Housing inventory

Despite the improvement in sentiment, the homebuilder index remains below end-of-2021 levels, when mortgage rates were lower

Mayor Michelle Wu is offering hefty tax breaks to companies to turn offices into housing, the latest example of a city seeking to address the challenges of remote work hitting downtowns and a lack of affordable residences.

Democratic senators including Banking Chair Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren want to restrict tax breaks for large corporate investors that buy local homes and often drive up costs.

With new home listings down 25% since last year, bidding wars have become the norm, according to the brokerage.

There's quite a bit of inventory out there that would have otherwise been returned to the market but for unduly harsh political theater writes the CEO of the National REO Brokers Association.

More than one-third of average wages is now needed for borrowers to make regular payments on the typical home, according to Attom. Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association found monthly costs rose 14% annually.

The National Association of Realtors' index of contract signings to purchase previously owned homes dropped 2.7% to 76.5 last month, according to data released Thursday.

However, as it currently stands, most measures suggest "the market does not have a path to close the housing deficit in the near-term," Citigroup said. 

Millions of would-be borrowers are reportedly "doubling up" by sharing homes with nonrelatives, Zillow found.

We have the tools to address our housing challenges through a mix of regulatory reforms, policy changes, incentives and investment. What's needed is the will and leadership to put those tools to work.

With new construction activity at the highest level in more than a year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's GDPNow tracker is projecting residential investment added 0.1% to growth in gross domestic product in the second quarter.

The city won't allow developers to supply new suburban subdivisions with groundwater, prompting a scramble for alternative water sources and a predicted rise in local housing costs.

Contract closings edged up 0.2% to a 4.3 million annualized pace, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

Applications to build increased, suggesting residential construction is on track to help fuel economic growth.

Alimited supply of existing homes continued to spark interest in new construction, the National Association of Home Builders found.

The number of new listings coming to market in recent weeks fell by over 23% annually, with Western cities seeing the largest rates of decrease, according to Redfin.

Many of the homes being offered for sale are part of a portfolio acquired from Pretium Partners in late 2021, according to people familiar with the matter.

Volume was lackluster on account of elevated rates and low inventory, Black Knight's report said.

With spring selling season typically giving way to a slower summer, investors are focused on whether resilient buyer demand, solid home prices and a potential Fed pause will support further homebuilder outperformance through the end of this year.

Average monthly payments fell by 0.6% year-over-year to $1,995, marking the largest annual decline since March 2020.