Housing markets

“We know that home prices have been rising, mortgage rates inching higher, housing affordability becoming much more challenging, however I would say the softening sales activity is not due to demand going away,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

The busiest season for home buying took off with a bang last month, as fierce competition among buyers drove prices up and sales soared to one of the highest levels in years.

At the metro level, Buffalo, N.Y., had the worst undervaluation for Black-owned homes at 86% followed by 72% in both Memphis, Tenn., and Indianapolis, Redfin found.

As listings were snagged at near-record speed, inventory hit yet another new low point, according to Remax.

The city is working with a nonprofit that aims to sell some of the city's most affordable houses to lower-income buyers rather than developers.

The market appears to be undergoing a shift away from refinances and remote operations, but the top producers interviewed for this article don’t plan to abandon either any time soon.

The government sponsored enterprise’s latest forecast calls for a nearly $4 trillion year for 2021.

While home sales have softened since October, they are still above pre-pandemic levels, indicating that construction activity will remain strong for some time.

Lumber futures have surged more than 60% to record highs this year, and analysts aren’t expecting any relief until late 2021.

Even as properties spent the least time ever on the market and the average sale-to-list home price ratio broke 100%, some indicators point to a slight reversal, which could head off “runaway home price speculation or a housing bubble,” Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather said.

Vaccinations and a third round of stimulus payments are boosting consumers views on the housing market, according to Fannie Mae.

As vaccinations proliferate, homeowners who held off during the pandemic are finally gearing up to list their properties, a recent survey finds.

That means depreciation is a risk that could creep back into some regions, potentially requiring lenders and government-related agencies to consider it when setting down payment requirements or managing loan workouts once forbearance ends.

Increasingly extreme weather patterns and natural disasters weigh heavy on the majority of borrowers looking to buy a house, while half will move because of it, according to Redfin.

The increase won’t hurt the incentive for the average home shopper, but it means those who were looking to “buy the dip” in prices amid the pandemic may have missed their chance.

Ballooned home prices and a dearth of options deterred February 2021 sales, according to the National Association of Realtors

While there were fewer new mortgages sought on a week-to-week basis, the index was higher than it has been during the same week in the last two years.

As home values surged at record highs, the latest month-to-month movements indicate price growth could start returning to a pre-pandemic pace, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

That growth could be attractive to a housing finance industry that needs to find new loan sources as easy rate-and-term refinances dwindle.

Willis, Texas led the list, with the most borrowers who would be likely to default if faced with sudden financial hardship.