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Bidding Wars Have Almost Vanished Says Redfin
At the start of 2018 homebuyers were being highly-competitive in many US housing markets but things have changed.
According to a new report from Redfin, there was competition for just 13% of offers written by its agents for buyers in January 2019, down from 53% a year earlier.
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For First Time in 5 Years, Buyers Have More Selection to Start the Year
- U.S. for-sale home inventory increased 1.2 percent from a year ago. The largest inventory increases were seen in softening but still competitive West Coast markets.
- The typical U.S. home was worth $225,300 in January, 7.5 percent more than a year ago.
- The median rent rose 2.1 percent over a year ago to $1,468, the third straight month of accelerating appreciation.
January marked the reversal of a longstanding trend in the housing market - a modest annual gain in for-sale inventory last month means that for the first time in at least a half decade, the U.S. housing market began the calendar year with more homes available for sale than the year prior.
There were slightly more than 1.6 million U.S. homes listed for sale on Zillow in January, up 1.2 percent from a year ago and the first annual gain recorded in January since prior to 2014,
[1]
according to the January Zillow Real Estate Market Report.
[2]
The small bump in inventory to start the year may give those buyers eager to get an early jump on the spring home shopping season some reason for optimism after years of consistent inventory declines, though inventory levels overall remain constrained.
Read more at Zillow.
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Mortgage Bankers Estimate 29% Surge in New Home Sales
While we have not yet seen figures from the Census Bureau for December let alone January, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is reporting a surge in new home saleslast month.
Information from MBA's Builder Application Survey (BAS) indicates that those sales, while unchanged from January 2018, increased by 43 percent compared to December 2018. The change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, MBA estimates sales were at an annual rate of 713,000 units. This is an increase of 29.2 percent from the December estimate of 552,000 units. Before adjustment MBA estimates that there were 54,000 new home sales in January 2019, up 45.9 percent from 37,000 new home sales in December.
Read more at Mortgage News Daily.
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Metro Home Prices Jump 4 Percent in 2018's Fourth Quarter
Inventory increased and metro market prices rose at a slower pace in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the
latest quarterly report by the National Association of Realtors®. The national median existing single-family home price in the quarter was $257,600, up 4.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2017 ($247,800).
Single-family home prices increased in 92 percent of measured markets last quarter, with 163 out of 178 metropolitan statistical areas
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(MSAs) showing sales price gains in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago. Fourteen metro areas (8 percent) experienced double-digit increases, down from 18 in the third quarter.
Lawrence Yun
, NAR chief economist, says in light of the various hurdles for 2018, the close of the fourth quarter was promising. "Home prices continued to rise in the vast majority of markets but with inventory steadily increasing, home prices are, on average, rising at a slower and healthier pace," he said.
Read more from the National Association of Realtors.
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Fixed-Rate Mortgages Reach 12-Month Low
The combination of cooling inflation and slower global economic growth led mortgage rates to drift down to the lowest levels in a year. While housing activity has clearly softened over the last nine months and the lingering effects of higher rates from last year are still being felt, lower mortgage rates and a strong job market should rekindle demand for the spring home buying season.
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We hope you enjoyed this week's Market News. For more information about how PMA can help you, please contact us.
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610.834.8700 (Main Office - Plymouth Meeting)
215.345.7600 (Doylestown Office)
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Information and analysis is obtained through third parties and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.
Philadelphia Mortgage Advisors is a licensed mortgage lender by the PA Dept. of Banking and Securities, NJ Dept. of Banking & Insurance, the state of DE, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, MD Mortgage Lender #23004 and VA State Corporation Commission #MC - 6797. NMLS #128570.
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PMA & PHFA/NJHMFA can make it easier for first-time buyers to purchase a home!
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