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This spring will likely be another fiercely competitive one for home buyers. Real estate professionals should prepare their house hunters for record low inventories and rapidly rising home prices.
“Demand for housing was already strong coming into the year and we don’t see that slowing down with millennials reaching prime home-buying age, and many remote workers still in the market for more space,” says Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “At the same time, sellers failed to materialize in January, which has pushed the number of homes for sale to new lows and suggests that our new normal of rising prices and brisk sales is here to stay at least through the first half of the year. Those thinking of getting into the market this spring should brace themselves for a competitive season, especially in the market for existing homes”
If January is in any indication of how the spring market will play out, home shoppers will need to be ready to act quickly and have their financing in order. There will be fewer choices and likely continued high buyer competition. The number of homes for sale nationwide in January plunged 42.6% year-over-year, a new low, according to realtor.com®’s records dating back to 2021.
https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/02/04/spring-buyers-must-be-ready-to-act-quickly

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/roofing/21017660/how-to-get-rid-of-ice-dams

There’s a fresh sign that former urban dwellers who have fled to small towns during the pandemic are treating the move as permanent: opening shops and other small businesses, such as rental offices, in their new locations. “These transplants … are eager to recreate their old businesses or try new ones,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
Some real estate professionals say they’re seeing quicker sales for commercial properties and office space. “We have people with much higher incomes that are moving up here,” Raj Kumar of Select Sotheby’s International Realty in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., told the Journal. Commercial real estate sales in Columbia, Greene, and Dutchess counties are more than four times higher than they were a year ago, Kumar says.
Continue… https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/02/01/some-ex-urbanites-settling-into-small-town-life

2020’s Existing-home Sales Attain 14-Year Peak

January 22, 2021

Existing-home sales in 2020 surged to the highest level in 14 years, landing 22% higher than a year ago, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Friday. Existing-home sales—completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops—posted big gains year over year and rose by 0.7% in December 2020 compared to November 2020’s already unseasonably high rates.

“This momentum is likely to carry into the new year, with more buyers expected to enter the market,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Although mortgage rates are projected to increase, they will continue to hover near record lows at around 3%. Moreover, expect economic conditions to improve with additional stimulus forthcoming and vaccine distribution already underway.”

Existing-home sales in December 2020 reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.76 million. Still, home buyers are finding a limited number of homes for sale. Inventory levels are at record lows. That has placed continued pressure on home prices, which continue to post double-digit yearly gains.

The median existing-home price for all housing types in December 2020 was $309,800, up nearly 13% compared to December 2019, NAR reports. Every major region of the U.S. saw home prices rise last month.

Here’s a closer look at key housing indicators from NAR’s latest report:

• Days on the market: Seventy percent of the homes sold in December 2020 were on the market for less than a month. Properties typically remained on the market for 21 days that month, down from 41 days in December 2019.
• Housing inventories: Total housing inventory at the end of December totaled 1.07 million units, down 23% compared to a year ago. Inventories are at an all-time low at a 1.9-month supply at the current sales pace. “To their credit, homebuilders and construction companies have increased efforts to build, with housing starts hitting an annual rate of near 1.7 million in December, with more focus on single-family homes,” Yun says. “However, it will take vigorous new-home construction in 2021 and in 2022 to adequately furnish the market to properly meet the demand.”
• First-time buyers: First-time buyers comprised 31% of sales in December, down from 32% in November.
• Investors/second-home buyers: Individual investors and second-home buyers purchased 14% of homes in December, a decline from 17% a year prior. Investors and second-home buyers tend to account for the largest bulk of cash sales, which accounted for 19% of transactions in December.
• Distressed sales: With moratoriums still in place, foreclosures and short sales comprised less than 1% of sales in December, down from 2% a year ago.

Regional Breakdown

Here’s a closer look at existing-home sales fared across the country in December 2020:

• Northeast: Existing-home sales rose 4.5%, a 27% increase compared to a year earlier. Median price: $362,100, up 19% from December 2019.
• Midwest: Existing-home sales were unchanged in December compared to November, but were up 26.2% from a year earlier. Median price: $235,700, a 13.7% annual increase.
• South: Existing-home sales rose 1.1% in December, up 20.7% annually. Median price: $268,100, an 11.3% increase from December 2019.
• West: Existing-home sales dropped 1.4% compared to a month prior but are nearly 18% higher than a year ago. Median price: $467,900—up 14.2% from December 2019.

