An overwhelming majority of metro markets saw home price gains in the third quarter of 2022 despite mortgage rates that approached 7% and declining sales, according to the National Association of Realtors’ latest quarterly report released on Nov. 10. Forty-six percent of the 185 tracked metro areas registered double-digit price increases, down from 80% in the second quarter of this year.
The national median single-family existing-home price climbed 8.6% from a year ago to $398,500. Year-over-year price appreciation decelerated when compared to the previous quarter’s 14.2%.
“Much lower buying capacity has slowed home price growth and the trend will continue until mortgage rates stop rising,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “The median income needed to buy a typical home has risen to $88,300—that’s almost $40,000 more than it was prior to the start of the pandemic, back in 2019.”
Among the major U.S. regions, the South registered the largest share of single-family existing-home sales (44%) and the greatest year-over-year price appreciation (11.9%) in the third quarter. Prices elevated 8.2% in the Northeast, 7.4% in the West, and 6.6% in the Midwest.
The top 10 metro areas with the largest year-over-year price increases all recorded gains greater than 18%, with seven of those markets in Florida. Those include North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL (23.8%); Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL (21.2%); Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC (21.1%); Panama City, FL (20.5%); Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL (19.6%); Port St. Lucie, FL (19.4%); Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC (18.9%); Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN.-VA(18.8%); Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (18.8%); and Ocala, FL (18.8%).
Half of the top 10 most expensive markets in the U.S. were in California, including San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($1,688,000; 2.3%); San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($1,300,000; -3.7%); Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, CA ($1,200,000; 9.1%); Urban Honolulu, HI ($1,127,400; 7.6%); San Diego-Carlsbad, CA ($900,000; 5.9%); Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA ($893,200; 3.8%); Boulder, CO ($826,900; 7.5%); Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL ($746,600; 16.7%); Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($741,300; 4.6%); and Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH($698,900; 6.2%).
“The more expensive markets on the West Coast will likely experience some price declines following this rapid price appreciation, which is the result of many years of limited home building,” Yun added. “The Midwest, with relatively affordable home prices, will likely continue to see price gains as incomes and rents both rise.”
In the third quarter of 2022, stubbornly high home prices and increasing mortgage rates reduced housing affordability. The monthly mortgage payment on a typical existing single-family home with a 20% down payment was $1,840. This represents a marginal increase from the second quarter of this year ($1,837), but a significant jump of $614—or 50%—from one year ago. Families typically spent 25% of their income on mortgage payments, down from 25.3% in the prior quarter, but up from 17.2% one year ago.
“A return to a normal spread between the government borrowing rate and the home purchase borrowing rate will bring the 30-year mortgage rates down to around 6%,” Yun said. “The usual spread between the 10-year Treasury yield and the 30-year mortgage rate is between 150 to 200 basis points, rather than the current spread of 300 basis points.”
First-time buyers looking to purchase a typical home during the third quarter of 2022 continued to feel the impact of housing’s growing unaffordability. For a typical starter home valued at $338,700 with a 10% down payment loan, the monthly mortgage payment rose to $1,808 – nearly identical to the previous quarter ($1,807), but an increase of almost $600, or 49%, from one year ago ($1,210). First-time buyers typically spent 37.8% of their family income on mortgage payments, up from 36.8% in the previous quarter. A mortgage is considered unaffordable if the monthly payment (principal and interest) amounts to more than 25% of the family’s income.
A family needed a qualifying income of at least $100,000 to afford a 10% down payment mortgage in 59 markets, up from 53 in the prior quarter. Yet, a family needed a qualifying income of less than $50,000 to afford a home in 17 markets, down from 23 in the previous quarter.
Through July 2022 with Forecasts through July 2023
Introduction
The CoreLogic Home Price Insights report features an interactive view of our Home Price Index product with analysis through July 2022 with forecasts through July 2023.
CoreLogic HPI™ is designed to provide an early indication of home price trends. The indexes are fully revised with each release and employ techniques to signal turning points sooner. CoreLogic HPI Forecasts™ (with a 30-year forecast horizon), project CoreLogic HPI levels for two tiers—Single-Family Combined (both Attached and Detached) and Single-Family Combined excluding distressed sales.
