Mortgage Rates Jump to Highest Averages Since August – Based on Freddie Mac reports, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is on the rise, leaping to a 12-week high. However, rates are still well below year-ago levels. “The outlook for a favorable resolution to the trade dispute between the U.S. and China is still unclear, introducing some volatility into financial markets and the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Mortgage rates are following suit but are near historic lows, while mortgage applications to purchase a home remain higher year over year.”
Source and link to the full article: Freddie Mac
Home Prices Are Rising Rapidly Again – According to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions, lower mortgage rates may be getting offset by higher home prices. Single-family homes and condos sold for a median price of $270,000 in the third quarter which is up 8.3% from a year ago and a new high. Homeowners who sold in the third quarter earned a median profit of 34.5%, a post-recession high. They saw an average home price gain since purchase of $68,686, according to the report. The National Association of REALTORS® also reported recently that median existing-home prices are rising. In September, they reached a median of $272,100, up 5.9% from a year ago. All four major regions of the U.S. saw home prices rise last month, NAR reports. “The seven-year U.S. housing boom is back in high gear,” says Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions. “After a series of relatively small price increase quarters, home prices saw quite the uptick, seller profits rose and the problem of distressed sales continued to fade, helping to make the third quarter the strongest in four years. There had been signs before the latest surge of a cooling market, but they seem to have diminished, at least for now.”
Source and link to the full article: ATTOM Data Solutions
More New-Home Buyers Turn to Unconventional Loans – Based on a new analysis of census data by the National Association of Home Builders, more buyers are turning to unconventional loans to finance their new-home purchase. The share of unconventional financing is comprising more than a quarter or 28.6% of the new-home build market. Unconventional forms of financing include loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, VA-backed loans, cash purchases, and other forms of financing, such as through the Rural Housing Service or loans through the state or local government.
Source and link to the full article: “More Than a Quarter of New Homes Had Non-Conventional Financing in 2018,” National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing blog (Oct. 18, 2019)
Foreclosures Fall to Lowest Level Since 2005 – According to ATTOM Data Solutions latest Foreclosure Market Report, a total of 143,105 properties nationwide received a foreclosure filing, default notice, scheduled auction, or bank repossession in the third quarter of this year, the lowest level since the second quarter of 2005. U.S. foreclosure activity is now 49% below the pre-recession average of 278,912 between the first quarter of 2006 and the third quarter of 2007, ATTOM Data reports. “Foreclosure activity continues to decline across the country, which is a good sign that the housing market and the broader economy remain strong and that the lending excesses that helped bring down the economy during the Great Recession remain a memory,” says Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions. “This is not to say that everything in the latest foreclosure picture is rosy. Some states have seen their foreclosure rates increase this year, which could cause some concern.”
Source and link to the full article: ATTOM Data Solutions