According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, U.S. mortgage credit availability decreased in May 2017. The Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) decreased 1.1 percent to 181.0 in May.
Led by a decline in multifamily production, nationwide housing starts fell 5.5 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million units. Multifamily starts fell 9.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 289,000 units.
Mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 15 percent compared to May 2016. Compared to April 2017, applications increased by 4 percent relative to the previous month.
U.S. Homeownership rate is stuck near a 50-year low because of a perverse mix of affordability challenges, student loan debt, tight credit conditions and housing supply shortages.
Nationally, 4.4 percent of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due including those in foreclosure) in March 2017.
The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR) reported this week that despite a shrinking housing supply, local home prices and sales continued to rise in May 2017.
According to Zillow analysis, buying the typical U.S. home listed for sale in more than half of the nation's 35 largest markets will require a greater share of income than the median-valued home required historically.
U.S. homeowners with mortgages (roughly 63 percent of all homeowners) have seen their equity increase by a total of $766.4 billion since Q1 2016, an increase of 11.2 percent.
According to Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped for the fourth consecutive week and hitting its lowest level in nearly seven months.
Home flips in Q1 2017 accounted for 6.7 percent of all single family home and condo sales during the quarter, up from 5.8 percent in the previous quarter and unchanged from a year ago.
Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a net gain of $224 on each loan they originated in the first quarter of 2017, down from a reported gain of $575 per loan in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Nearly 6.9 million U.S. homes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are at potential risk of damage from hurricane storm surge inundation in 2017 with a total reconstruction cost value (RCV) of more than $1.5 trillion.
U.S. pending home sales in April 2017 slumped for the second consecutive month and were down year-over-year nationally and in all four major regions. Only the West saw an increase in contract signings last month.
In 2016 just 18 percent of homes for sale in the 30 largest U.S. metros were affordable for middle-class Hispanic families and 14 percent were affordable for African-American families.
According to Freddie Mac's latest May 2017 Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate inched lower for the third consecutive week and setting a new low for the year.
international buyers of residential real estate in the U.S. don't have a significant impact on the overall housing market.
According to a new Walk Score report by Redfin, the Top 10 most walkable U.S. cities with a population over 300,000 were revealed this week. New York, San Francisco and Boston remain the top three most walkable cities in the nation, while Miami leapfrogged Philadelphia.
National U.S. home values have surpassed the peak hit during the housing bubble and are at their highest value in more than a decade. The median home value in the U.S. is now $198,000, 1 percent higher than peak value hit in 2007.