The report is published monthly with coverage at the national, state and Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA)/Metro level and includes home price indices (including distressed sales); home price forecast and market condition indicators. The data incorporates more than 40 years of repeat-sales transactions for analyzing home price trends.
HPI National Change
July 2022 National Home Prices
Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased year over year by 15.8% in July 2022 compared with July 2021. On a month-over-month basis, home prices declined by 0.3% in July 2022 compared with June 2022 (revisions with public records data are standard, and to ensure accuracy, CoreLogic incorporates the newly released public data to provide updated results).
Forecast Prices Nationally
The CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates that home prices will increase on a month-over-month basis by 0.3% from July 2022 to August 2022 and on a year-over-year basis by 3.8% from July 2022 to July 2023.
HPI & Case-Shiller Trends
This graph shows a comparison of the national year-over-year percent change for the CoreLogic HPI and CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index from 2000 to present month with forecasts one year into the future. We note that both the CoreLogic HPI Single Family Combined tier and the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index are posting positive, but moderating year-over-year percent changes, and forecasting gains for the next year.
Housing Market Showing Signs of Better Balance
Annual home price growth slowed for the third consecutive month in July but remained elevated at 15.8%. As 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages neared 6% this summer, some prospective homebuyers pulled back, helping ease overheated and unsustainable price growth. Notably, home prices declined by 0.3% from June to July, a trend not seen between 2010 and 2019, when price increases averaged 0.5% between those two months, according to CoreLogic’s historic data. Looking ahead, CoreLogic expects to see a more balanced housing market, with year-over-year appreciation slowing to 3.8% by July 2023.
“Following June’s surge in mortgage rates and the resulting dampening effect on housing demand, price growth is taking a decisive turn. And even though annual price growth remains in double digits, the month-over-month decline suggests further deceleration on the horizon. The higher cost of homeownership has clearly eroded affordability, as inflation-adjusted monthly mortgage expenses are now even higher than they were at their former peak in 2006.”
– Selma Hepp Interim Lead, Deputy Chief Economist for CoreLogic
HPI National and State Maps – July 2022
The CoreLogic HPI provides measures for multiple market segments, referred to as tiers, based on property type, price, time between sales, loan type (conforming vs. non-conforming) and distressed sales. Broad national coverage is available from the national level down to ZIP Code, including non-disclosure states.
Nationally, home prices increased 15.8% year over year in July. No states posted an annual decline in home prices. The states with the highest increases year over year were Florida (29.6%), South Dakota (23.7%) and Tennessee (23.2%).
HPI Top 10 Metros Change
The CoreLogic HPI provides measures for multiple market segments, referred to as tiers, based on property type, price, time between sales, loan type (conforming vs. non-conforming) and distressed sales. Broad national coverage is available from the national level down to ZIP Code, including non-disclosure states.
These large cities continued to experience price increases in July, with Miami on top at 27.1% year over year.
Markets to Watch: Top Markets at Risk of Home Price Decline
The CoreLogic Market Risk Indicator (MRI), a monthly update of the overall health of housing markets across the country, predicts that Bremerton-Silverdale, WA is at a very high risk (70%-plus probability) of a decline in home prices over the next 12 months. Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL; Bellingham, WA; Reno, NV and Boise City, ID are also at very high risk for price declines.
Summary
CoreLogic HPI features deep, broad coverage, including non-disclosure state data. The index is built from industry-leading real-estate public record, servicing, and securities databases—including more than 40 years of repeat-sales transaction data—and all undergo strict pre-boarding assessment and normalization processes.
CoreLogic HPI and HPI Forecasts both provide multi-tier market evaluations based on price, time between sales, property type, loan type (conforming vs. non-conforming) and distressed sales, helping clients hone in on price movements in specific market segments.
Updated monthly, the index is the fastest home-price valuation information in the industry—complete home-price index datasets five weeks after month’s end. The Index is completely refreshed each month—all pricing history from 1976 to the current month—to provide the most up-to-date, accurate indication of home-price movements available.
