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- Existing home sales drop 1.9% in April
Existing home sales drop 1.9% in April
Plus: Where first-time homebuyers are flocking in 2024
🍔🌭☀️ Ladies and gentlemen: The weekend.
We're out on Monday for Memorial Day (anyone else planning on grilling?) and back in your inbox bright and early on Wednesday morning.
Today’s newsletter is 767 words, a 3-minute read.
Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of May 23, 2024. © MND's Daily Rate Index.
1. Veterans Affairs will suspend rule blocking vets from paying agents
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will issue a circular by June 12 to address an agency law that prohibits VA buyers from paying real estate agent compensation, announced VA Deputy Director Michelle Corridon at the MBA conference.
The circular will coincide with a formal rulemaking process. Current VA policy bars veterans using VA loans from being charged brokerage fees, conflicting with the NAR settlement that requires buyers to pay their agents.
Both the MBA and NAR have pushed for this change to ensure veterans can access professional representation in a competitive market. LINK
2. Mortgage rates drop below seven percent
Freddie Mac yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey®, showing the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.94 percent. Key stats:
The 30-year FRM averaged 6.94 percent as of May 23, 2024, down from last week when it averaged 7.02 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.57 percent.
The 15-year FRM averaged 6.24 percent, down from last week when it averaged 6.28 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.97 percent.
“Spring homebuyers received an unexpected windfall this week, as mortgage rates fell below the seven percent threshold for the first time in over a month,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “Although this week’s data on previously owned home sales showed a decline, total inventory of both new and existing homes is up. Greater supply coupled with the recent downward trend in rates is an encouraging sign for the housing market.”
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3. More Nuggets
📈 For the week ending May 17, 2024, mortgage applications increased 1.9 percent from one week earlier. (MBA)
🤖 Zillow launches AI tool to stop fair housing discrimination. (Zillow)
📝 MBA Secondary and Capital Markets Conference 2024 Recap. (The Basis Point)
🆕 Mr. Cooper Group subsidiary Xome launches DIY sales platform — no agent needed. (MorningStar)
⚖️ The average retail mortgage lender lost $645 per loan in Q1 2024 — a decrease from the average loss of $2,109 per loan in Q4 2023. (MBA)
4. Existing home sales drop 1.9% in April
Existing home sales fell 1.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.14 million in April from a revised 4.22 million in March, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday.
Sales dropped across the country — down 4% in the Northeast, 2.6% in the West, 1.6% in the South and 1% in the Midwest.
The median price of previously occupied homes rose 5.7% to $407,600 — the tenth straight increase and a record for April.
Lawrence Yun, the association's chief economist, called the sales drop "a little frustrating.'' Economists had expected sales to come in at 4.2 million.
5. Data: Where first-time homebuyers are flocking in 2024
First-time homebuyers are flocking to lower-cost-of-living states, including Illinois, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Meanwhile, they are avoiding several Mountain West locales, including Montana, Utah, and Arizona.
States with the highest rates of first-time homebuyers:
| States with the lowest rates of first-time homebuyers:
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Dig deeper into this and much more from Maxwell’s Q12024 lending report.
A recent whitepaper from Intercontinental Exchange. uncovers the hidden costs of mortgage fee cures, which average $1,225 per loan. This analysis highlights preventable expenses significantly eroding mortgage lender profits.
As originations begin lifting off from a 30-year low, Tim Bowler, president of ICE Mortgage Technology, emphasized the importance of lenders being diligent and efficient in correcting those errors, saying that "Every basis point counts."
“Unfortunately, fee cures and the costs associated with them – entirely preventable expenses – are contributing to the already ballooning cost to originate a mortgage,” Bowler said. LINK
📺 1 TV thing: Here’s what’s new on Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu and Disney+
You’re all caught up. See you on Wednesday! And thank you to everyone who participated in Wednesday's poll. 🙏
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