News

Did You Know?

- 06/21/21

Did You Know?

The Fed - under Jerome Powell's leadership that started in 2018 - signaled they expect to raise interest rates twice by late 2023, sooner than they anticipated in March, as the economy recovers rapidly from the effects of the pandemic and inflation heats up. 18 more months of super-low interest rates?  I'll take that!  Some expect rates to rise sooner with rising inflation, an indicator of massive economic activity. We should be reminded that rates are at record lows..... (WSJ)

GOOD NEWS: Futures for July Lumber delivery ended Tuesday at $1,009.90 per thousand board feet, down 41% from the record of $1,711.20 reached in early May. Futures have declined 14 of the past 16 trading days. Hopefully this roller coaster price see-saw is an indicator of the overall markets trajectory whereby soaring prices due to massive economic re-awakening calm down after an intial surge..... (CNBC)

U.S. single-family rent growth increased 5.3% in April 2021, the fastest increase since May 2006. The index slowed in 2020, but even when compared with 2019, rent growth is running above pre-pandemic levels. The index measures rent changes among single-family rental homes, including condominiums, using a repeat-rent analysis to measure the same rental properties over time. (CORELOGIC)

The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage moved higher, hitting 3.25%, according to Mortgage News Daily. Last fall, mortgage rates dropped dramatically, and by February of 2021 the average rate on the 30-year fixed was at 2.75%.

Did You Know?

- 05/31/21

Did You Know?

Among the country’s 85 largest metro areas, Austin recorded the biggest year-over-year rise in April for median home-sale prices — a jaw-dropping 42.3%. In 2nd place were Oxnard, California, and Miami, each at 25.8%!

Nearly 50% of homes sold for more than their list price during the four weeks ending May 16, but there are signs that housing market demand may be reaching its peak. (Housingwire)

For the fourth consecutive month, lenders were able to speed up times to close, as timelines start to near pre-pandemic processing times. “The decrease in average time to close is not surprising, given the increase we have observed in the adoption of digital transformation tools,” says Joe Tyrrell, ICE president. “Digital mortgage technologies are making it faster and easier to close a mortgage loan, thus improving the overall experience for participants.” (RealtorMag)

A much-anticipated inventory rebound failed to materialize in April as the Spring home shopping season arrived in full force, helping drive home value growth to new highs and accelerating an already fast-moving market. And this broad-based housing strength is increasingly spilling over into the previously soft rental market, according to the April 2021 Zillow Real Estate Market Report.

Did You Know?

- 05/11/21

Did You Know?

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday that it is possible the Federal Reserve may have to raise interest rates to keep the economy from overheating if the administration’s spending plans are enacted. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated last week that the central bank isn’t worried about a persistent rise in inflation and that he expects that price increases over the coming months will be transitory. We shall see.... (WSJ)

San Francisco's controller office projects that the city’s commercial and residential tax base fell just 0.46% in 2020, from $301.4 billion to $300 billion, resulting in a $7.6 million loss in revenue for the fiscal year starting in July. That's significantly less than you might have expected after reading all those gloom-and-doom headlines! (Bloomberg).

The surge in lumber prices in the past year has added $35,872 to the price of an average new single-family home and $12,966 to the market value of an average new multifamily home, according to the NAHB. Steel prices are up 18% and Copper up 27%.... Single-family housing starts were up 41% in March year over year. New lot supply is down 20% YOY. and pricing is up 11%. (CNBC).

The US economy grew at an impressive 6.4% rate in the first quarter as the US economy rebounds from mass shutdowns in 2020 and a deep recession. Jobless claims now are approaching a third of where they were in July 2020.

Did You Know?

- 03/11/21

Did You Know?

Remember a few months ago when we said super-low interest rates were possibly a buyer's ULTIMATE COLLECTOR-QUALITY buying asset? The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose above 1.55% yesterday, its highest level since before the pandemic up from 1.46% earlier Thursday and 0.92% at the beginning of the year. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has risen above 3% for the first time since July, and this has started to weigh on applications to buy or refinance homes. (WSJ)

FLEEING California? Hardly! California housing had the hottest real estate month in 17 years! Homebuyers gobbled up houses at a 484,730 annual pace in January, up 22.5% in a year, the third consecutive gain above 20%. The statewide median price paid was $699,890, up 21.7% in a year and the biggest gain since February 2014. If that’s not overheated to you, consider this: The last time sales and prices jumped more than 20% in the same month was August 2003.

Second-home sales were up 44% year over year in 2020, according to the NAR. About 45% of vacation home buyers are in their 50s and 60s and buy for personal use. (Marketwatch)