Affordability

A new report from Redfin also reveals that Gen Z took advantage of ultra-low pandemic-era interest rates to make their homeownership dreams come true.

According to Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group expectations for Q1, the increase in the sales pace from the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023 revealed that homebuying demand remains buoyant and was unexpectedly responsive to small declines in mortgage rates.

Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies released its Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity report, which projects that year-over-year expenditures for homeowner improvements and repairs will experience a near 3% decline through Q1 2024.

According to RentCafe’s Rental Activity Report, in April, apartment hunters in Atlanta added twice as many listings to their favorites lists compared to this time last year, as many renters remain deterred from homebuying due to elevated interest rates and economic inflation.

According to the RE/MAX National Housing Report for March 2023, the expected spring surge has arrived, as an influx of homebuyers entering the market in February spurred a 37.7% rise in home sales.

Entry-level home shoppers are most likely to face bidding wars this spring, as prices rose by 8% annually for the least expensive one-third of houses, while more expensive homes lost value for the first time in more than a decade.

Freddie Mac reports the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage took a turn upward this week, rising 12-basis points week-over-week as investors responded to more healthy economic indicators and an uptick in bond yields.

“Rental cost growth relaxed again in February but is still increasing nationwide year-over-year,” said Molly Boesel, Principal Economist at CoreLogic. “Less-expensive metros have emerged as those with the highest appreciating rental costs, as tenants contend with elevated rents and inflation."

While overall sales declined 22% from a year ago, existing-home sales dipped lower in March after month-over-month sales declined in three out of four major U.S. regions, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors.

“While the NFCI Credit index indicated that credit tightened in March, which reduced housing market potential, the credit tightening was modest and far from recent pandemic lows, and certainly nothing like the Great Financial Crisis period,” said Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American.