Inman Connect
This is the first installment of a new Inman series digging into, and explaining, routine real estate economic metrics and how they’re used to illuminate the current housing market and inventory crises. Check back tomorrow for the second installment on new home sales.
Each month, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) performs a ritual.
In emails and reports, the influential trade organization sends out a data set described as “pending sales.” Sometimes the numbers are up, sometimes they’re down. But either way, Inman and others regularly parse the numbers down and turn them into headlines about the health of the housing industry.
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A weekly mortgage rate survey from Freddie Mac shows rates continuing to slide, but the snapshot of average rates over a seven-day period doesn’t fully reflect new data that’s pushed rates up this week on renewed worries about inflation.
Inman Connect
A closely watched weekly mortgage rate survey from Freddie Mac shows rates continuing to slide, but the snapshot of average rates over a seven-day period doesn’t fully reflect new data that’s pushed rates up this week on renewed worries about inflation.
Freddie Mac reported that for the week ending May 13:
Rates on
30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 2.94 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from 2.96 percent last week and 3.28 percent a year ago.
Rochester, New York, is a city that’s been heating up for well over a year now.
The modestly sized city located to the south of Lake Ontario has a rich history as the birthplace of well-known brands like Kodak, Xerox and Bausch + Lomb, as well as home to prominent figures of the 19th century like George Eastman, Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass.
But in addition to its history, the city has a thriving arts scene, is plentiful in parks and access to nature, and has a strong economy with major employers like the University of Rochester, Rochester Regional Health and Wegmans Food Markets employing tens of thousands of the area’s residents (among other prominent employers in the area like Harris Corp. and Paychex Inc., which also employ thousands of workers).
“The bright spot for buyers this week is that new sellers continue to list homes for sale and this not only means fresh options to choose from, it is helping to slow the pace at which for-sale inventory is shrinking,” the report read.
New listings increased 18 percent year over year during the last week of April a 13 percent increase from the annual gains during the first two weeks of March. Although last week’s growth is a slight slowdown from the two previous weeks where new listings peaked at 40 percent, realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said it’s still a positive sign that more homesellers are entering the market.