Home prices smash another record

Plus: Real estate investors are buying up homes in these 12 cities

June 17, 2024

Hi and welcome back to Mortgage Nuggets. Today’s newsletter is 590 words, a 2.5-minute read. Let’s dive in…

Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of June 14, 2024. © MND's Daily Rate Index.

1. Industry groups warn of surge in elder real estate fraud

Consumer and industry advocacy groups, including ALTA, NCLC, NAR, and AARP, have released a joint brief warning of increased elder real estate fraud and financial exploitation.

Key issues include forgery, coercion, non-disclosure of information, fraud, and misuse of power of attorney. The FTC reported that individuals aged 60+ lost over $1.9 billion to such scams last year, with the FBI noting a 14% rise in real estate scams affecting elders.

Advocates call for stronger consumer protections and collaborative efforts to safeguard seniors from exploitation.

2. New-home mortgage applications surge in May

New-home purchase mortgage applications rose 1% month over month and 13.8% year over year in May, according to data released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

“There continues to be strength in the new home purchase market, as purchase applications increased in May compared to both the prior month and from a year ago,” Joel Kan, MBA’s deputy chief economist, said in a statement. “With existing-home inventory still lagging in many markets, many homebuyers have turned their interest toward newly built homes.“

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3. More Nuggets

💻 Wells Fargo fires employees over faked productivity. (BankingDive)

🏡 A record number of homeowners have no mortgage. Here’s how it’s shifting the housing market. (FastCompany)

💰 Real estate investors are buying up homes in these 12 cities. (Yahoo)

💸 The Pride Premium: People in LGBTQ+ friendly areas need to earn $150,000 to afford the typical home—a premium of nearly 50%. (Axios)

🤝 Zillow and multiple listing firms reach settlement in ShowingTime lawsuit. (GeekWire)

4. Flyhomes acquires real estate AI startup, ZeroDown, and launches AI home search portal

Flyhomes announced it has acquired assets from real estate AI startup, ZeroDown, and launched the world’s first purpose-built AI home search portal.

Developed over the last two years, ‘Flyhomes AI,’ is a proprietary technology which brings the first true conversational real estate search and research to the market.

The technology integration was overseen by ZeroDown co-founders, Laks Srini and Abhijeet Dwivedi, who joined Flyhomes as chief technology officer (CTO) and chief growth officer (CGO), respectively.

5. Home prices smash another record

The median U.S. home sale price hit an all-time high of $394,000 during the four weeks ending June 9th. That’s up 4.4% year-over-year and marks the biggest increase in about three months, according to Redfin.

Here are other key takeaways from the report:

  • 6.5% of home sellers are cutting their asking price, the highest percentage since November 2022.

  • $2,829 is now the typical homebuyer’s monthly housing payment, down $30 from April’s record-high

  • Pending home sales are down 3.5% and new listings are up 7.8% YOY

You’re all caught up. See you on Wednesday!

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