Hispanic Homeownership Surges – According to Curbed.com reports, Hispanics are expected to make up 52 percent of new home buyers between 2010 and 2030. This trend is largely driven by the country’s 14.6 million Hispanic millennials. Since 2000, the number of Hispanic households has jumped by 6.7 million, which comprises 42.5 percent of the country’s overall household growth.
Loan Demand Rebounds on Lower Rates – The Mortgage Bankers Association reported total mortgage application volume, which reflects refinance and home-buying activity, rose 3.3 percent week over week on a seasonally adjusted basis. Following several weeks of drops, mortgage application volume pushed higher last week. The uptick was mostly due to an increase in refinancers who took advantage of lower mortgage rates.
More Buyers Likely to Consider ARMs Again – According to CoreLogic’s senior professional economist, Archana Pradhan, the market share of adjustable-rate mortgages is slowly rising and will likely gain more popularity as fixed-rate mortgages increase over the coming year. More buyers who are borrowing larger sums of money are reaching for ARMs. Forty-seven percent of mortgages that were originated during the first quarter of this year with balances in excess of $1 million were ARMs, up 4 percentage points from the previous quarter. ARMs comprised about 13 percent of the market share in the $400,001 to $1 million range, up 3 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2016. However, the ARM share was just 4 percent in the first quarter for mortgages in the $200,001 to $400,000 range.
More Owners Are Using Their Equity Again – Equifax, a credit reporting firm, announced that as home prices continue to rise, more homeowners are tapping into their home equity, making home equity lines of credit and cash-out mortgage refinances popular again. Home equity line originations jumped 8 percent to nearly $46 billion in the second quarter. That is the highest level since 2008. Cash-out mortgage refinances reached $15 billion, a 6 percent increase from a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.