Morning Briefing: Mortgage rates should stay low after Brexit say analysts

Mortgage rates should stay low after Brexit say analysts… St Louis sales jump 11 per cent in the first 5 months of 2016… $78 million buys you private islands of CT coast…

Mortgage rates should stay low after Brexit say analysts
The UK’s decision to leave the EU has already had an effect on US mortgage rates as the impact on bond yields has helped rates drop to a 3-year low.

While some of the impact of Brexit may be short-lived, lower mortgage rates for American homebuyers and owners could be around for a while according to Bankrate’s chief financial analyst Greg McBride.
He told CBS News that lower US Treasury yields are near a 5-year low, meaning good news for the housing market: "Mortgage shoppers are often beneficiaries of market volatility and uncertainty,” he said.

Meanwhile, Moody’s Analytics economist Ryan Sweet added that the current slide in mortgage rates could "get a few more potential buyers that have been sitting on the fence back into the market."
 
St Louis sales jump 11 per cent in the first 5 months of 2016
Realtors in St Louis are reporting strong sales gains in every home category in the first five months of 2016.

The latest data from the MARIS (Mid America Regional Information Systems) MLS shows total sales in dollar terms rising 11.3 per cent for the year-to-date (to May) compared to the same period in 2015; sales in May were up 15.4 per cent compared to a year earlier.

“We are seeing robust sales in every segment of the market, including the luxury market, which we consider to be homes that are sold for $500,000 or more. Home sales in that category stand at 17 per cent of our total sales for May,” said St. Louis Realtors’ President Sandy Hancock.

Tight inventory (active listings down 7 per cent year-over-year) have boosted the median price by 10 per cent to $184,000 in the year to May 2016.
 
$78 million buys you private islands of CT coast
A group of private islands of the Connecticut coast is on the market for a cool $78 million!

Sotheby’s has the listing which comprises 8 islands housing stately homes and private guest houses. The islands are currently owned by Christine and Edmund Stoecklein who paid $22.3 million for the portfolio in 2003.

The New York Post reports that the listing includes a waterfront property on the mainland which includes staff accommodation and a private dock to ease the 10-minute boat journey to the islands.