Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) for the week ending August 25, 2011, showing mortgage rates moving higher from the previous week’s record lows as Treasury bond yields moved higher and other housing data showed slight improvement. However, the 5-year ARM did decline to 3.07 percent thereby setting a new all-time record low. Continue reading
Last week in Atkinson, Illinois, President Barack Obama conceded that it will take at least a year for housing prices and sales to even “start” rising. From the looks of the most recent new-home sales figures, he wasn’t kidding. July marked the third straight monthly new-home decline, and puts 2011 square on pace to become the worst year for new- home housing on record.
Sales of newly built, single-family homes dipped another 0.7 percent in July from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 298,000 units, according to newly released data from the U.S. Commerce Department.
“While new-home inventories are exceptionally thin, home builders are still competing with large numbers of foreclosed and distressed homes on the market and a climate of uncertainty in which consumers are reluctant to go forward with a major purchase for fear of what economic news tomorrow might bring,” said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
“The sales pace of newly built, single-family homes in July was in line with what it has been over the last year, and this is in keeping with our forecast,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “While we expect to see some marginal gains in sales activity through the rest of 2011, we do not foresee any major advances until economic growth helps boost home buyers’ confidence.”
The inventory of new homes for sale in July fell to a 48-year record low of just 165,000 units, which represents a 6.6-month supply at the current sales pace.
“Putting this situation into perspective,” said Crowe, “The current nationwide inventory of completed new homes ready for occupancy – at 61,000 units – is in keeping with what a single major metropolitan area such as Atlanta might sell in a typical year.”
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Two programs critical to REALTORS® are set to expire on September 30.
Congress must act quickly to save two programs of vital importance to our real estate market. Both are due to sunset on September 30. The end of the current extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the lowering of FHA and GSE Loan Limits could create a significant disruption in a housing market struggling toward recovery. It is imperative that REALTORS® remind their Members of Congress that these issues are bearing walls of our fragile housing market.
Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) for the week ending August 18, 2011, showing mortgage rates, fixed and adjustable, reaching all-time lows providing further incentive for those homeowners looking to refinance. The 30-year fixed averaged 4.15 percent, breaking the previous record low of 4.17 percent set November 11, 2010.
Housing affordability flirts with record levels as some markets begin to stabilize. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa., ranks most affordable major housing market in the country.
Nationwide housing affordability during the second quarter of 2011 hovered for the 10th consecutive quarter near its highest level in the more than 20 years it has been measured, according to recently released National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) data. The NAHB/Wells Fargo HOI is a measure of the percentage of homes sold in a given area that are affordable to families earning that area’s median income during a specific quarter.
Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, fell 3.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.67 million in July from 4.84 million in June (we look for at least 6 million sales in a strong economy). However, we are 21.0 percent above the 3.86 million unit pace in July 2010, which was a cyclical low immediately following the expiration of the home buyer tax credit. NAR does not like to point out that this year’s pace lags considerably behind last year’s total sales of 4.91 million which then represented then weakest sales figures in 13 years.
Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) for the week ending August 11, 2011, showing mortgage rates continuing to decline with the 30-year fixed averaging 4.32 percent marking a new low for 2011, and the 15-year fixed, 5-year ARM, and 1-year ARM averaging record lows this week.
Lawrence Yun, Chief economist and Senior Vice President, Research, National Association of Realtors® pointed out that CNNMoney got it wrong in their headline last Friday when they said the homeownership rate fell to its lowest ebb since 1965. The data show that it has only fallen to its 1997 level; and according to Yun, with rents rising, the ownership rate may be stabilizing right where it’s at. CNN, your “Pants On Fire.”
See for yourself!
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Congressman Gary G. Miller (Republican Representive from Ca.) recently introduced the Neighborhood Preservation Act (H.R. 2636). It is hoped that this legislation would ease some of the pressure that the massive inventory of foreclosed homes are putting on the housing market. According to the supportors of the bill, it would help to stabilize home values and restore overall confidence in the housing market, while, at the same time, give families a chance to stay in their homes. Continue reading
According to RE/MAX Valley Real Estate’s Mahoning Valley Housing Report (MVHR) for July, single family residential sales (not seasonally adjusted) remain in the doldrums, falling 11.7 percent from 308 units in June to just 272 in July. However, sales this month did mark nearly a ten percent rise over July of 2010. The seasonally adjusted, month over month comparison of closed transactions dropped again for the 41st consecutive month.
Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) for the week ending July 28, 2011, which shows mortgage changing little for the week amid mixed macroeconomic data. The 30-year fixed averaged 4.55 percent, while the 15-year remained unchanged from its previous week average of 3.66 percent. Continue reading