Data

Housing demand is starting to cool off, due largely to low inventory and rising prices. The Oakland, California, market was hit particularly hard in terms of demand for March. Demand hit a record high in January.

According to data released on Tuesday by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Census Bureau, new home sales grew by 5.8 percent month-over-month in March, and 15.6 percent year-over-year. The median home price rose to $315,000, while the average home price grew to $388,200.

A new report by Redfin shows a sizeable number of people in expensive coastal cities want to move to more affordable cities. And while California is losing more people than any other state, Florida seems to be gaining in domestic expats. Meanwhile, buyers in Chicago don’t seem eager to leave the city.

Though mortgage rates and applications are falling, home prices are rising. Freddie Mac’s House Price Index has shown a steady increase in prices over the last several months. The S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller Home Price Index has shown a similar trend. January’s Index reflected a 31-month high in home prices. During January, home prices were up 5.9 percent year-over-year and 5.7 percent month-over-month.

In its Q1 results, SunTrust Bank noted that higher mortgage-related income and investment-related income pushed the noninterest income up by $32 million. Mortgage servicing income posted a strong quarter, with a net income of $53 million over the previous quarter’s $25 million. Still, this was a decrease from the previous year’s Q1 income of $62 million.

Existing home sales in March took off at a pace not seen in a decade. But while that sounds like good news, not everyone thinks March’s uptick is a sign of great growth. The rub: Inventory is still low.

BNY Mellon and S&T Bancorp both released their Q1 earnings reports on Thursday. Together, they represent a mixed bag of insights—particularly for the mortgage industry. While BNY Mellon’s residential mortgage earnings were down, S&T’s were up—both over the quarter and the year.

A new report shows refinancing is continuing its downward trend, declining for the third month in a row this year. Just 37 percent of all closed loans in March were refinance loans. The report also shows closing times down and FICO scores up, particularly on conventional loans.

A new JPMorgan Chase Institute report highlights the link between interest rate changes and consumer spending for homeowners with adjustable-rate vs. fixed-rate mortgages. The study, released on Thursday, could provide valuable insight to housing policy makers regarding how their actions affect the type of mortgage a homeowner chooses as well as how they impact the consumption habits of homeowners with ARMs, compared to those with fixed rates, throughout the business cycle.

A new survey revealed that millennials may not want the homebuying process to be as digital as most expect. In fact, two-thirds actually would prefer using a local real estate agent or lender over an online-based one. The survey also revealed that 56 percent of millennials plan to purchase a home in the next two years.