Housing inventory

Contract closings decreased 2.4% in April from the prior month to an annualized 5.61 million, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed Thursday.

Residential starts decreased 0.2% last month to a 1.72 million annualized rate after a downwardly revised 1.73 million pace in the prior month, according to government data released Wednesday.

A property management and acquisition platform for single-family landlords is going public through a blank-check merger in a bet that investor appetite for rental houses will outlast waning enthusiasm for real estate technology stocks.

Partners Group Holding AG has agreed to buy more than 2,000 rental houses owned by Fortress Investment Group, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

 In a survey released by Bank of America Thursday, respondents cited expensive home prices (56%), higher interest rates (40%) and uncertainty about affording closing costs (30%) as reasons they might hesitate to buy. 

The National Association of Home Builders asked the White House to take action to address the supply-chain disruptions that are pushing up the costs of materials and labor, in a letter sent Wednesday.

The National Association of Realtors’ index of pending home sales decreased 1.2% from a month earlier to 103.7, the lowest since May 2020, according to data released Wednesday.

The steep ascent in borrowing costs, combined with high home prices across markets, is sidelining more prospective buyers.

Despite lean inventory, efforts by builders to boost production have been hindered by supply-chain challenges, soaring materials costs and difficult hiring conditions.

Purchases completed above the asking price made up 9.3% of all transactions, the highest portion in four years.

A majority of housing experts also believe first-time homeownership should hit 2019 levels again within four years; however, a substantial number don’t expect it this decade.

A gauge of U.S. pending home sales fell unexpectedly in February for a fourth straight month as limited inventory continued to restrict a real estate market that’s now facing another challenge — rising borrowing costs.

Contract closings decreased 7.2% in February from the prior month to an annualized 6.02 million, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed Friday.

The builder reported better-than-expected quarterly orders as the record shortage of existing-home listings pushed buyers toward newly built properties.

All indicators show that the renting market is heating up, as would-be buyers of houses increasingly turn to rentals because they can’t find — and can’t afford — their dream houses.

The monthly mortgage payment for homes in the median asking price range hit a new high, up 31% from before the pandemic, according to Redfin.

Sales of previously owned homes unexpectedly increased to a one-year high as buyers rushed in ahead of a surge in mortgage rates, further depleting tight inventories to a record low.

New U.S. home construction fell in January for the first time in four months, indicating pandemic-related labor absences and winter weather tempered recent progress on building activity.

For first-time buyers, mortgage payments jumped to 25.6% of household incomes in the fourth quarter, the worst affordability level in three years, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Lumber futures have recouped recent losses and risen by the exchange maximum of $45 for six consecutive sessions, touching $1,204.90 per 1,000 board feet Wednesday, the highest in three weeks.