Source: National Association of REALTORS®

Seventy percent of homeowners of about 1,000 recently surveyed say they have delayed home repairs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from Sears Home Services. Some consider those home repairs “critical,” too. Furthermore, nearly 60% of homeowners surveyed say they felt it’s acceptable to put off critical home repairs in the pandemic.
Many homeowners may be delaying home repairs due to their finances, the survey finds. Homeowners under financial stress are the most likely to report postponing repairs to broken appliances (34%), water damage (31%), electrical issues (30%), and roof repairs (29%), according to the survey. These postponed repairs, however, could result in pricier fixes later on or even dangers, researchers warn.
The following charts show the most common home repairs postponed and the top 15 home repairs completed during the pandemic.
Continue… https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/01/26/the-most-commonly-delayed-home-repairs

Click the link below to read the full article.

https://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/monthly-home-maintenance-checklist-february/

Quicken Loans originated the highest number of home purchase loans in 2019, more than any other lender, according to a new analysis from Ascent, a personal finance resource produced by The Motley Fool. Wells Fargo closed loans totaling more than $305 billion in 2019, 73% higher than its nearest competitor.
Ascent looked at the top mortgage lenders from 2019 to determine who was originating the most loans, closing the most dollars’ worth of loans, and completing the highest percentage of their business with minorities and low-income borrowers.
Of more than 11,000 lending institutions, the top 25 issued 88% of the loans originated last year.
Continue…https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/01/20/these-lenders-issued-the-most-mortgages-to-buyers-in-2019

These Lenders Issued the Most Mortgages to Buyers in 2019

January 20, 2021

Quicken Loans originated the highest number of home purchase loans in 2019, more than any other lender, according to a new analysis from Ascent, a personal finance resource produced by The Motley Fool. Wells Fargo closed loans totaling more than $305 billion in 2019, 73% higher than its nearest competitor.

Ascent looked at the top mortgage lenders from 2019 to determine who was originating the most loans, closing the most dollars’ worth of loans, and completing the highest percentage of their business with minorities and low-income borrowers.

Of more than 11,000 lending institutions, the top 25 issued 88% of the loans originated last year.

The largest mortgage providers by purchase originations in 2019 were:

• Quicken Loans: 541,000
• United Shore Financial Services (also known as United Wholesale Mortgage): 339,000
• Wells Fargo: 232,000
• Chase: 168,000
• Fairway Independent Mortgage: 147,000

But the largest mortgage providers by total value of closed conventional loans was Wells Fargo, at more than $305 billion, followed by Chase at $177 billion and Quicken Loans at nearly $146 billion.

Ascent found that the largest number of purchase originations to minority borrowers was from United Shore Financial Services (41,648); Wells Fargo (25,200); Quicken Loans (22,646); Bank of America (20,336); and Fairway Independent Mortgage (18,800).

The largest number of purchase originations to low- or moderate-income borrowers—those who earn less than 80% of the estimated current area’s median family income—were by United Shore Financial Services (45,752), Quicken Loans (37,252), and Fairway Independent Mortgage (29,986).Source: “The Largest Mortgage Providers in the U.S.,” The Ascent (Dec. 28, 2020)

FHFA Extends Relaxed Pandemic Lending Standards

January 15, 2021

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced it will continue to allow for alternative appraisals and employment verifications on government-backed loans until Feb. 28 to prevent settlement delays.

The relaxed lending and appraisal standards for mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were first put into place by the FHFA in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. They allow for alternative verifications of employment and appraisals. The standards were originally set to expire on Jan. 31.

“The changes are to ensure continued support for borrowers during the COVID-19 national emergency,” the FHFA said in a statement on Thursday. “FHFA will continue to monitor the coronavirus situation and update policies as needed.”

During the initial stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, lenders reported struggles in being able to obtain an appraisal based on a full interior and exterior inspection of the property. The government-sponsored enterprises were directed to permit drive-up appraisals or desktop appraisals in certain situations so that appraisals could move forward and not delay settlements.

Also, as businesses closed during the pandemic, lenders reported struggling with being able to verify borrowers’ employment. In response, the GSEs began accepting alternative forms of employment verification, such as a recent pay stub.

In a release, the FHFA said the extension applies to allowing alternative methods for documenting income and verifying employment before a loan closes; alternative appraisals on purchase and rate term refinance loans; and expanding the use of power of attorney to assist with loan closings.

The FHFA has issued a request for public input on policies and practices regarding the home appraisal process as it weighs a series of proposals moving forward. Read more: FHFA Seeks Comment on Overhauling Appraisal ProcessSource: FHFA.gov and “FHFA Extends Relaxed Appraisal, Lending Standards,” HousingWire (Jan. 14, 2021)Comment