Guardian Residential Lending Industry News, April 8-15, 2021
April 15, 2021
Guardian Residential Lending Industry News, April 22-29, 2021
April 29, 2021
In the Know: A Roundup of This Week’s Local and National Real Estate Stories
Sales of luxury homes skyrocket in first quarter (HW, April 21)
Affluent Americans taking advantage of mortgage rates, work-from-home flexibility
Sales of luxury homes rose 41.6% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2021, crushing sales of affordable homes (7% increase) and mid-priced homes (5.9%), per a recent report from Redfin.
Redfin defines “luxury” homes as selling for an average of $975,000, “expensive” homes as selling for an average of $429,000, “mid-priced” as selling for an average of $272,000, “affordable” as selling for an average of $184,400, and “most affordable” as selling for an average of $99,000.
The study showcases both sides of the COVID-19 crisis, with affluent Americans taking advantage of low mortgage rates and the ability to work from anywhere, and buying up high-end houses — particularly in popular vacation destinations. Meanwhile, many lower-income Americans have lost their jobs and lack the means to become homeowners.
Existing home sales suffer second straight monthly decline as tight supply pushes prices higher (CNBC, April 22)
Closed sales of existing homes fell 3.7% in March to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.01 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The median price of an existing home sold in March was $329,100, a 17.2% increase from March 2020.
Mortgage rates started this year near a record low but then began climbing steeply in February and throughout most of March.
Here it is: A bill to help first-time homebuyers (HW, April 15)
But it’s not a tax credit, and conditions limit how many people will qualify
The newest draft of a down-payment assistance bill would provide $25,000 to first-time homebuyers, but only those who are also first-generation homebuyers and economically disadvantaged. Plus Biden’s proposal is not actually a homebuyer tax credit, but it is money that would be available at closing.
2 million refi candidates eligible after mortgage rate drop (HW, April 16)
Last week’s drop in rates pushed millions of borrowers back in to “high-quality candidate” status
Another 2 million borrowers could save an average of nearly $300 a month on a refinance thanks to last week’s 10-basis-point drop in mortgage rates. Recent data from Black Knight found the number of high-quality refi candidates moved back up to 13 million last week — potentially putting $3.6 billion back in to homeowners pockets.
Why Many Local Homebuyers Are Being Shut Out (April 21, M Report)
With a pandemic pushing folks to work from home and households seeking more space, not to mention all-time low mortgage rates, a record number of homeowners, says Redfin.com, are looking to relocate to a new metropolitan area—but this trend is creating unprecedented issues for those attempting to upgrade or move within their own area.
“With a record share of Redfin.com home searchers looking to move to another metro, out-of-towners are making it difficult for local residents to win bidding wars,” says a new report from the technology-powered real estate brokerage. For example, “the average out-of-towner moving to Phoenix, the most-coveted locale for movers, has $630,000 to spend on a home, versus $510,000 for locals.”
Nationwide, 31.5% of Redfin users sought to move to a different metro area in the first quarter. That’s up from 30.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020 and 26% a year earlier, and the highest share since Redfin started tracking migration in 2017.
Hottest ‘Hoods Q1 2021: Clark County’s top 17 ZIP codes for real estate activity (PBJ, April 21)
Among the four counties that make up the Portland metro area, Clark County had the second-most homes sold in the quarter with 1,932, behind Multnomah. But it had the lowest median sale price of homes, at $439,598, compared with a median price $546,132 in Clackamas County, where prices were highest.
Thanks for reading.