Morning Briefing: Pending sales slid in May, first y-o-y decline in 2 years

Pending sales slid in May, first y-o-y decline in 2 years… 99 out of 100 for improving metros… Mortgage applications lower…

Pending sales slid in May, first y-o-y decline in 2 years
Pending home sales were lower in May following three months of gains and posted the first year-over-year decline for 2 years.

The National Association of Realtors’ index was down 3.7 per cent to 110.8 in May from a downwardly revised 115 in April and was 0.2 per cent lower than in May 2015.

The index is at its 3rd highest reading of the year though, and NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says that buyers are increasingly frustrated by a lack of supply and the tense competition that has created.
“Total housing inventory at the end of each month has remarkably decreased year-over-year now for an entire year,” Yun said. “There are simply not enough homes coming onto the market to catch up with demand and to keep prices more in line with inflation and wage growth.”

Yun sees potentially lower mortgage rates in the short-term due to market fluctuations post-Brexit. However, there could also be increased demand from foreign investors in US real estate.
 
99 out of 100 for improving metros
Freddie Mac’s Multi-Indicator Market Index reveals that 99 out of the 100 top metros in the US have improved housing markets year-over-year.

The national picture is still showing that most areas are outside their historic benchmark levels but 36 out of the 50 states plus DC are within range of those levels as are 67 of the 100 metro areas.
Month-over-month the most improved areas were Mississippi, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Florida and Nebraska.

In April, 42 of the 50 states and 86 of the top 100 metros were showing an improving three-month trend. The same time last year, 46 of the 50 states, and all of the top 100 metro areas were showing an improving three-month trend.
 
Mortgage applications lower
Mortgage applications were down 2.6 per cent in the week ending June 24 according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s market composite index. On an unadjusted basis, they were 3 per cent lower.
The refinance index was down 2 per cent with the purchase index down 3 per cent (SAAR) and 4 per cent unadjusted. The refinance share of applications was up slightly to 58.1 per cent (from 57.7 per cent a week earlier.)