According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates moved higher last week from one week earlier. Rates were up across most loan categories, including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and 5/1 ARMs. Rates for 15-year fixed-rate loans fell slightly week-over-week. Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, says rates moved higher after the Fed’s most recent … [Read more...]

You have to be flexible when shopping for a house. Drawing hard lines and refusing to compromise will have you searching for a dream you’ll likely never find. Buyers make adjustments and, according to one new survey, the next generation of buyers have already figured that out. In fact, a new survey of Gen-Z buyers found that a significant majority say that, to find the house they want, they’d even be willing to move to a different city. In other words, the next generation of home buyers would sacrifice their … [Read more...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Purchase Applications Payment Index measures monthly mortgage payments based on the amounts applied for by borrowers seeking home purchase loans. The index is scaled so that any increase indicates that mortgage payments are rising and a decline is a sign they are falling. According to the most recent release, the national index fell 0.3 percent in June. Edward Seiler, MBA’s associate vice president of housing economics and executive director of the Research Institute for Housing … [Read more...]

First-time home buyers are seeing better market conditions these days, according to a new analysis. The data shows the inventory of available entry-level homes has grown 4.5 percent over the past year, with price cuts rising and bidding wars falling. That means buyers have more negotiating power and more options. But while that may be the case, it hasn’t resulted in an uptick in starter-home sales. In fact, sales fell in May. On the other end of the market, though, luxury home sales spiked - moving 6.2 percent … [Read more...]

The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index is considered among the leading measures of U.S. home prices and has been tracking data for more than 30 years. Its index covers all nine census divisions and is calculated on a quarterly basis. The most recent results are through the end of May and show national home prices up 1.1 percent from last year at the same time. But while prices overall are relatively flat, a closer look at the data reveals a big difference from one region to the next. Rebecca Kaufman, associate … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates rose last week from one week earlier. Rates were up across all loan categories, including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, 15-year fixed-rate loans, and 5/1 ARMs. Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, says the increase was due to spiking oil prices. “Following last week’s spike in oil prices, mortgage rates moved … [Read more...]

Home buyers may not consider disaster risk when looking at homes to buy, but maybe they should. After all, a new analysis from the National Association of Realtor’s consumer website found nearly 25 percent of the country’s housing stock is susceptible to severe wind, flood, or fire risk. Jiayi Xu, an economist at the site, says buyers may be missing the danger, and the cost. “Price is still the biggest motivator for a lot of home shoppers, even in places where climate risk is well known,” Xu said. “But that doesn’t … [Read more...]

New home sales bounced back in June, according to new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sales were up 1.6 percent month-over-month, the first increase in two months. National Association of Home Builders’ chief economist, Robert Dietz, says affordably priced new homes were particularly popular during the month. “New home sales are gaining some momentum at the more affordable range of the market, with homes priced below $300,000 accounting for 23 percent of June … [Read more...]

The latest pending home sales numbers from the National Association of Realtors show contracts to buy homes fell 5.4 percent in June and are now virtually unchanged from year before levels. Pending sales – which measure signed contracts to buy homes, not closings – are now 0.3 percent lower than last year at the same time. Dr. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says affordability remains the top issue. “The highest mortgage rates in nearly a year and the record-high national median home price together are … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates increased for 30-year fixed-rate loans with conforming loan balances last week, moving higher than the week before along with rates for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and 5/1 ARMs. But while rates moved higher week-over-week, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, Mike Fratantoni, says demand from home buyers still rose. “Mortgage rates reached another high point last week, with the … [Read more...]