Housing markets

Home inventory on the market increased in May, but stubbornly high mortgage rates and home prices are leading to slow sales in many areas, according to reports from Redfin and Zillow.

The 22,385 homes entering the process last month was a 3% monthly increase but a 4% annual decline.

Homeowners responded to moderating interest rates and brought in significantly more refinance volume, with Department of Veterans Affairs numbers more than doubling from the prior week.

Amid industry challenges, borrow a page from the playbooks of these industry leaders as they strategize around new roadblocks and look for fresh opportunities.

Rate locks have increased every month this year, but May's pace came in more subdued than early-year numbers, according to Mortgage Capital Trading.

Nearly one-in-five homeowners have to borrow to pay unexpected expenses related to their property, although 24% claim to have a rainy day fund, according to Bankrate.

With millions of Black and Hispanic consumers likely to become new homeowners over the coming decades, the lending community stands to benefit if they are willing to combine expanded underwriting with direct outreach.

A Fannie Mae survey-high 86% of prospective buyers said it was a bad time to buy a home in May.

The Massachusetts House passed a bill that would ease the process for property owners looking to build accessory-dwelling units.

Observers say the stronger-than-expected Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data could leave the Fed pondering when, or even if, to cut short-term rates this year.

Still, the expected year-over-year pace of home price increases in 2024 is faster than what the first quarter Fannie Mae Home Price Expectations survey has predicted.

Both purchases and refinances dipped as rates failed to help borrowers, but government lending picked up a rising share of loan volume, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The changes that affect how buyer broker commissions are paid go into effect on Aug. 17, but there's much uncertainty about carrying them out, said Ryan Tomasello of KBW.

Despite the surge of inventory, the number of available homes is still below pre-pandemic levels, while price movements show wide regional variations, ICE Mortgage Technology said.

An index of contract signings from the National Association of Realtors dropped 7.7% to 72.3, the lowest reading since the early months of the pandemic.

With home prices also climbing up faster than expected for the time of the year, median new loan payments headed higher by more than 2%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

An uptick in interest rates kept borrowers on the sidelines, as both purchases and refinances dropped, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Over 54% of borrowers with a mortgage say they only got one mortgage offer, a LendingTree survey said.

Prices in a measure of 20 cities increased 7.4% from a year earlier, larger than the 7.3% annual gain in February, an S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index shows.

Fannie Mae economists suggest home sales will remain resilient amid anticipated dips in both home loan volume and consumer spending.