Mortgage Rates Fall To 4.32 Percent

According to The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.32 percent after rising to 4.39 percent the week before. At 4.32 percent, mortgage rates are now back to their lowest level of the year. Despite the rate drop, the Market Composite Index, which measures total mortgage loan application volume, decreased 9.6 percent due to slowing refinance activity following a recent surge. The Purchase Index, however, increased 0.9 percent. Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said refinance activity declined despite mortgage rates near a 10-month low. More here and here.

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Price Index Shows Home Values On The Rise

In the second quarter of 2011, national home prices rose 3.6 percent. According to the Standard & Poor’s /Case-Shiller home price index, prices were up in June from May in 19 of the 20 cities tracked. David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indices, said none of the analyzed cities made new lows in June and the majority of cities are seeing improved annual rates, though prices were down year-over-year. The largest monthly increases were found in Chicago, Minneapolis, Washington, and Boston. Twelve of the 20 metro areas have increased for three consecutive months. More here and here.

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Pending Sales Up From Last Year In July

The National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index, which measures contract signings but not closings, is 14.4 percent above July 2010 despite falling 1.3 percent from June. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said contract activity has been fairly comparable to the first three months of the year and well above April’s low. According to Yun, the underlying factors for improving sales, such as rising rent and high affordability conditions, are developing. Pending sales of existing homes are well above year-ago levels in all regions and are up 20.6 percent in the West and 18.8 percent in the Midwest. More here.

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Percentage Of Foreclosure Sales Falls From First Quarter

According to RealtyTrac’s Q2 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report, sales of homes in some stage of foreclosure or bank ownership accounted for 31 percent of all residential sales during the second quarter, which is down from 36 percent in the first quarter. James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said the report was good news for well-positioned buyers and investors, as well as distressed homeowners looking to sell and lenders saddled with large portfolios of delinquent loans. A 19 percent surge in pre-foreclosure sales indicates the housing market is starting to focus on clearing distressed inventory more efficiently, according to Saccacio. More here and here.

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Buying Cheaper Than Renting In 74 Percent Of U.S. Cities

Based on current market conditions, buying a home is cheaper than renting in 74 percent of major U.S. cities. Trulia’s Summer 2011 Rent vs. Buy Index compared price-to-rent ratios for the 50 largest cities using the median list price compared to the median rent as of July 1. Renting was cheaper than buying in only 12 of the 50 analyzed cities. Ken Shuman, head of communications at Trulia, said buyers should ask themselves if they plan to live in the home for at least seven years, could make monthly payments, and have enough for a down payment and six-to-eight months worth of mortgage payments. According to Schuman, the cost of buying a home definitely outweighs renting in most cities for prospective buyers that can answer yes to each of those questions. More here.

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Mortgage Rates Rise Slightly, Remain Near Lows

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased last week, climbing to 4.39 percent from 4.32 percent the week before. Despite near record-low rates, the Market Composite Index, which measures total mortgage loan application volume, was down 2.4 percent. Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said the decrease was due to a drop in purchase applications brought upon by another week of volatile markets and uncertainty about the economy. Still, the four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 6.9 percent, while the four week average for the Refinance Index is up 9.9 percent. More here.

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New Home Sales Up 6.8 Percent Over Last Year

Sales of new single-family homes were up 6.8 percent over last year’s estimates in July. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s New Residential Sales report, new home sales were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 298,000, which was above the July 2010 estimate of 279,000 but 0.7 percent below June’s revised rate of 300,000. The median price for a new home was $222,000; the average sales price was $272,300. The number of new houses for sale at the end of July was 165,000, which represents a 6.6-month supply at the current sales rate. A six-month supply of single-family homes is considered healthy for the housing market. More here and here.

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Long Term Delinquencies Continue Decline In Second Quarter

The combined percentage of loans in foreclosure or at least one payment past due rose slightly in the second quarter compared to the first but was 143 basis points lower than a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey. The quarterly increase was due to a rise in loans one payment past due. Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s chief economist, said, though overall mortgage delinquencies were up during the second quarter, there’s been a continued decline in long-term delinquencies and both foreclosure starts and inventory rates are down. According to Brinkmann, the numbers don’t support the idea that there’s a growing backlog of loans being held back from foreclosure. If the drop in foreclosure rates were only temporary, the percentage of loans 90-days or more delinquent would be increasing rather than decreasing. More here.

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Number Of Homes For Sale Falls In July

The number of homes listed for sale at the end of July was down 18 percent from a year ago and 1.2 percent from the month before. There were 2.31 million homes listed for sale at the end of the month, according to data from Realtor.com. It was only the fifth time since 2007 inventory levels declined. Standard & Poor’s second-quarter research report also showed improvements to inventory levels. According to their report, the amount of time it would take to work through the shadow inventory, or the number of homes still in the foreclosure pipeline, has fallen from the first quarter of this year. It was the first improvement since 2009. More here and here.

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Sales Of Existing Homes Up 21 Percent From A Year Ago

Sales of previously owned homes were 21 percent higher than last year’s levels in July. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales were down 3.5 percent from June’s upwardly revised estimates but the 4.67 million annual rate was well above the 3.86 million unit pace in July 2010, which followed the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there is a tug and pull on the market despite the most favorable affordability conditions dating back to 1970. The national median existing-home price was $174,000 in July and total housing inventory fell 1.7 percent. More here.

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