The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 3.07%, down from 3.13% last week, Freddie Mac says
The path ahead for the U.S. economy remains “extraordinarily uncertain,” Powell tells Congress
Mortgage rates managed another slight improvement today, which means the average lender is offering new all-time low rates for the 4th time this month. Even if rates had lurched unexpectedly higher today, June still would have gone down as the best month in the history of the mortgage market with many lenders now offering conventional 30yr fixed rates under 3% on top tier scenarios.
Pending home sales soared back in May, rising 44.3%—the highest monthly gain since 2001—the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports.
Annually, contract signing fell 5.1%.
“This has been a spectacular recovery for contract signings and goes to show the resiliency of American consumers and their evergreen desire for homeownership,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist. “This bounce back also speaks to how the housing sector could lead the way for a broader economic recovery.”
Yun added more listings are “continuously appearing” as the economy reopens. However, home construction is needed to “counter the persistent underproduction of homes over the past decade.”
Redfin, in a survey of Q1 2020, revealed a divide between the percentage of African-American families versus white families who own their properties outright.
According to Redfin’s report, less than half of America’s African-American families (44%) own the home that they live within, while in stark contrast—and almost double that amount (74%) of white families own their current residences…
… Experts agree that as we move forward as a nation, narrowing this homeownership gap should be a top priority for us all, including those who make the laws in the government who can enact real and systemic change.
In June, the interest rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hovered near record lows. What’s more, it’s probably not moving in July, according to NerdWallet.
In the first four weeks of June, the 30-year fixed averaged 3.33% APR—just below May’s 3.37% and April’s 3.36% APR. In the four-year history of NerdWallet’s daily rate survey, June’s average was the lowest on record.
According to a survey by Lending Tree, nearly 70% of home sellers responded that they would be willing to accept a lower offer than the original asking price for their properties.
Although there has been a recent revival in the housing market, with bidding wars among hopeful buyers heating up, the survey results show that sellers are feeling the financial pressure from COVID-19.
Chief economist says the luxury market is leading the recovery
With home price growth outpacing the overall housing market, it appears that luxury homes are bouncing back as homebuyers returned to the market in full force in May.
According to realtor.com’s Luxury Housing Report released on Thursday, the luxury market actually outpaced the rest of the housing market in both price growth and views.
-The number of active mortgage forbearance plans rose by 79,000 in the past week, erasing roughly half of the improvement seen since the peak of May 22.
-Increases happened every day for the past five business days.
-As of Tuesday, 4.68 million homeowners were in forbearance plans, allowing them to delay their mortgage payments for at least three months.
-This represents 8.8% of all active mortgages, up from 8.7% last week.
The trend of precisely pricing homes is on the rise. Research indicates that a house with a precise price will sell better than a house priced with a rounded number. That’s because this technique plays with a key characteristic of human psychology.
Thanks for reading, and be well.