Methodology
The CoreLogic HPI™is built on industry-leading public record, servicing and securities real-estate databases and incorporates more than 40 years of repeat-sales transactions for analyzing home price trends. Generally released on the first Tuesday of each month with an average five-week lag, the CoreLogic HPI is designed to provide an early indication of home price trends by market segment and for the “Single-Family Combined” tier, representing the most comprehensive set of properties, including all sales for single-family attached and single-family detached properties. The indices are fully revised with each release and employ techniques to signal turning points sooner. The CoreLogic HPI provides measures for multiple market segments, referred to as tiers, based on property type, price, time between sales, loan type (conforming vs. non-conforming) and distressed sales. Broad national coverage is available from the national level down to ZIP Code, including non-disclosure states.
CoreLogic HPI Forecasts™are based on a two-stage, error-correction econometric model that combines the equilibrium home price—as a function of real disposable income per capita—with short-run fluctuations caused by market momentum, mean-reversion, and exogenous economic shocks like changes in the unemployment rate. With a 30-year forecast horizon, CoreLogic HPI Forecasts project CoreLogic HPI levels for two tiers — “Single-Family Combined” (both attached and detached) and “Single-Family Combined Excluding Distressed Sales.” As a companion to the CoreLogic HPI Forecasts, Stress-Testing Scenarios align with Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) national scenarios to project five years of home prices under baseline, adverse and severely adverse scenarios at state, metropolitan areas and ZIP Code levels. The forecast accuracy represents a 95% statistical confidence interval with a +/- 2% margin of error for the index.
About Market Risk Indicator
Market Risk Indicators are a subscription-based analytics solution that provide monthly updates on the overall “health” of housing markets across the country. CoreLogic data scientists combine world-class analytics with detailed economic and housing data to help determine the likelihood of a housing bubble burst in 392 major metros and all 50 states. Market Risk Indicators is a multi-phase regression model that provides a probability score (from 1 to 100) on the likelihood of two scenarios per metro: a >10% price reduction and a ≤ 10% price reduction. The higher the score, the higher the risk of a price reduction.
Source: CoreLogic The data provided are for use only by the primary recipient or the primary recipient’s publication or broadcast. This data may not be resold, republished or licensed to any other source, including publications and sources owned by the primary recipient’s parent company without prior written permission from CoreLogic. Any CoreLogic data used for publication or broadcast, in whole or in part, must be sourced as coming from CoreLogic, a data and analytics company. For use with broadcast or web content, the citation must directly accompany first reference of the data. If the data are illustrated with maps, charts, graphs or other visual elements, the CoreLogic logo must be included on screen or website.
For questions, analysis or interpretation of the data, contact Robin Wachner at newsmedia@corelogic.com. Data provided may not be modified without the prior written permission of CoreLogic. Do not use the data in any unlawful manner. The data are compiled from public records, contributory databases and proprietary analytics, and its accuracy is dependent upon these sources.
About CoreLogic
CoreLogic is a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider. The company’s combined data from public, contributory and proprietary sources includes over 4.5 billion records spanning more than 50 years, providing detailed coverage of property, mortgages and other encumbrances, consumer credit, tenancy, location, hazard risk and related performance information. The markets CoreLogic serves include real estate and mortgage finance, insurance, capital markets, and the public sector. CoreLogic delivers value to clients through unique data, analytics, workflow technology, advisory and managed services. Clients rely on CoreLogic to help identify and manage growth opportunities, improve performance and mitigate risk. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., CoreLogic operates in North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.corelogic.com.
CORELOGIC, the CoreLogic logo, CoreLogic HPI, CoreLogic HPI Forecast and HPI are trademarks of CoreLogic, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
NAHB chief economist says Fed policy & high construction costs will cause first decline in housing starts since 2011.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
For the first time since May 2020, the monthly NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Index fell below the break-even measure of 50.
Roughly one-in-five (19%) home builders in the HMI survey reported reducing prices in the past month to increase sales or limit cancellations,.
Meanwhile, 69% of builders reported higher mortgage interest rates as the reason behind falling housing demand.
