🏡Real Estate Nuggets - 9/13/2024
Real estate news for you as of September 13th, 2024.
~Average mortgage rates as of September 13th, 2024~
30 yr. Fixed - 6.15%
15 Yr. Fixed - 5.67%
30 Yr. FHA - 5.69%
30 Yr. Jumbo - 6.40%
Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of September 13th, 2024. © MND's Daily Rate Index
1. Falling rates mean housing payments are now more affordable than a year ago despite higher prices
High home prices are being partially offset by the lowest housing payments since January – a byproduct of falling mortgage rates.
The median U.S. monthly housing payment was $2,558 during the four weeks ending September 8, close to where it was at the start of the year and down 1.3% from a year earlier, according to a new report from Redfin.
That marks the second-largest decline in more than four years, just behind the 1.6% drop reported two weeks earlier.
2. Charted: Mortgage rate predictions for 2025
Source: KCM
3. 🔥Quick Hits
📈An estimated 4M loans await refinancing once rates hit 6%. (NMP)
🏘️Mortgage rates falling to 5% would get this party started. (HousingWire)
💳The state of America’s wallet. (The Wall Street Journal)
📸Make Sure Your Online Listings Shine (NAR)
4. Home listings are up more than 60% in some cities
Nationwide, active listings in August were up 36% compared with the same month last year, according to a new report from Realtor.com. That was the 10th straight month of annual growth. Supply is still, however, 26% lower than in August 2019, pre-pandemic.
Some cities experienced even larger spikes in inventory, with Tampa up 90%, San Diego 80%, Miami 72%, Seattle 69%, and Denver 67%.
Regionally, active listings rose 46% in the South, 35.7% in the West, 23.8% in the Midwest and 15.1% in the Northeast.
“This August, as the number of homes on the market continues to climb, price cuts are more common, asking prices are moderating, and homes are taking longer to sell,” wrote Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor’com, in a release. “The widely anticipated Fed rate cut has already ushered in lower mortgage rates, but it seems that some buyers and sellers are waiting for additional declines.”
5. Inflation remains subdued, as Fed preps rate cut
The Consumer Price Index climbed 2.5 percent in August from a year earlier, a notably cooler pace of inflation than July’s 2.9 percent and down sharply from a peak of 9.1 percent back in 2022.
Federal Reserve officials are widely expected to make their first interest rate cut in more than four years next week, and the fresh inflation reading — which was the coolest in more than three years — is the final major economic puzzle piece before that move.
6. NAR vows to take its DOJ beef all the way to the top
The National Association of Realtors is ready to take its legal fight with the Department of Justice to the highest court in the land.
The trade group plans to petition the Supreme Court in its battle to block the Justice Department’s investigation into its practices, according to a court filing reported by Crain’s. NAR intends to make its move by Oct. 10.
The petition pertains to an investigation the DOJ launched five years ago into some of NAR’s policies around agent commissions, including the Participation Rule. It’s the same rule that was at the center of a landmark $418 million settlement proposed to clear up class-action cases brought by homebuyers and enact rule changes.
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Adam Walmsley // Oklahoma Mortgage Loan Officer // NMLS 2286628
Mobile: (405) 703-9929
Email: adam.walmsley@southwestfunding.com
Moore, Oklahoma
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Southwest Funding, LP // NMLS 32139
