Typically, there are fewer home buyers in the fall. Because of this, homeowners who sell after summer have to work a little harder to attract attention. This year, however, things are different. According to a new analysis from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, the housing market hasn’t cooled and there’s been little drop off in the number of interested buyers. Which means, anyone with a home to sell should be eager to take advantage, since the summer sales season seems to have extended into autumn. But while the number of buyers give sellers an advantage right now, homes for sale are still much lower than last year. During the first week of October, for example, for-sale inventory was down 38 percent nationally. And while that’s a slight improvement from the previous week, it’s not enough to meet demand, slow competition, and moderate home prices. That means, fall home buyers should expect summer-like conditions will linger, since the number of interested buyers continues to outpace the number of homes available for sale. (source)

Americans’ confidence in the housing market has bounced back, according to the results of the most recent Housing Market Index from Fannie Mae. The index – which asks Americans how they feel about buying and selling a home, mortgage rates, prices, their jobs, and financial security – showed consumer sentiment improved in September and has now recovered more than half of the losses suffered in the early days of the pandemic. In particular, the components gauging perceptions of selling a house, job security, and home prices saw gains over the month before. Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s senior vice president and chief economist, says market dynamics will be determined by the number of homeowners who decide to list their homes in the months ahead. “Going forward, we believe the wild card to be whether enough sellers enter the market to continue to meet the strong home buying demand,” Duncan said. “The home purchase market requires the proper mix of home price growth and continued economic recovery to achieve sustainable levels of housing activity.” The net share of survey respondents who said it was a good time to sell rose 14 percent in September. (source)

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates fell last week from the week before. Rates were down across all loan categories, including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and 15-year fixed-rate loans. The decline helped push overall demand upward, with refinance activity seeing an 8 percent improvement week-over-week. Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, says favorable rates are also keeping purchase demand strong. “Continuing the trend seen in recent months, the purchase market is growing at a strong clip, with activity last week up 21 percent from a year ago,” Kan said. “The average loan size increased again to a new record at $371,500, as activity in the higher loan size categories continues to lead growth.” Average loan size has been growing recently, mostly due to inventory and affordability issues in lower-price tiers. The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. (source)

You don’t need to be able to define exactly what makes a home green to know you’d like a home with energy-efficient features. All you really need to know is that an eco-friendly home can help lower your bills and improve your quality of life. That’s why green features consistently rank high on home buyer wish lists. So if you’re shopping for a house and aren’t sure what to look for, here are a few easy things to check. Start with insulation. A house with good insulation holds heat and conserves energy. Try to learn as much as you can about what’s in the home’s walls. Also check the doors and windows. If they aren’t fit properly or have a cracked seal, it can put stress on the home’s heating and cooling systems. Naturally, Energy Star windows are best, but the newer the better. Additionally, you’ll want to look at which direction the house is facing. How a home is situated and the amount of natural sunlight it gets will have an impact on its efficiency. Of course, there are standards and certifications that can be verified to determine how green a home is but, outside of those, just asking about the age and maintenance of the home’s HVAC system, windows, and insulation can help you choose a home that operates more efficiently and keeps your utility bills low. (source)

Buying a house is a commitment. After all, it’s a major financial transaction, so it’s not something you do on a whim. It’s also not something you do every six months. Which means, when you’re shopping for a house to buy, you should probably think about how the house will fit your lifestyle over the long term. But how long should you expect to stay? Well, that depends. There are an almost limitless number of factors that could cause you to want to make a move somewhere down the road – everything from starting a family to just not having enough space in the kitchen. In other words, it’s hard to predict. However, there are some numbers that might help give you an idea. For example, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ most recent U.S. Home Sales Report, homeowners who sold in the second quarter of 2020 had been in their homes 7.95 years on average. And that’s been fairly consistent since, at least, the fourth quarter of last year, when the average homeownership tenure was 7.96 years. Which means, if you’re buying a house today, you should probably expect to be there somewhere between five and 10 years. (source)

The housing market has a pattern to it. Typically, it starts to get busier in early spring and continues to build through the summer. But, then in fall, when the school year starts and the weather cools, the housing market slows down a bit. That’s why September is said to be the best month to buy a house. It has the higher inventory levels of the summer market but with fewer interested buyers and less competition. This year, though, that’s changed. Like everything else, the coronavirus has thrown off the market’s typical pattern. In short, the busy summer market looks like it’s going to roll right into autumn. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, there are 25 percent more buyers in the market now than at the start of the year. By comparison, a normal September would see 9 percent more buyers. Danielle Hale, the site’s chief economist, says it’s a perfect storm. “Many buyers tend to put their home search on hold after the start of the school year, but remote learning and the desire for more space continued to fuel buyer interest in September,” Hale said. “Unseasonably high buyer interest coupled with historically low inventory and favorable mortgage rates are creating a perfect storm in the housing market.” (source)

The National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index tracks the number of signed contracts to buy homes each month. The index is a good indicator of future home sales numbers, since contract signings precede closings by several weeks. According to the most recent release, pending sales hit an all-time high in August, rising 8.8 percent over the month before and 24.2 percent over last year at the same time. It marks the fourth consecutive month of positive contract activity. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says low mortgage rates have helped home sales recover and it looks like they’ll stay low for the foreseeable future. “Tremendously low mortgage rates … have again helped pending home sales climb in August,” Yun said. “Additionally, the Fed intends to hold short-term fed funds rates near 0 percent for the foreseeable future, which should in the absence of inflationary pressure keep mortgage rates low, and that will undoubtedly aid home buyers continuing to enter the marketplace.” Though the news is good, Yun cautions that more for-sale inventory is needed in order for the market’s strong recovery to be sustained. (source)