Builder confidence is sinking like a stone, in part the result of what an economist for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) now calls a “housing recession.”
NAHB today released the results of its monthly survey of home builders, which found that builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell for the eighth straight month in August, amid continuing supply-chain problems, high materials prices, and falling home affordability.
In fact, for the first time since May 2020, the monthly NAHB/Well Fargo Housing Index fell below the break-even measure of 50, declining six points to 49, the NAHB said.
“Tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve and persistently elevated construction costs have brought on a housing recession,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “The total volume of single-family starts will post a decline in 2022, the first such decrease since 2011.”
Dietz noted, however, that “as signs grow that the rate of inflation is near peaking, long-term interest rates have stabilized, which will provide some stability for the demand-side of the market in the coming months.”
The latest report on inflation, released last week, showed that the Consumer Price Index in July was unchanged from June, and had dipped to 8.5% year over year from 9.1% in June.
NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter, a home builder and developer from Savannah, Ga., said the survey shows ongoing increases in construction costs and mortgage rates continue to weaken market sentiment for single-family home builders. “And in a troubling sign that consumers are now sitting on the sidelines due to higher housing costs, the August buyer traffic number in our builder survey was 32, the lowest level since April 2014 with the exception of the spring of 2020, when the pandemic first hit.”
Roughly one-in-five (19%) home builders in the HMI survey reported reducing prices in the past month to increase sales or limit cancellations, the NAHB said. The median price reduction was 5% for those reporting using such incentives. Meanwhile, 69% of builders reported higher mortgage interest rates as the reason behind falling housing demand, the top impact cited in the survey.
All three HMI components posted declines in August, with each falling to their lowest level since May 2020. Current sales conditions dropped seven points to 57; sales expectations in the next six months declined two points to 47; and traffic of prospective buyers fell five points to 32.
Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast fell nine points to 56, the Midwest dropped three points to 49, the South fell seven points to 63, and the West posted an 11-point decline to 51.
Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has conducted for more than 35 years, the HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index, for which any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.
Rising inflation and higher mortgage rates are slowing traffic of prospective home buyers and putting a damper on builder sentiment. In a troubling sign for the housing market, builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes posted its sixth straight monthly decline in June, falling two points to 67, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. This marks the lowest HMI reading since June 2020.
“Six consecutive monthly declines for the HMI is a clear sign of a slowing housing market in a high inflation, slow growth economic environment,” said NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter, a builder and developer from Savannah, Ga. “The entry-level market has been particularly affected by declines for housing affordability and builders are adopting a more cautious stance as demand softens with higher mortgage rates. Government officials need to enact policies that will support the supply-side of the housing market as costs continue to climb.”
“The housing market faces both demand-side and supply-side challenges,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “Residential construction material costs are up 19% year-over-year with cost increases for a variety of building inputs, except for lumber, which has experienced recent declines due to a housing slowdown. On the demand-side of the market, the increase for mortgage rates for the first half of 2022 has priced out a significant number of prospective home buyers, as reflected by the decline for the traffic measure of the HMI.”
Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for more than 35 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.
All three HMI indices posted declines in June. The component charting traffic of prospective buyers fell five points to 48, marking the first time this gauge has fallen below the breakeven level of 50 since June 2020. The HMI index gauging current sales conditions fell one point to 77 and the gauge measuring sales expectations in the next six months fell two points to 61.
Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast fell one point to 71, the Midwest dropped six points to 56, the South fell two points to 78 and the West posted a nine-point decline to 74.
HMI tables can be found at nahb.org/hmi. More information on housing statistics is also available at Housing Economics PLUS (formerly housingeconomics.com).
Housing starts (chart) for April dipped 0.2% month-over-month (m/m) to an annual pace of 1,724,000 units, below the Bloomberg consensus estimate of a 1,756,000 unit pace, and compared to March’s downwardly-revised pace of 1,728,000 units. Building permits, one of the leading indicators tracked by the Conference Board as it is a gauge of future construction, fell by 3.2% m/m to an annual rate of 1,819,000, slightly above expectations calling for 1,814,000 units, and compared to the downwardly-revised 1,870,000 unit pace in March.
