Newly Built Homes Make Up 26% of All Single-Family Homes for Sale—A Record High |
New construction is taking up a bigger piece of the pie as low mortgage rates and surging homebuyer demand make homebuilding more attractive during the coronavirus pandemic.
More than a quarter (25.7%) of single-family homes for sale in America during the first quarter were new-construction homes. That’s up from 20.4% a year earlier and represents the highest share on record. Read more from Redfin.
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Despite Housing Shortages, Contract Signings Climb |
Pending home sales climbed in March, following two months of declines that were mostly blamed on a lack of homes for sale, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Thursday. Home buyer demand remains high, but inventory constraints continue to push on sales potential.
NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index—a forward-looking indicator of homes sales based on contract signings—increased 1.9% in March and posted a 23.3% year-over-year gain. Part of that double-digit annual increase is due to a comparison to March 2020, when COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began. Read more from NAR's Realtor Magazine.
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Turning Owners Into Sellers |
Inventory shortages have plagued markets across the country, but a new survey suggests a turnaround may soon begin to break for frustrated buyers who can’t find enough homes for sale.
Ten percent of homeowners say they plan to list their home for sale this year, and more than a quarter—26%—say they plan to list within the next three years, according to a new survey from realtor.com® of 657 potential home sellers conducted during the week of March 29. Read more from NAR's Realtor Magazine.
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Despite Higher Prices and Hectic Market, Owning a Home is Still More Affordable Than Renting in Most U.S. Cities |
Even with the housing market as hectic as it is right now, with low inventory and higher prices, owning is still more affordable than renting in close to two-thirds of U.S. housing markets, a recent ATTOM Data Solutions report found. But that trend may not remain stable.
The 2021 Rental Affordability Report found that owning a median-priced three-bedroom home is less expensive than renting a three-bedroom property in 572 out of 915 counties analyzed. Despite home prices rising at a quicker speed than rent prices, the study showed that owning is still winning out, but may not be for long. Read more from the PA Association of Realtors.
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Why Existing Homeowners Won’t Sell Their Homes Now |
While house price appreciation has been the focus for many looking at the buy side of the housing market, other observers have placed some hope in that appreciation, noting that as demand for housing increases underlying home equity is growing. The two terms, house price appreciation and home equity growth, are essentially the same thing looked at from a buyer’s and a seller’s viewpoint respectively. From the seller’s view, many observers are saying that the opportunity to make a huge profit on a home by listing now should help bring existing homes on to the market, thereby cooling it somewhat. According to the real house price index recently released by title insurance provider First American, however, that may not actually be the case. Read more from Mortgage Professional America.
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In light of the rising COVID caseloads globally, U.S. Treasury yields stopped moving up a month ago and have remained within a narrow range as the market digests incoming economic data. The good news is that with rates still very low, refinancing continues to be attractive for many borrowers who financed before 2020. But, for eager buyers, especially first-time homebuyers, inventory continues to be extremely tight and competition for available homes to purchase remains high. |
We hope you enjoyed this week's Market News. For more information about how PMA can help you, please contact us. |
phone: 610.834.8700
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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