Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates for Texas homebuyers

Monkey Business – Expert Says Affordable Homes Are Going Away

Affordable homes are going away. With the prospect of rising rates, now is the time to buy a home. That is apparently the opinion of Dr. Luis Torres, a research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M. Torres, in a rather interesting piece in the Houston Business Journal seems to be confident that Houston's real estate market is on the road to recovery:  “I can say this with some certainty that the worst of the downturn is behind us.” I'm not surprised that HBJ would print a piece like this (after all it is [...]

New Home Sales Crash Back To Reality Of Higher Rates

The Census Bureau reported December new home sales of 536,000 (seasonally adjusted annual rate). This was a 10 percent drop from the revised November numbers and well shy of expectations. Unadjusted new home sales (38,000) were flat year-over year. The average price of a new home contracted in December 2016 was $384,000 while the median price posted at $322,000, near the highs for 2016. So what happened to the lofty expectations of higher new home sales? In a word it it was an AFFORDABILITY problem. The real estate pundits who were expecting higher mortgage interest [...]

New Home Sales Rise In November To 592,000 (SAAR)

New home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000 in November. Census Bureau numbers showed the average price of a new home contracted in November was $359,900, down from the average price of $376,800 seen last year. The median price of $305,400 was also lower than last year's median of $317,000. New home sales have been surprisingly strong for most of the year, posting double-digit increases compared to last year. Census revised previous months sales slightly lower, but all things considered new home sales have been fairly strong prior to the interest [...]

NAR: Existing Home Sales Up 5.9 Percent In October

Existing home sales increased 5.9 percent year-over-year in October. Numbers from the National Association of Realtors put existing home sales for October at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.60 million in October, a two percent increase from the previous month. This is welcome news from NAR, but it is also important to remember that this was before the spike in mortgage rates we have seen during the last month. "The good news is that the tightening labor market is beginning to push up wages and the economy has lately shown signs of greater expansion. [...]

By |2016-11-22T21:30:36+00:00November 22nd, 2016|In the Press, Markets, Mortgage Rates, Real Estate|0 Comments

Mortgage Rates Rip To Highest Level Since July 2015

Katy Texas mortgage rates rose to their highest levels since July 2015 as we ended the week. That new home you may have been looking to purchase just became more expensive. Unless you already had a mortgage rate locked in, higher rates likely means higher home payments or diminished expectations. As Friday came to a close, mortgage brokers were discussing the wreckage of higher yields and looking at a new interest rate landscape, at least in the short term. Mortgage News Daily explained the closing of the week in the mortgage market... "The most prevalent [...]

Single-Family Permits Flat In October As Housing Starts Jump

Single-family permits fell flat in October. That's the news from today's Census numbers on October construction starts and permits. The unadjusted single-family permits data show 60,500 new single family permits for October 2016, virtually unchanged from last year's 60,300 print. Headline numbers for housing starts show a huge 23.3 percent YoY increase, and a 21.7 percent increase in single-family starts during October. Not seasonally adjusted, single-family starts rose almost 25 percent year-over-year. It certainly appears we will see more new home sales revisions in the months ahead. If homebuilders actually did put more inventory on [...]

New Home Sales Decline From Summer Peak, Median Price Lowest Of 2016

The Census Bureau reported a 7.6 percent decline for new home sales compared the election-year surprise we saw for July. Compared to August of last year, new home sales were still 20.6 percent higher than last year. It appears super low mortgage rates continued to provide some lift to the new home market. What did not rise in the latest Census report is the median price of a new home contracted in August. The median price of a new home fell to $284,000, down from $300,200 last year. The average price of a new home [...]

Census: New Home Sales In June Rise To Highest Level Since 2008

The Census Bureau reported new residential sales for June that came in at a rate of 592,000 (SAAR). This was above expectations, and a continued indicator that the Fed's juicing of the market continues to provide a boost to new residential construction. The latest report shows that new home sales in June were 25.4 percent higher than last year. New home prices were also higher. The median price of a new home sold (contracted) in June was $306,700 and the average price was $358,200. This was a good report for new home sales, but it [...]

NAR: Existing Home Sales Fizzle In February As Affordability Evaporates

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales fizzled in Februrary, falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.08 million. This was a sharp decline from January numbers but 2 percent higher than a year ago. NAR's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, mentioned the stock market, poor weather on the East coast, as well as supply and affordability issues. At least he got one of the four correct! The real problem surrounding the U.S. real estate market is a lack of affordability. Home prices have been levitated back to the previous bubble levels [...]

Mortgage Rates Drop As “Recovery” Drowns In The Sea Of Central Bank Market Manipulations

"Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction." Barack Obama - SOTU January 2016 2016 has seen one of the worst starts to a year ever for major U.S. stock indices ever, and that means mortgage rates have continued to fall during the first two weeks of the year. For those who were rushing to lock in a sub-4 percent mortgage, there really was no need to rush. It is now easy to get a 3.75 percent fixed rate 30-year mortgage here in the Houston area. Mortgage rates are driven by demand [...]

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