The number of homes for sale was already low at the beginning of 2020. It only got worse from there. The pandemic, along with surging buyer demand, led to fewer choices and higher prices for hopeful home buyers. Homes sold quickly as competition spiked. But where was for-sale inventory at the end of the year? Well, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors' consumer website, the number of homes for sale was down 39.6 percent year-over-year in December, hitting an all-time low. But there … [Read more...]

Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index measures Americans' perception of the current housing market and their personal financial situation. The index serves as a gauge of how optimistic consumers are about buying or selling a home. In December, sentiment declined from the month before, with fewer Americans saying it's a good time to enter the market. Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae's senior vice president and chief economist, says the pandemic may be behind the decline. “The HPSI declined for the second consecutive … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates declined during the last two weeks of 2020. In fact, rates were down across all loan categories, including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and 15-year fixed-rate loans. The drop means mortgage rates remain at all-time survey lows. Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, said record-low rates are … [Read more...]

Home design trends, by their nature, come and go. There's always a hot new color or a must-have fashion. And just as quickly as they appear, they're erased and replaced with the next hot new thing. But when you ask home buyers and homeowners what they want from their homes – beyond the aesthetics – their answers are remarkably consistent. In short, everyone wants their home to be comfortable, efficient, clean, and healthy. That doesn't change. Home buyers and owners want things like smart thermostats, energy-star … [Read more...]

Affordability conditions worsened during the final quarter of 2020, according to new numbers from ATTOM Data Solutions. Their fourth-quarter U.S. Home Affordability Report found that homes and condos were less affordable than their historical average in 55 percent of the 499 included counties. That's up from 43 percent one year ago. Todd Teta, ATTOM's chief product officer, says affordability has been slipping, but that can change. “Home prices have continued rising throughout 2020 and the housing market has … [Read more...]

Luxury isn't easy to define. The dictionary says it's “the state of great comfort and extravagant living.” But since that leaves a lot to interpretation, we all have different ideas about what luxury really means. This is easy to see when thinking about the housing market. After all, a luxury home in one market can be vastly different than a luxury home in another. So, in order to get a better view of recent home sales, one new report broke them down into five price tiers. The results show that homes in the top – … [Read more...]

November is mostly known for darker days, colder weather, and Thanksgiving. It's not typically known for home shopping. But this year, buyer demand has been anything but typical – and November was no exception. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors' most recent Pending Home Sales Index, the number of contracts to buy homes signed during November was the highest ever for the month. Additionally, contract activity was 16.4 percent higher than last year at the same time. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief … [Read more...]

The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices isn't the only index tracking home-price activity, but it's among the most closely followed. And, according to their most recent release, prices are rising. In fact, they were up 8.4 percent year-over-year at the end of October. Craig J. Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, says prices were increasing pre-COVID and have only accelerated since then. “We've noted before that a trend of accelerating increases … [Read more...]

It seems just about everything about the way we live changed in 2020. Home buying was no exception. The coronavirus altered both the way we shop for homes and what we we look for in a house. With more Americans able to work from home, there was a well-documented spike in searches for homes further from city centers, in suburbs and exurbs. There's also been sustained demand for bigger homes with more rooms. In fact, according to one recent analysis, buyer demand for homes with more bedrooms and extra space saw … [Read more...]

November sales of newly built, single-family homes were 20.8 percent higher than they were at the same time last year, according to new numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The gains are an encouraging sign, especially when combined with recent improvements in residential construction numbers. The new home market is vital to the housing market's overall health, especially at a time when for-sale inventory is low – as it is now. And since new home … [Read more...]