The juice that will fuel the economic recovery is housing, or more specifically, new home sales, Freddie Mac stated in its economic and housing market outlook report for May. For 2013, Freddie Mac forecasts housing starts will increase by 200,000 units, which would support over 100,000 new jobs in construction. Adding to this are the additional households that will form.
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According to the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes, some markets experiencing rapid gains may soon see a slowdown or even reversal of recent trends. As homeowners looking to sell are encouraged by rising prices and as new construction picks up, increased inventory will dampen these rapid increases, according to CoreLogic. Also, rising prices will eventually ward off investors, and "it is not clear if demand from first-time and trade-up buyers will immediately fill the void," said David Stiff, chief economist for CoreLogic Case-Shiller.
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In California, LendingQB announced the implementation of mortgage insurance (MI) underwriting guidelines into its automated underwriting system (AUS), giving users the ability to automatically check MI eligibility and pricing.
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The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) announced the expansion of its social media monitoring tool.
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Redfin's monthly report--based on home prices, sales, and inventory across 19 U.S. markets--shows prices rose 4.9 percent in April on a monthly basis and 16.1 percent on a yearly basis. Out of the 19 metros measured in Redfin's report, 18 reported month-over-month increases in April. "The housing market across the nation was hot again in April. Yes, home prices are up. But the big story in this month's report is that inventory posted its largest month-over-month increase in over three years," wrote Redfin blogger Tim Ellis.
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360 Mortgage Group, a privately owned mortgage banker headquartered in Austin, Texas, named Jeff Slain as regional manager for the Central Region of the United States.
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The most recent Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo shows home affordability slipping slightly in the first quarter. According to the index, 73.7 percent of new and existing-homes sold in the first quarter of this year were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income, a decline from 74.9 percent in Q4 2012. Despite the decrease, NAHB Chairman Rick Judson noted the HOI has still stayed high over the past four years.
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Pango Group hired Joe Curtis as EVP of sales to join the family of escrow and financial service companies.
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According to RE/MAX's data, taken from a survey of multiple listings service (MLS) data from 52 U.S. metro areas, the months' supply of homes for sale at the April's sales pace was 3.6 months--the lowest supply since the National Housing Report began in August 2008. However, the company observed a monthly increase in April in the overall number of homes for sale--the first since June 2010. In addition, the year-over-year percentage drop in inventory was 26.6 percent, the lowest annual drop in the last 12 months.
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The median price for a home in the San Francisco Bay Area climbed above the half-million mark in April for the first time in almost five years, according to DataQuick.
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