Housing Is Still Strong
For the week of JULY 19, 2021
QUOTE OF THE WEEK |
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| “What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle, and giving 110% all the time.”—Don Zimmer, American professional baseball player, coach, manager |
NATIONAL MARKET UPDATE |
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| Freddie Mac’s new quarterly forecast predicts the home purchase market will stay strong through 2021, with sales reaching 6.9 million, up from 6.5 million in 2020. Freddie expects mortgage rates will rise later this year, but only gradually.
A real estate database reports new listings up 4% year-over-year. And a study by a national real estate portal found more than half the respondents planned to list homes at $300,000 or less, well below May’s $350,300 median price. Good news on the refi front. Beginning in August, lenders won’t have to pay Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a 50 basis point (0.50%) fee for refinanced mortgages backed by those government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). |
REVIEW OF LAST WEEK |
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| DOWN WEEK FOR THE UPTREND… Stocks fell, ending a three-week win streak, but the three major indexes remain in a largely uninterrupted uptrend for the year. The big downer was flagging consumer sentiment.
The preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey showed people are preparing for a 4.8% rise in the cost of living this year. But traders still accept the Fed’s view that the current inflation is “transitory.” In positive news, Industrial Production was up, Initial and Continuing Unemployment Claims fell to new lows in the recovery, and June Retail Sales surprised to the upside, up a very strong 18% from a year ago. The week ended with the Dow down 0.5%, to 34,688; the S&P 500 down 1.0%, to 4,327; and the Nasdaq down 1.9%, to 14,427. For the week, bonds edged up overall, though the UMBS 3.0% slipped .03, to $104.25. The national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate decreased for another week, staying near historic lows, in Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Remember, mortgage rates can be extremely volatile, so check with your mortgage professional for up-to-the-minute information. DID YOU KNOW?… Since the beginning of the year, all-cash home sales have exploded, making up nearly one-third of all home purchases, their largest share in seven years. |
THIS WEEK’S FORECAST |
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| HOME BUILDING, EXISTING HOME SALES GROW, JOBLESS CLAIMS HOLD… Forecasts call for Housing Starts to head up in June, Building Permits too, so there should be even more new homes available in the near future. Existing Home Sales are also expected to gain. Initial Jobless Claims should take a pause from their recent weekly declines. |
