The numbers: More Americans signed on the dotted line to buy a home last month, but the factors that have tested the nation’s housing market are likely to eat into sales in the months to come.
“May’s strong increase in transactions — following April’s decline, as well as a sudden erosion in home affordability — was indeed a surprise,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. “The housing market is attracting buyers due to the decline in mortgage rates, which fell below 3%, and from an uptick in listings.”
The big picture: The uptick in pending sales could be sustained, Yun argued, because of the strong stock market and rising home prices. He predicted that more homes will be listed in the latter half of the year, which would help to slow the pace of home-price growth. The latest mortgage-applications data from the Mortgage Bankers Association would back up that prediction. The trade group’s index that measures the volume of applications for loans used to purchase homes was down 17% from a year ago as of the week ending June 25, and had declined 6% from the previous week.
What they’re saying: “We believe existing home sales are going to see much harder year-over-year comparisons for the remainder of the year, as the base for comparison moves away from the slump generated in the early months of the pandemic and into the surge in home sales that followed,” said Ruben Gonzalez, chief economist for Keller Williams.
economists are a dime a dozen, might as well go to a fortune teller
Not enough supply.
Fear. Fear. Fear.
thanks
My dry powder is ready as i’m looking to buy two rentals