Housing Demand Surges as Market Expands

Housing demand continued to surge and loan volumes were on the rise in the latest National Mortgage Risk Index (NMRI) release by AEI. The healthy trend has continued since 2012 with an average of 12 percent increasing yearly since then.

Nationally, the report indicated the continuation of a sellers’ market for the 52^nd month.  November agency first-time buyer purchase loan volume also swelled, rising 31% over November 2016. Repeat buyers who’ve profited from the spike in prices have managed to lower their combined loan to value ratios (CLTV). The ratio of sales price for first-time to repeat buyers has move up substantially to 74.5 percent, signaling that repeat buyers used their added buying power from looser lending to buy more expensive homes.

 Many potential home buyers are looking for starter homes, but a Market Mismatch Report by Trulia found that these homes are becoming more difficult to find, particularly in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina. The report examined market mismatch (which is interest versus available listings) in a side-by-side comparison of inventories. The competition for starter homes has ramped up with 26.9 percent of searches looking for 21.2 percent of listings.

Although inventories are declining throughout much of the country, the impact of the decline impacts local shoppers differently. The market disparity is the largest it has been in two years and it means that Americans are searching for homes in a market with dwindling options.