The National Association of Realtors’ monthly Pending Home Sales Index has tracked the number of signed contracts to buy homes since January 2001. In May, the index set an all-time record for month-over-month gains, with a 44.3 percent increase. After the improvement, pending sales are now just 5.1 percent lower than they were last year at the same time. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says the rebound is a good sign for the housing market and the overall economy. “This has been a spectacular recovery for contract signings, and goes to show the resiliency of American consumers and their evergreen desire for homeownership,” Yun said. “This bounce back also speaks to how the housing sector could lead the way for a broader economic recovery.” Every region of the country saw double-digit increases, led by a 56.2 percent gain in the West. Yun says the recovery has significantly improved the outlook for home sales this year. In fact, the NAR now expects total sales to suffer a less than 10 percent decline, despite the typical spring sales season being disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. (source)

In March, when the pandemic took hold and things started shutting down, many home buyers and sellers put their spring plans on hold. The start of the housing market’s typical sales season was delayed indefinitely as Americans took a wait-and-see attitude. Now, three months later, local economies have reopened and consumers have started to adjust to new safety measures. But what has happened to the plans of those home buyers and sellers? Well, according to new numbers from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, home buyers have returned to the market much faster than sellers. In fact, buyer demand has bounced back in full, while new listings are down 19 percent from where they were last year at the same time. That means, a lot of homeowners who were planning to sell have yet to put their homes on the market. How many of them eventually do, and when, will help determine where home prices are headed, how much competition buyers face, and how quickly the homes that are for sale end up selling this summer. (source)

Buying a home takes a while. But though the process takes several weeks, you won’t necessarily have a lot of time to deliberate once you’ve found a house you like. In most cases, you have to make an offer quickly or you’ll risk losing the home to another buyer. That’s because, in the current market, inventory is low. The number of homes for sale was already lower than normal before the coronavirus and, since the onset of the pandemic, it’s fallen further. So, when you’ve found a house that fits your budget and lifestyle, chances are someone else has found it too. And competition from other buyers means you have to be prepared to move fast. How fast? Well, according to one new analysis, the typical home sold in June had an offer accepted within 22 days of it being listed. That’s the fastest homes have sold since the summer of 2018. And, while there are some cities where homes stay on the market longer, 29 of the 35 largest metros are seeing homes sell faster than they were last year at the same time. That means, in most markets, there are more buyers than homes for sale. So, if you’re planning on buying this summer, you should also plan to move quickly when you find the house you want. (source)

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates were mostly flat last week. In fact, rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans with conforming loan balances were unchanged from the week before. Rates for jumbo loans and those backed by the Federal Housing Administration saw slight increases. But despite mortgage rates still hovering near record lows, demand for loan applications fell week-over-week. Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president of economic and industry forecasting, says the purchase market remains strong. “Even with high unemployment and economic uncertainty, the purchase market is strong. Activity has climbed above year-ago levels for five straight weeks and was 18 percent higher than a year ago last week,” Kan said. “One factor that may potentially crimp growth in the months ahead is that the release of pent-up demand from earlier this spring is clashing with the tight supply of new and existing homes on the market.” The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. (source)

New home sales are a good indicator of what’s currently happening in the housing market. This is due to the fact that they’re counted when a contract to buy is signed, rather than at closing like existing-home sales. That’s also why new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development are good news for the market’s recovery. According to the most recent results, sales of newly built single-family homes rose 16.6 percent in May from the month before and are now 12.7 percent higher than they were last year at the same time. The strength of the rebound was unexpected, as economists were predicting gains but thought sales would rise just 2.9 percent month-over-month. That the improvement was as strong as it was is an indication that home buyers – many of whom were sidelined by coronavirus shutdowns in March and April – became much more active in May. Along with other recent data showing signs of a rebound, May’s new-home sales numbers are reason to be optimistic that the housing market’s recovery will continue to gain strength as the summer goes on. (source)

Sales of previously owned homes fell in May, according to new numbers from the National Association of Realtors. Completed transactions were down 9.7 percent from the month before and 26.6 percent below last year at the same time. It was the third consecutive month of decreasing sales since the coronavirus’ first impact in March. But despite the declines, Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, is optimistic that things will rebound soon. “Sales completed in May reflect contract signings in March and April – during the strictest times of the pandemic lockdown and hence the cyclical low point,” Yun said. “Home sales will surely rise in the upcoming months with the economy reopening, and could even surpass one-year ago figures in the second half of the year.” His optimism is most likely based in other recent housing data showing buyers are returning to the market faster than originally expected. But while rebounding buyer interest is encouraging, it could put upward pressure on prices, if it outpaces the number of homes available for sale. As it is, the median existing-home price rose 2.3 percent year-over-year in May. (source)