Friday, January 29, 2021

More Buyers Open to Relocating

 

 
 
Home Buyers Say They're Open                                                                    to Relocating

Remote work has Americans spreading out and the trend doesn't
look likeit's going anywhere any timesoon. More and more,
Americans are moving further from city centers and into suburbs
and exurbs.  In fact, according to one recent survey, two-thirds
of participants said they either already had, or would like to, move 
somewhere within 50 miles of their current home. Some even 
wanted to move further, with 4 percent saying they moved more
than 50 miles away and 10 percent said they'd like to in the future.

In short, there are a lot of Americans who are using their newfound
ability to work from home as a reason to move elsewhere - whether
for extra space, privacy, or to save money. It's not surprising. It's also
likely to continue. That's because, just 17 percent of respondents said
they thought their work-from-home arrangement would end when the
pandemic subsides, while 72 percent said they expect it to be
permanent.

More here.
 
 


 
 
Mortgage Demand Rises 17% After                                                                  the Holidays

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly
Mortgage Applications Survey, demand for mortgage applications
was up 16.7 percent during the first week of January. The increase
includes an adjustment for the holidays, but represents a significant
spike from the previous week. Refinance activity
was up 20 percent, while purchase demand rose 8 percent.

Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry
forecasting, says the numbers contain evidence that first-time home
buyers are becoming more active in the market. "Sustained housing
demand continued to support purchase growth, with activity up nearly
10 percent from a year ago, " Kan said. "The lower average loan
balance observed was partly due to a 9.2 percent increase in FHA
applications, which is a positive sign of more lower-income and
first-time buyers returning to the market. " Also in the report, average
mortgage rates were up slightly from the previous week, with increases
seen for both 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances
and loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. The MBA's
survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all
retail residential mortgage applications.

More here.  
 
 

MORTGAGE NEWS

 
 
More Buyers Buying Homes Sight Unseen

How we buy homes has undergone a significant transformation
in the past year. The proof is in newly released data that shows
a record number of recent home buyers made an offer on a home
without having ever visited it in person. The numbers, from an online
real-estate portal, show 63 percent of buyers who purchased a home
last year made an offer without having seen the property. That's
up from 32 percent one year earlier and 45 percent in July 2020.

So what's driving the trend? Well, mostly it's the COVID-19
pandemic. The virus caused us all to changethe way we do
things,including buying a home. After its onset,home buyers
became more comfortable using technology like virtual home
tours to further explore listings that caught their eye online. It
also meant more Americans working from home,which lead home
shoppers to look for houses in areas that weren't as easy to get to
for an in-person walkthrough. The combination of pandemic,
technological advancement, and remote work means an
increasing number of us have had to - or have chosen to
- take our home search virtual. It remains to be seen, though,
whether or not the trend will continue after
the virus subsides.

More here.
 
 

ECONOMIC NEWS

 
 
Will There Be a Buyer's Market In 2021?

A buyer's market means there are more homes available for
 sale than there are interested home buyers.
When this happens, home shoppers have more negotiating
power and time to choose - since sellers are
less likely to have more than one offer to pick from. This was
the case after the housing crash and
financial crisis, when the market was flooded with homes but
had few buyers, outside of real-estate
investors looking to capitalize.

So what should we expect from 2021? Well, most likely, not a
buyer's market. The number of homes
for sale fell significantly last year and remains low. Conversely,
home buyer demand is elevated and
has been for a while. That means, more buyers than homes,
 which leads to competition and higher
prices. But while home buyers aren't likely to find a buyer's
 market, they will find conditions softening
from last year. With mortgage rates still at record lows and
 new-home construction improving, experts
expect home-price increases to moderate and inventory to
begin its recovery. In other words, the 2021
housing market won't be a buyer's market, but it should be
 better than last year.

More here.

Thanks to Sue Baxter at FM Home Loans for sharing this information

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