In other housing news, the MBA Mortgage Application Index fell 11.0% last week, following the prior week’s increase of 2.0%. The index snapped a string of two weekly increases as a 9.5% fall in the Refinance Index was met with an 11.9% tumble for the Purchase Index. However, the average 30-year mortgage rate pulled back from a recent spike, declining 4 basis points (bps) to 5.49%, but is up 234 bps versus a year ago.
Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.16 percent.
“The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage exceeded four percent for the first time since May of 2019,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “The Federal Reserve raising short-term rates and signaling further increases means mortgage rates should continue to rise over the course of the year. While home purchase demand has moderated, it remains competitive due to low existing inventory, suggesting high house price pressures will continue during the spring homebuying season.”
News Facts
30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.16 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending March 17, 2022, up from last week when it averaged 3.85 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.09 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.39 percent with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.09 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.40 percent.
5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.19 percent with an average 0.2 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.97 percent. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.79 percent.
The PMMS® is focused on conventional, conforming, fully amortizing home purchase loans for borrowers who put 20 percent down and have excellent credit. Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following link for the Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.
New York’s eviction moratorium will not be extended after it expires this weekend, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday. In the meantime, the state’s rent-relief portal will be reopened to give aid to New Yorkers facing eviction. The freeze on evictions was established at the beginning of the Covid pandemic by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to give relief to struggling New Yorkers. Over the past two years, it has been extended multiple times, with Hochul extending it to January 15 during her first week in office.
“We talked about giving people a little more breathing room, giving them just a little more relief on a short-term basis, and that went all the way to January 15,” Hochul said on Tuesday. “That was something no other state has done to my knowledge, and what we want to do is let people know that that is concluding very shortly.”
The ending of New York’s eviction moratorium comes after months of legal struggles between the federal government and New York. Last August, the Supreme Court partially blocked New York’s eviction moratorium claiming that the ban was unconstitutional because landlords had no way to challenge their tenant’s claims. When Hochul extended the ban in September, the original moratorium was altered to allow landlords to challenge their tenant’s claims in court.
Offering struggling New Yorkers an alternative, Hochul brought up the idea of reopening the rent-relief portal, which would give New Yorkers facing eviction the opportunity to have their eviction proceedings halted temporarily. “There is another option, which is reopening the portal. This is going to have the same effect in terms of allowing people to take advantage of a situation if they’re not able to pay their rent. They can have a cessation of the eviction proceedings for the time being.”
With the expiration of the moratorium closing in, tenant advocates have focused their attention on pushing for the passage of the good cause eviction bill, which would ban landlords from denying tenants a lease renewal without sufficient reasoning. The bill also guarantees tenants protection from eviction if their landlords increase their rent by 3 percent or by 150 percent of the Consumer Price Index.
In October of 2021, the federal government said that it would be reallocating unused funds from its first $25 billion allocation for emergency rental assistance and would be taking requests from states who needed a portion of it. In November, the state requested $1 billion in supplemental funding from the Department of Treasury to help residents facing eviction but received only $27 million this week.
“The federal government said that they were going to set aside money from other states that didn’t use it. We asked the Department of Treasury for over $978 million of that money to come to New York to help our backlog because by then we had probably $1 billion dollars worth of claims,” Hochul said. “That money, despite our efforts, resulted in $27 million dollars this week.”
Joseph Strasburg, the president of the Rent Stabilization Association, a group representing 25,000 owners of rent-stabilized apartments in the city, encouraged the end of the moratorium.
“The rolling eviction moratorium, now going on nearly two years, was intended as a temporary emergency response, and not as a long-term, sustainable solution,” Strasburg said. “The state of emergency was lifted last June, tenants have received billions of dollars in rent relief and other federal and state assistance, and despite COVID variants, the economy continues to rebound with millions of job openings still waiting to be filled. It’s time to end the eviction moratorium and put an end to tenants skipping the rent because there are no repercussions for not paying.”
In his statement, Strasburg mentioned that despite the eviction moratorium coming to an end, New Yorkers facing eviction in the face of Covid-related financial struggles are protected by the Tenant Safe Harbor A
Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.12 percent.
