Mortgage Rates Recede After Last Week’s Uptick

September has proven to be the most volatile month for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage since March. Average weekly movement on rates has fluctuated 11 basis points in that time, Freddie Mac reports. This week, mortgage rates fell after posting the largest uptick in nearly a year last week.
“With both unemployment rate and mortgage rates below 4% and near historic lows, it is no surprise that the housing market regained momentum in home sales and construction as or near decade highs,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The fall housing market is poised to continue with steady gains in prices and solid sales activity.”
Continue… https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2019/09/27/mortgage-rates-recede-after-last-week-s-uptick

Real Estate Pros See Rising Number of Contract Signings

All four major regions of the U.S. posted growth in sales contract activity last month, led by the West, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Thursday. NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index—a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings—rose 1.6% last month, erasing last month’s decrease. Contract signings are now up 2.5% year over year, NAR reports.
“It is very encouraging that buyers are responding to exceptionally low interest rates,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “The notable sales slump in the West region over recent years appears to be over. Rising demand will reaccelerate home price appreciation in the absence of more supply.”
Continue…

Single-Family Homes Continue to Lead Rental Market

Low rental-home inventory is prompting single-family rental prices to rise, driven mostly by an upswing in demand from millennials. However, annual increases are slowing, according to a new report from CoreLogic, a real estate data firm.
U.S. single-family rent prices rose 2.9% year over year in July, which is lower than the 3.1% gain in July 2018. The highest annual rent price increase was in Phoenix, at 7.2%.
Continue… https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2019/09/18/single-family-homes-continue-to-lead-rental-market

Rents Are Moving Higher, But at a Slower Pace

Increased demand and slow-moving construction are making national rents higher, according to new data from the RentCafe and Yardi Matrix. The national average rent in August rose 3.3% year over year to $1,472.
However, rents are rising at a slower pace. The August data marks the slowest rise since February, the report notes. Ninety-seven percent of the cities analyzed saw a seasonal slowdown in August with rents either dropping or only rising slightly by 1%.

Yay, Perrella and Associates!

Patti Stoddard is EVERYTHING you want in a realtor!
Last fall, my husband and I realized it was “now or never” if we were “ever” going to attain our long-awaited, life-long dream of owning a cabin on a lake in the Ely area.
Patti listened to every detail that mattered to us.
It was literally a one-stop shop! Once our dream cabin was found, Patt made the purchase of it go smoothly. Though there was an issue to resolve with the owner about a septic upgrade, Patti led us through those negotiations in a straightforward manner to a fair resolution for both parties. Patti Stoddard’s professionalism, organization, and comprehensive follow-through on every detail of our purchase was amazing. She’d definitely be our realtor of choice “next” time…except that we NEVER plan to leave our new piece of heaven on Lake Vermilion!
Sincerely,
Kathy and Tom H.

Mortgage Rates Reverse, Post Increases This Week

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reversed course this week, rising to an average of 3.56%. Despite the uptick, this is the first time that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has been under 3.6% for more than four consecutive weeks since the fourth quarter of 2016, Freddie Mac reports.
 
“Pipeline purchase demand continues to improve heading into the late fall with purchase mortgage applications up 9 percent from a year ago,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The improved demand reflects the still healthy underlying consumer economic fundamentals, such as a low unemployment rate, solid wage growth, and low mortgage rates. While there has been a material weakness in manufacturing and consistent trade uncertainty, so far, the American consumer has proved to be resilient with solid home purchase demand.”
 

How Buyers Fund Their Home Purchase: Smart or Risky?

Buyers are doing everything from tapping into their retirement savings accounts to taking financial gifts from family and friends in order to bring more money to the closing table. Bankrate.com recently surveyed more than 2,500 adults about their home purchase to find the top ways they’re saving.
 
About 47% of first-time home buyers said they saved on their own to purchase a house. But others also sought help elsewhere, such as through a first-time home buyer grant or loan assistance program (21%), financial gifts from family or friends (21%), or by taking out money from their retirement savings (8.8%), the survey showed. Other less common efforts cited included getting an additional source of income (7.4%); receiving a loan from family or friends (6.3%); moving in with family or friends to cut down expenses (5.7%); and selling personal items like jewelry, cars, and electronics (4.9%).
 

How Badly Does a Foreclosure Hurt Credit Scores?

A strong housing market over the last few years has put the foreclosure crisis in the rearview mirror, but many Americans are still haunted by their past housing challenges. New data shows that they should be able to comfortably leave their past behind them.
 
In 2018, there were more than 600,000 homes in foreclosure in the U.S., the lowest number since the days of the 2008 financial crisis. Foreclosures peaked at 2.9 million in 2010.
 
Homeowners who faced a foreclosure saw it ding their credit scores and impact their ability to buy real estate in the future. LendingTree researchers recently analyzed how credit scores trend after a foreclosure. They assessed the loan terms offered to borrowers with a foreclosure on their record compared to those without.
 

3 Tips for Clients to Reach Their Best Credit Score

Your clients don’t need a perfect credit score to buy a home. But the higher the score, the more likely they will benefit from lower interest rates.
 
Only about 1.4% of the population has a perfect 850 on their FICO credit score. “Achieving a perfect credit score is largely out of your hands,” Riley Adams, a licensed certified public accountant and senior financial analyst for Google, told Apartment Therapy. It can take years to build up a perfect credit score of paying bills on time and paying off debts.
 
Apartment Therapy recently asked financial experts how consumers can improve their score and inch closer to an 850. Here are a few: https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2019/09/05/3-tips-for-clients-to-reach-their-best-credit-score
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Perrella & Associates
1932 E 2nd Ave
Hibbing, MN 55746
Phone: 218-262-5582
Fax: 218-262-5584
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