Luxe Austin Homes - mortgage rates

"So Much for the Federal Reserve: Mortgage Rates Hit a High Not Seen Since 2000"

Realtor.com writes, "last week brought hope to the housing market when the Federal Reserve did not raise interest rates. Many predicted this would help keep mortgage rates fairly steady.

But it turns out those predictions were 100% wrong.

Instead, for the week ending Sept. 28, rates for a 30-year fixed-rate loan rose to their highest level since 2000, landing at an average of 7.31%—a substantial jump from last week’s 7.19%, according to Freddie Mac.

This latest spike in borrowing costs will likely hit today’s already shaky real estate market especially hard.

“Unlike the turn of the millennium, house prices today are rising alongside mortgage rates, primarily due to low inventory,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “These…

480 Views, 0 Comments

"U.S. Housing Starts Drop to Lowest Level Since June 2020"

Realtor.com reports, "The numbers: Construction of new U.S. homes fell 11.3% in August—falling short of Wall Street expectations—as builders scaled back new projects to focus on completions.

The pace of construction reversed course and fell as mortgage rates stayed over 7%, dampening home-buying demand. The last time construction of new homes was at this level was in June 2020.

So-called housing starts fell to a 1.28 million annual pace from 1.45 million in August, the government said Tuesday. That’s how many houses would be built over an entire year if construction took place at the same rate every month as it did in August.

Economists on Wall Street were expecting a drop in starts to 1.43 million. All numbers are seasonally adjusted.

…

413 Views, 0 Comments

"'The market is active and resilient': Austin area sees uptick in home sales"

Austin American-Statesman writes, "Resilient.

That's the status of the Austin-area housing market as of August, when it saw its first year-over-year increase in home sales since early 2022, the Austin Board of Realtors says.

In its latest monthly report, the board said 2,939 houses changed hands last month in the five-county Austin region, which extends from Georgetown to San Marcos.

The sales represented a 1.4% increase over August 2022. It was the first increase in sales in the Austin region since February 2022, before repeated interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to ease inflation began sharply slowing home sales throughout Central Texas.

Across the Austin-Round Rock metro area, half of the houses last month sold for more than…

547 Views, 0 Comments

"Signed Contracts for U.S. Homes Rise for the Second Month in a Row"

Realtor.com reports, "the numbers: U.S. home sales inched up for the second month in a row, as the housing market continues to be hampered by high rates and a lack of home listings.

Pending home sales rose by 0.9% in July from the previous month, according to the monthly index released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

The figure exceeded expectations on Wall Street. Economists were expecting pending home sales to fall 0.5% in July.

Transactions were still down 14% from last year.

Pending home sales reflect transactions where the contract has been signed for the sale of an existing home, but the sale has not yet closed. Economists view it as an indicator for the direction of existing-home sales in subsequent months.

Big…

478 Views, 0 Comments

"What’s next for the Austin housing market heading to fall 2023"

AUSTIN (KXAN) — "Mortgage rates have hit a 21-year high, and KXAN wanted to see what it could mean for Central Texans.

KXAN Anchor Jennifer Sanders spoke with Dr. Clare Losey, a housing economist with the Austin Board of Realtors, about key housing data, such as new and existing home sales.

JENNIFER: So as mortgage rates top 7% It’s a two-decade high. What does this really mean for homebuyers as well as homeowners here in Central Texas?

CLARE: Well, the primary effect of higher mortgage rates is on homebuyers purchasing power, right? So anytime the mortgage rate increases, it reduces the maximum home price affordable to any potential buyer. So, what we anticipate to see in Austin really in any housing market is just somewhat of a moderation in…

450 Views, 0 Comments

"Q&A: Austin Board of Realtors housing economist helps others ride the waves of Austin market"

Community Impact Austin shares, "Clare Losey joined the Austin Board of Realtors as its housing economist in March. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a PhD in August 2021 and previously worked at the Texas Real Estate Research Center. This interview has been edited for clarity and consistency.

What made you choose Austin?

I attended [The University of Texas] for undergrad and just really fell in love with Austin, and I love just the outdoorsy aspect of it. I think folks here tend to strike a happy medium; they tend to find jobs that they’re at least reasonably passionate about, but yet they have hobbies on the side that they really enjoy.

What do you do as a housing economist for the ABoR?

Much of what I do is focus just on digesting what’s…

505 Views, 0 Comments

"Austin housing economist: forecast calls for cooling home prices, lower mortgage rates"

Shonda Novak of Austin American-Statesmant writes,  "last week, I attended the Austin Board of Realtors' second annual Central Texas Housing Summit. It was loaded with facts, figures, insights and prognostications about the Austin-area housing market. One panel featured the board's housing economist, Clare Losey; Mark Sprague, a longtime Central Texas housing market analyst with Independence Title; and Selma Hepp, CoreLogic's chief economist who gave a national economic update.

Below are a few takeaways with Losey's outlook for the Austin metro's housing market over the next several months. Losey made the comments in a weekly audio interview called "Driving It Home" that features Losey and the board's CEO, Emily Chenevert.

• Inflation will continue…

565 Views, 0 Comments

"Mortgage Rates Go Up—Right as the Housing Market Melts Down"

Realtor.com writes, "as much of the country swelters under a heat dome, the housing market is experiencing its own meltdown.

Mortgage rates jumped to 6.81% for a 30-year fixed-rate loan for the week ending July 27, according to Freddie Mac. That’s up from last week’s average rate of 6.78%. And the welcome run of median home prices declining for 42 days flatlined for the week ending July 22.

“The annual decline in the median listing price evaporated, with prices tying year-ago levels this week,” says Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale in her analysis.

What’s keeping home prices so high—and is there any way for homebuyers to find some sweet relief from the punishing real estate market this summer? We’ll break down what this latest real…

490 Views, 0 Comments

"As Austin housing returns to pre-pandemic levels, some buyers are seeing opportunities"

Austin American-Statesman writes, "the Austin housing market is starting to look a lot more like 2019, before the pandemic sent demand and prices skyrocketing to record highs.

For the past three years, multiple offers, bidding wars and all-cash deals became the norm for those hoping to get into a home in Central Texas. Now, the picture is changing.

That's the upshot from a report on the June housing market by the Austin Board of Realtors. Here are the takeaways:

• Last month, residential home sales in the metro area declined 8.5% year over year to 3,147 closed sales while the median price dropped 9.6% to $483,000.

• New listings declined 23.6% year-over-year to 4,638 listings.

• The number of homes on the market jumped 38.4% to…

502 Views, 0 Comments

"Austin booms as No. 7 U.S. metro for new home construction in 2023"

CultureMap Austin writes, "Austin already has one of the most active real estate development markets within the last decade and holds a top 10 rank for the most built-to-rent homes. Now, the Austin metro area has now earned another top 10 spot for the seventh-highest new home construction rate in 2023, according to a recent analysis by Chamber of Commerce.

The booming housing construction is just one way Austin is trying to keep up with its remarkable population growth.

The June 2023 edition of the "Cities with the Most New Homes" analysis discovered that despite new home permits being down over 20 percent year-over-year from 2022, the state capital's housing market is still on the rise.

"Numerous factors such as limited inventory in the…

531 Views, 0 Comments