“Mortgage rates inched up as a result of economic improvement and a shift in monetary policy guidance,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “While house price growth is slowing, prices remain high due to solid housing demand and low supply. We expect rates to continue to increase into 2022 which may leave some potential homebuyers with less room in their budgets on the sideline.”
News Facts
30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.12 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending December 16, 2021, up from last week when it averaged 3.10 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.67 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.34 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.38 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.21 percent.
The PMMS® is focused on conventional, conforming, fully amortizing home purchase loans for borrowers who put 20 percent down and have excellent credit. Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following link for the Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.
Freddie Mac makes home possible for millions of families and individuals by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Since our creation by Congress in 1970, we’ve made housing more accessible and affordable for homebuyers and renters in communities nationwide. We are building a better housing finance system for homebuyers, renters, lenders, investors and taxpayers. Learn more at FreddieMac.com, Twitter @FreddieMac and Freddie Mac’s blog FreddieMac.com/blog.
Median sales prices rose for existing single-family homes in all but one of 183 measured markets in the third quarter of 2021, according to the latest quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors.
The report also found that 78% of the 183 markets experienced double-digit year-over-year price increases, a decrease from 94% in the prior quarter, and three metro areas saw price gains of over 30% from one year ago, also fewer than the number in the previous quarter.
The median sales price of single-family existing homes climbed 16% from one year ago to $363,700, a slower pace in comparison to the preceding quarter at 22.9%. All four major regions had double-digit year-over-year price growth, led by the Northeast at 17.5%, followed by the South at 14.9%, the Midwest at 10.7%, and the West at 10.3%.
“Home prices are continuing to move upward, but the rate at which they ascended slowed in the third quarter,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “I expect more homes to hit the market as early as next year, and that additional inventory, combined with higher mortgage rates, should markedly reduce the speed of price increases.”
The markets with the highest year-over-year price gains were: Austin-Round Rock, Texas; Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida; Boise-Nampa, Idaho; Ocala, Florida; Punta Gorda, Florida; Salt Lake City; Phoenix; Sebastian-Vero Beach, Florida; Port St. Lucie, Florida; and New York-Jersey City-White Plains, New Jersey.
“While buyer bidding wars lessened in the third quarter compared to early 2021, consumers still faced stiff competition for homes located in the top 10 markets,” continues Yun. “Most properties were only on the market for a few days before being listed as under contract.”
In the third quarter, the average monthly mortgage payment on an existing single-family home financed with a 30-year fixed-rate loan and 20% down payment rose to $1,214, an increase of $156 from one year ago.
Among all home buyers, the monthly mortgage payment as a share of the median family income increased to 16.6%, up from 14.9% a year ago. For first-time buyers, the typical mortgage payment on a 10% down payment loan increased to 25.2% of the median family income, up from 22.6% a year ago.
A family typically needed an income of more than $100,000 to affordably pay a 10% down payment mortgage in 17 markets, matching the prior quarter. In 83 markets, a family typically needed an income of less than $50,000 to afford a home, down from 85 markets in the prior quarter.
“For the third quarter—and for 2021 as a whole—home affordability declined for many potential buyers,” says Yun. “While the higher prices made it extremely difficult for typical families to afford a home, in some cases the historically low mortgage rates helped offset the asking price.”
Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), showing that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.09 percent. “Mortgage rates continued to rise this week due to the trajectory of both the economy and the pandemic,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “Even as the availability of existing homes is improving, prices remain high due to home buyer demand and limitations on housing starts and permits resulting from the ongoing labor and material shortages. Despite these countervailing forces, we expect the housing market to remain strong as we head into the end of the year.”
News Facts
30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.09 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending October 21, 2021, up from last week when it averaged 3.05 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.80 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.33 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.30 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.33 percent.
5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.54 percent with an average 0.3 point, down slightly from last week when it averaged 2.55 percent. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.87 percent.
The PMMS is focused on conventional, conforming, fully amortizing home purchase loans for borrowers who put 20 percent down and have excellent credit. Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following link for the Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.
