Morning Briefing: Mortgage applications slip

Mortgage applications slip… Home sellers averaged 17 per cent profit in third quarter… Pharrell Williams will be happy with $10.9 million…

Mortgage applications slip
There were fewer applications for new mortgages in the week ending October 30 according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers’ Association. Its Market Composite Index slipped 0.8 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 1 per cent along with the Refinance Index and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 2 per cent compared with the previous week and was 20 per cent higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 59.7 percent of total applications from 59.5 per cent the previous week. ARM share increased to 6.7 per cent; FHA share decreased to 13.2 per cent from 13.7 per cent the week prior. VA share decreased to 11.9 per cent from 12.3 per cent; USDA share remained unchanged from 0.7 per cent the week prior.
 
Home sellers averaged 17 per cent profit in third quarter
Home sellers in the third quarter of 2015 sold their homes for, on average, 17 per cent more than they paid for it. RealtyTrac data shows that nationwide sellers averaged a $40,658. That’s the highest gain since the third quarter of 2007. The average length of time that sellers had owned their homes was 6.72 years. Appreciation of homes slowed though in the quarter; the average sale price of single family homes and condos nationwide was $263,976, up 0.2 per cent from the previous quarter and up 2.4 per cent year-over-year making it the slowest year-over-year price appreciation in any quarter since home prices bottomed out in the first quarter of 2012.

“An increasing number of homeowners in 2015 have been cashing out the home equity they’ve gained during the housing recovery of the past three years,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “That may be a good decision because the data points to a plateauing market going forward.”
 
Pharrell Williams will be happy with $10.9 million
Pharrell Williams has dropped the asking price of his Miami penthouse to $10.9 million. The ‘Happy’ singer first put the home on the market in 2012 for $16.8 million before cutting the price to $14 million in 2013. It was taken off the market for a while but is now back, listed by Zillow at $10.999 million for the 5 bedroom, 7 bathroom home which is described as a “decadent 2-story penthouse with 360 degree views of the Atlantic Ocean and City of Miami skyline”. The Brickell Avenue home also boasts a rooftop pool and deck and 30 foot ceilings with a translucent dome.