might be wondering just that.

Real Estate Agent 545

Real Estate Agent Construction Housing Market Real Estate 545

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Home prices jumped more than 2% between May and July, the largest two-month gain on record, as Americans emerging from COVID-19 lockdowns bought real estate, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said in a Wednesday report. Gains in prices were driven by mortgage rates that started tumbling to record lows after the Federal Reserve began a bond-buying program in March to prevent a credit freeze amid the pandemic-induced recession.

Finance 546

Finance Real Estate Buyers Mortgage 546

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 12, 2020

The health and economic crisis has made 2020 a horrific year for many Americans. Added to all that misery we had terrible fires in the West and hurricanes in the East. From my perspective, that ball in Times Square can’t drop fast enough hailing the end of this year. One might think that with all the bad juju circulating the planet lately, people would be extra careful not to bring more misery upon themselves.

Inventory 545

Inventory Housing Market Marketing Mortgage 545

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 30, 2020

The National Fair Housing Alliance and nine other housing organizations filed a lawsuit against Redfin on Wednesday, accusing the online brokerage of racial discrimination and favoritism toward predominately white neighborhoods. “Redfin redlines communities of color in this digital age by setting minimum home listing prices in each housing market on its website under which it will not offer any real estate brokerage services to buyers or sellers,” the lawsuit states.

Brokerage 545

Brokerage Sellers Buyers Agents 545

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

Sales of existing homes rose to a 14-year high of 6 million in August, the National Association of Realtors said in a report on Tuesday. Combined sales of single-family houses, townhomes, condominiums and cooperatively owned apartments rose 2.4% from July, according to the report. Compared to a year ago, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, last month’s sales were 11% higher, NAR said. “ Home sales continue to amaze , and there are plenty of buyers in the pipeline ready to enter the market,” sa

Realtors 545

Realtors Inventory Finance Mortgage 545

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

For Victoria Murphy, a RE/MAX agent in Oahu, Hawaii, getting her Realtor license was always a part of her plan. But shut-down orders in March helped push the college student to get it done. Murphy said the shut-down gave her enough time to get through the pre-licensing course and she was able to enter the real estate world feeling excited and determined.

Real Estate 545

Real Estate Real Estate Agent Agents Realtors 545

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

Fannie Mae , the world’s largest mortgage financier, said mortgage lending this year probably will reach an all-time high of $3.9 trillion. The dollar-volume record will be boosted by $2.4 trillion in refinancings, the highest level since 2003 and more than double the level seen in 2019, the mortgage giant said in a forecast on Tuesday. “We continue to believe that a low-rate environment will support refinance demand over the forecast horizon,” Fannie Mae said in the forecast.

Lending 545

Lending Mortgage Realtors Housing Market 545

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 26, 2020

The one economic sector that has blown away my estimates this year has been the new home sales market. I predicted peak year-to-date growth of 4.7% but this was before COVID-19, which temporarily crushed bond yields and mortgage rates. This sector is very sensitive to yields in both a positive and negative direction. When mortgage rates got to 4.75% -5% in 2018, demand fell and inventory for new homes went up.

Construction 545

Construction Inventory Mortgage Technology 545

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

Telecommuting is growing in popularity as more companies establish work-from-home protocols. With this new flexibility, nearly 2 million renter households could become homeowners , according to Zillow. Renters who are employed with a job that could be done remotely and might be priced out of their current market could afford to buy the typical starter home elsewhere in the U.S. “If remote work becomes a bona fide long-term option especially with the pandemic, that could reshape the U.S. ho

Housing Market 545

Housing Market Marketing Real Estate 545

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

Back in April, when the COVID-19 data and unemployment numbers were at their worst, the housing bubble boys had a halfway legitimate 2020 housing market crash thesis. If unemployment rates had stayed between 20%-30%, the economic damage down to homeowners would have been epic. This could have led to a rapid increase in inventory on the market, which would have crashed home prices as demand collapsed.

Housing Market 545

Housing Market Marketing Government Inventory 545