When a buyer’s offer is accepted and a contract to buy is signed, that home’s sale is considered pending until it closes weeks later. Because most pending sales end in final sales, contract signings are considered a good indicator of future sales numbers. That’s one of the reasons the National Association of Realtors tracks them each month. In July, the NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index found signings relatively flat, with pending sales down 0.4 percent from the month before and 0.7 percent lower than last year at the … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications survey, average mortgage rates inched higher last week from one week earlier. Rates were up for most loan categories, including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances and 15-year-fixed-rate loans. The increase caused a decline in refinance application demand but failed to dissuade home buyers, who pushed purchase demand 2 percent higher than the week before. Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, says … [Read more...]

The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices is considered among the leading measures of U.S. home prices. Its National Home Price Index covers all nine census divisions and has been collecting data for 27 years. According to the most recent results, home prices were up just 1.9 percent year-over-year through the end of June – down from a 2.3 percent increase the previous month. Nicholas Godec, head of Fixed Income Tradeables & Commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, says it’s the slowest annual increase in … [Read more...]

Sales of newly built single-family homes were mostly unmoved in July from the month before, according to newly released numbers. The data – from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development – shows sales of new homes were 0.6 percent lower in July than they were the previous month and are now 8.2 percent lower than year-before levels. The summer stall comes at a time when home builders are lowering prices and trying to lure prospective home buyers. Evidence of that can be found in the … [Read more...]

New numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development show the number of new homes that began construction in July was 5.2 percent higher than the month before and 12.9 percent higher than last year at the same time. Among the gains, single-family home construction rose 2.8 percent month-over-month. The improvement is welcome news – as the housing market continues to add inventory, helping balance the market and provide home buyers with more choices. But while increased new … [Read more...]

The housing market is becoming more balanced and it’s putting home buyers in better position. Buyers are benefiting from a rising number of homes for sale, which has caused home price increases – and the overall market – to slow. Perhaps that’s why sales of previously owned homes saw a 2 percent month-over-month increase in July. According to new numbers from the National Association of Realtors, sales were up in the Northeast, South, and West, while falling 1.1 percent in the Midwest. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief … [Read more...]

Demand for loans to buy homes continues to outpace last year’s level, according to new numbers from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s weekly applications survey found purchase application demand was 23 percent higher than year before levels last week, despite only increasing 0.1 percent from the week before. Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, says demand from buyers has persisted, despite economic and affordability challenges. “Purchase applications were little changed over the … [Read more...]

A few years back, it wasn’t unusual for an attractive home to be listed for sale on a Thursday and sold before the end of the weekend. The market was frenetic and home shoppers didn’t have much time to deliberate. Buyers had to move fast if they hoped to get an offer submitted before the seller had multiple competing offers already in hand. These days, the market has slowed down. In fact, according to one recent analysis, listings sold in July were on the market an average of 24 days. That’s six days longer than … [Read more...]

Each month, the National Association of Home Builders takes a survey of builders and scores their answers on a scale where any number above 50 means more builders view conditions as good than poor. Flat now for several months, the NAHB’s Housing Market showed little change in August, with builder confidence down one point from July to 32. Since May, the index has been holding between 32 and 34. Buddy Hughes, NAHB’s chairman, says buyers and builders are both waiting for change. “Affordability continues to be the … [Read more...]

A new study from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website shows why homeowners benefit from living in an area with good schools. The study looked at the 50 most popular school districts by metro area and found that, in more than half of them, median list prices averaged $1.21 million, which is 135 percent higher than in surrounding metros. That’s a big benefit. Danielle Hale, the website’s chief economist, says schools have always been a factor for buyers. “School quality has long been a driver of … [Read more...]