August 2020 – PglRealEstates

August 28, 2020

Pending Home Sales Rise in July, but Inventory Challenges Could Limit the Housing Sector

The numbers: The index of pending home sales rose 5.9% in July as compared with June, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. It is the third consecutive month in which the level of Americans signing contracts...

August 27, 2020

Mortgage Rates Fall Once Again—but Rising Home Prices Mean That Buyers Shouldn’t Expect Savings

Mortgage rates are still near record lows, but that isn’t making owning a home cheaper for home buyers any longer. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.91% for the week ending Aug. 27, dropping eight basis...

August 27, 2020

Mortgage Refinance Surcharge Delayed by Fannie, Freddie Until Dec. 1

WASHINGTON—Many homeowners who refinance their mortgages in the next three months will avoid paying an additional fee averaging $1,400, a federal regulator said Tuesday. Mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will delay a 0.5% surcharge on refinanced home loans until...

August 26, 2020

Before Making Loans, Some Mortgage Lenders Ask, Do You Really Plan to Pay This?

Some mortgage lenders are asking customers taking out a mortgage to confirm they don’t intend to seek forbearance, a move meant to keep losses low during a pandemic that has put millions of Americans on...

August 26, 2020

Home Prices Continued to Rise in June, Case-Shiller Index Finds—as Americans Face a Growing Affordability Crunch

The numbers: Home-price appreciation continued at a steady clip in June as many states began reopening businesses from shutdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a major price barometer released Tuesday. But recent data suggests...

August 26, 2020

New Home Sales Surged to Highest Level Since 2006 in July, but Builders Could Soon Face Headwinds

The numbers: Sales of new single-family homes increased markedly for the third month in a row, rising to their highest level since 2006. Sales of new single-family houses rose 14% between June and July to a...

August 21, 2020

Existing-Home Sales Soar at a Record Pace in July as Americans Make Up for Lost Time—but Two Big Caveats Remain

The numbers: Sales of previously-owned homes in the U.S. rose 24.7% between June and July to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Friday. It was the second consecutive month in...

August 19, 2020

Housing Starts Soar 22.6% in July as Americans Reenter the Housing Market in Droves

The numbers: Home-building activity has staged a significant turnaround from the coronavirus-related slowdown. U.S. home builders began construction on homes at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.496 million in July, up 22.6% from the previous month...

August 18, 2020

Refinancing Your Mortgage? Those Rock-Bottom Interest Rates Aren’t for You

Homeowners across the country are rushing to refinance at record-low interest rates. Many are finding that lenders have reserved their best rates for buyers. The average rate posted on Bankrate.com for a 30-year fixed refinance mortgage was...

August 15, 2020

For Buyers Ready to Leave Major Markets, Smaller Cities Offer (Relatively) High Supply

The ongoing fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the years-long supply and demand problem in the U.S., which has seen chronic lack of inventory driving up prices in nearly every corner of the market....

Month: August 2020