Morning Briefing: There’s a whole lotta flipping going on

There’s a whole lotta flipping going on… Mortgage applications fall 3.5 per cent… Commercial market may be close to peak survey shows…

There’s a whole lotta flipping going on
There has been an increase in the number of homes across the US that were flipped in the third quarter of 2015. That’s according to the latest analysis from RealtyTrac which shows that 43,197 single family homes and condos were flipped, that’s 5 per cent of all family home and condo sales and a rise of 18 per cent from a year ago when the share of flips was 4.3 per cent. The level was down from the 5.4 per cent rate in the second quarter. The top five zip codes for flipping in the third quarter were in Opa Locka, FL (two zip codes); Memphis, TN; Saint Louis, MO; and Cleveland, OH.
 
Mortgage applications fall 3.5 per cent
Mortgage applications were down by 3.5 per cent in the week ending October 23 according to the Mortgage Bankers’ Association. Its Market Composite Index decreased on a seasonally-adjusted basis from the week before while on an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 7 per cent. The Refinance Index decreased 4 per cent; the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3 per cent; the unadjusted Purchase Index increased 7 per cent compared with the previous week and was 23 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity remained unchanged at 59.5 per cent of total applications from the previous week; the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 6.6 per; FHA share fell to 13.7 per cent (from 14.3 per cent); VA share fell to 12.3 per cent (from 12.7 percent); the USDA share increased to 0.7 per cent (from 0.6 percent).
 
Commercial market may be close to peak survey shows
America’s commercial market may be close to its peak according to a survey by surveyors’ association RICS. In its Global Commercial Property Monitor it assessed the opinions of members working in the real estate sector across 29 countries. Those in Germany, New Zealand and Hong Kong top the list of those that market conditions are reaching the top of the cycle, Canada is in fourth place with the US just behind in fifth. That puts it ahead of markets such as Japan, Australia and the UK. RICS says those markets reporting that they could be peaking will have limited scope for activity in the coming year.