Housing markets

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

Prospective borrowers are flocking to newly built properties as current homeowners shy away from listings due to high mortgage rates.

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.

The uptick occurred as conforming rates pulled back for the second week in a row, coming in below the jumbo average according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

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.

While paying off existing loans is their most immediate priority, buying a house is the No. 1 aim within five-to-10 years, a FinLocker survey found.

Republican-led bills seeking to reverse adjustments to mortgage fees and a bipartisan bill aiming to reinstate tax deductions on mortgage insurance stand to change operations for lenders if they pass.

The property was previously shopped as the Romanov Estate in 2021 and marketed at $60 million in 2022 by Icon Global, but it wasn't officially listed.

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.

Households saw an average annual decrease of $5,400 earlier this year, but recent price trends point to some of that value returning, according to a new CoreLogic report.

Approximately 320,000 properties valued up to $256,000 are missing from the market, a report from the National Association of Realtors and Realtor.com found.

A larger share of sellers were optimistic in May, but the percentage of enthusiastic buyers fell, according to Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index.

Government-backed activity, though, managed to grow, which helped to shrink purchase-loan sizes to their smallest in over two months, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Construction activity in smaller cities also saw a significant annual decline, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Worries about unknown future expenses and the state of their own finances are also causing anxiety for over 80% of U.S. consumers, according to new research from BMO.

But scarce housing inventory has helped to bring home equity values back upward, offsetting some of the losses of late 2022.