Read the Latest Local Housing Market Data in Long and Foster's Market Conditions Report |
Existing Home Sales Hit Highest Level Since December 2006 |
Existing-home sales continued to climb in August, marking three consecutive months of positive sales gains, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Each of the four major regions experienced both month-over-month and year-over-year growth, with the Northeast seeing the greatest improvement from the prior month.
Total existing-home sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 2.4% from July to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 6.00 million in August. Sales as a whole rose year-over-year, up 10.5% from a year ago (5.43 million in August 2019). Read more from the National Association of Realtors.
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New Home Sales Also Crush Forecasts, Soaring to 14-Year Highs |
Once again new home sales exceeded expectations, this time by a lot. Sales of newly built homes rose 4.8 percent in August, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.011 million. That puts sales an astounding 43.2 percent higher than they were the previous August. It was the sixth straight month of rising sales.
After such a string of increases, analysts had expected sales to pull back a bit. Those polled by Econoday were looking for the number to come in between 820,000 and 950,000 with a consensus of 875,000. Perhaps they would have come up with a better forecast had they known that the July number from the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development, would be upgraded substantially. The original estimate of 901,000, was revised to 965,000. Read more from Mortgage News Daily.
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Inventory Is Way Down From Last Year |
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, there have been nearly 400,000 fewer homes listed than the same time period in 2019. That has created a large deficit in the housing supply at a time when consumers are rushing to buy. Home prices are increasing at double the pace of last year, and homes are selling 12 days faster than in 2019, according to realtor.com®’s Weekly Housing Report.
“Sellers are more reluctant to list their home, given the uncertainty over the economy and the pandemic environment,” says Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com®. “Buyers, on the other hand—especially hungry first-timers—remain largely unfazed by the challenges and are motivated by low mortgage rates and the fear of missing out on the right home.” Read more from NAR's Realtor Magazine.
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Housing Market Stays Hot Into Fall with Mortgage Applications Up 6.8%
Refinances led the way, snagging almost two-thirds share of mortgage activity
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Despite mortgage rates rising slightly from a previous all-time low, mortgage applications gained 6.8% last week, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The refinance index continued its upward climb, gaining 9% last week and jumping 86% higher than the same week one year ago. Refinances also reached a nearly two thirds share of mortgage activity last week, increasing to 64.3% of total applications from 62.8% the week prior. Read more from Housing Wire.
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Homebuyers Face Another Shortage: Appliances |
Dishwashers, refrigerators, washers and dryers, and other household appliances are low in stock nationwide, and some consumers are waiting months for their orders to be fulfilled. The backup is yet another problem you can blame on the COVID-19 pandemic.
First, as consumers started hoarding food, there was a rush on freezers. “We sold more freezers in two days than we did all last year,” Steve Sheinkopf of Boston-area Yale Appliance told NPR. “People were storing stuff because we thought this was the end of times. We needed food.” Read more from NAR's Realtor Magazine.
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Remote Workers May Seek Retirement Housing Early |
As more work is done remotely, some Americans are deciding to make an early move to their retirement locale. Many employers are offering employees the option to work from home for the rest of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and some have adopted remote work as a permanent option. Freed from the bounds of a commute, many older Americans are deciding to move now.
“The pandemic was unexpected, working from home was unexpected, but nonetheless many companies realized that workers can be just as productive working from home,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of REALTORS®, told CNBC. “We may begin to see a boost in people buying retirement homes before their retirement.” Read more from the National Association of Realtors.
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Mortgage Market Update
Mortgage Rates Tick Up
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Mortgage rates set several record lows over the last few months and have remained low into September. While there is room for rates to decrease even more, higher home prices and low inventory could potentially stifle the high demand that we’ve been seeing. |
We hope you enjoyed this week's Market News. For more information about how PMA can help you, please contact us. |
Plymouth Meeting Office: 610.834.8700
Doylestown Office: 215.345.7600
Ocean City, NJ Office: 609.398.8600
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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