Morning Briefing: Women better at paying their mortgages says Urban Institute

Women better at paying their mortgages says Urban Institute… Massachusetts pending sales surged despite August heat… Real estate is 6th largest industry in Virginia…

Women better at paying their mortgages says Urban Institute
Women are better at keeping up the payments on their mortgages according to analysis by the Urban Institute.

By analysing data on 13 million single female borrowers and 17 million single male borrowers, the institute found that women are less likely to default on their mortgage than the men. The analysis ensured that FICO scores, loan length and rates and loan-to-value ratios were steady for the comparisons.

The Urban Institute says that despite their strong payment profile, women are paying too much for their mortgages as rates are determined when they take out the loan. It also says women are more frequently denied mortgages due to lending criteria.

It is calling for a “more robust and accurate measures of risk to ensure that we aren’t denying mortgages to people who are fully able to make good on their payments.”
 
Massachusetts pending sales surged despite August heat
The hot weather last month was no deterrent for Massachusetts home buyers with pending home sales rising 24.4 per cent year-over-year.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors report 6,052 sales of single-family homes with a median price of $375,000, up 2.7 per cent from August 2015. For condos, pending sales rose 17.1 per cent to 2,095 with a median price of $342,000, up 2 per cent year-over-year.

“In terms of buyer activity, this market is going against most seasonal norms with the winter, and now the summer, continuing at the same pace we typically see in a busy spring,” said 2016 MAR President Annie Blatz, branch executive at Kinlin Grover Real Estate on Cape Cod. “With the number of homes for sale continuing to be down, we see no obvious reason for pending sales to slow in the coming months.”
 
Real estate is 6th largest industry in Virginia
The impact of the real estate industry on the economy of Virginia has been assessed by the state’s real estate association.

It found that real estate is the 6th largest private industry sector in the state in terms of direct output with $21.8 billion contributed to economic growth in 2015. The total economic activity generated by the industry was $47.8 billion.

“In addition to the employment and spending impact cited in this report, we are proud that homeownership uplifts individual families with the opportunity to build wealth through equity, creating even greater long term economic benefits to individuals and to our entire state,” commented Virginia Association of Realtors’ president Bill White.