mortgage rates 30 year fixed
Get current mortgage rates and 30 year fixed mortgage rates at www.current-mortgage-rates.net/compare-mortgage-rates/mortgage-rates/30-year-fixed-mortgage-rates
Related News:Economy · Real Estate · U.S. .Pending Sales of U.S. Existing Homes Rise 8.2%
More Americans than forecast signed contracts in May to buy previously owned homes, signaling the residential real estate market may be rebounding from a slump earlier in the year.
The index of pending home resales increased 8.2 percent from April after a revised 11 percent drop the prior month that was smaller than initially reported, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. Economists forecast a 3 percent increase, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.
Falling home prices that make properties more affordable may be luring potential buyers into the market even as 9.1 percent unemployment and stringent loan terms hold back a fuller recovery for the industry. Final sales in May, which were at a six-month low, will probably be “the low point of the year,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said last week.
“At such depressed levels, any increase is welcome,” Anika Khan, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, said before the report. “But we’re not at a pace that would give us solid activity in the housing market.”
Estimates for pending home sales ranged from a drop of 4.8 percent to an increase of 15 percent, according to 36 forecasts in the Bloomberg survey. Pending sales rose 16 percent from May 2010.
A separate NAR report on June 21 showed sales of previously owned homes, which make up about 96 percent of the market, dropped in May to the lowest level in six months. Purchases decreased 3.8 percent to a 4.81 million annual rate. The median price fell 4.6 percent from a year earlier.
Leading Indicator
Pending home sales are considered a leading indicator because they track contract signings. Purchases of existing homes are tabulated when a sale closes, typically a month or two later.
Following the June 21 report, NAR’s Yun told reporters that home sales should begin to rebound in coming months and that pending sales, based on not-yet-complete data, looked to be up around 15 percent for May.
Today’s report showed an 88.8 index level for pending home sales on a seasonally adjusted basis. A reading of 100 is consistent with the average level of contract activity in 2001, when record-keeping began, and coincides with “historically healthy” home-buying traffic, according to the NAR. The index last rose above 100 in April 2010 before falling two months later to the lowest level since the real estate agents’ group created the index.
The NAR said the May increase was the biggest monthly gain since November.
Western Gain
All four regions showed an increase in contract signings from a month earlier, led by a 13 percent gain in the western U.S.
Lennar Corp. (LEN) Chief Executive Officer Stuart Miller said last week he sees the first signs of “repair” in the market. The third-largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue reported second- quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates on higher house prices and earnings at its distressed-investing unit.
“While it’s now well-documented that the expected spring selling season of 2011 simply did not materialize, it is beginning to feel like the worst days of the housing market are getting behind us,” Miller said during a June 23 call with analysts.
Housing, nonetheless, is having trouble gaining strength. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of home values in 20 cities fell 4 percent in April from a year earlier, the most in 17 months, the group said yesterday. From March to April, prices dropped 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said June 22 that “uncertainty” surrounding employment and the broader economy is “affecting people’s willingness to make the commitment to buy a house.”
New-home purchases declined in May for the first time in three months and prices also dropped, a Commerce Department report showed last week. Sales decreased 2.1 percent to a 319,000 annual pace. The median price fell 3.4 percent from the same month in 2010, the biggest 12-month drop since October.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Kowalski in Washington at akowalski13@bloomberg.net
Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Likely Fell in April
Home prices probably decreased in April, showing the housing market remains an obstacle for the U.S. recovery, economists said before a report today.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities fell 4 percent from April 2010, the biggest year-over-year drop since November 2009, according to the median forecast of 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Other data may show consumer confidence held near a six-month low.
A backlog of foreclosures and falling sales indicate prices may decline further, discouraging builders from taking on new projects. The drop in property values and a jobless rate hovering around 9 percent are holding back consumer sentiment and spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy.
“Home prices remain incredibly bogged down by foreclosures and weak demand,” said Sean Incremona, a senior economist at 4Cast Inc. in New York. “The picture is unlikely to change much this year. Declining home prices and high unemployment are bad for confidence.”
The S&P/Case-Shiller index, based on a three-month average, is due at 9 a.m. New York time. Survey estimates ranged from declines of 4.9 percent to 3.5 percent. Values fell 3.6 percent in the 12 months to March.
The New York-based Conference Board’s consumer confidence gauge, due at 10 a.m., rose to 61 from 60.8 in May, according to the Bloomberg survey median. Estimates ranged from 55 to 66.7.
Fuel Costs
Some of the improvement probably reflects a drop in fuel costs. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline fell to $3.57 on June 26, down from a May 4 price of $3.99 that was the highest in almost three years, according to AAA, the nation’s largest auto club.
The projected rise in confidence contrasts with other surveys in which Americans’ moods dimmed. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort index dropped in the week ended June 19, the first decline in five weeks, and the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan sentiment gauge fell more than forecast this month.
The Case-Shiller report may show home prices fell 0.2 percent in April from the prior month after adjusting for seasonal variations, the 10th straight decrease, according to the Bloomberg survey.
The year-over-year gauges provide better indications of trends in prices, the group has said. The panel includes Karl Case and Robert Shiller, the economists who created the index.
Shiller told a conference in New York this month that a further decline in property values of 10 percent to 25 percent in the next five years “wouldn’t surprise me at all.”
Fewer Sales
Reports earlier this month showed the housing market is yet to gain momentum. Sales of previously owned homes, which comprise about 94 percent of the market, were down 3.8 percent last month from April, the National Association of Realtors said.
Purchases of new houses dropped 2.1 percent in May, the first decline in three months, according to Commerce Department data. Competition from foreclosed homes is hurting demand for newly built dwellings.
The 1.8 million-unit inventory of distressed homes nationwide that may reach the market would take about three years to sell at the current pace, Daren Blomquist, communications manager at RealtyTrac Inc., said this month.
As house prices decline, owners feel less wealthy and home equity shrinks, making borrowing more difficult.
The Standard & Poor’s Supercomposite Homebuilding index lost 4.4 percent as of June 27 from the end of April, less than a 6.1 percent drop in the broader S&P 500 gauge, which was weighed down largely by concern about the European debt crisis.
Builder Outlook
Some developers expect demand to stabilize following a poor selling season. Lennar Corp. (LEN), the third-largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, last week said second-quarter sales fell from a year earlier and home orders were little changed, while the average price climbed. The 2010 orders were boosted by a federal tax credit for homebuyers that required contracts be signed by April 30.
“While it’s now well documented that the expected spring selling season of 2011 simply did not materialize, it is beginning to feel like the worst days of the housing market are getting behind us,” Chief Executive Officer Stuart Miller said during a conference call with analysts on June 23.
Bloomberg Survey
================================================================
Case Shiller Cons. Conf
MOM% YOY% Index
================================================================
Date of Release 06/28 06/28 06/28
Observation Period April April June
----------------------------------------------------------------
Median -0.2% -4.0% 61.0
Average -0.2% -4.0% 61.0
High Forecast 0.4% -3.5% 66.7
Low Forecast -0.5% -4.9% 55.0
Number of Participants 17 30 70
Previous -0.2% -3.6% 60.8
----------------------------------------------------------------
4CAST Ltd. --- -4.1% 61.5
ABN Amro Inc. -0.1% --- 61.0
Action Economics --- --- 63.0
Aletti Gestielle SGR --- --- 60.0
Ameriprise Financial Inc --- --- 61.5
Banesto --- -4.1% 61.7
Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi --- --- 59.0
Bantleon Bank AG --- --- 60.0
Bayerische Landesbank --- -4.0% 62.0
BBVA --- -3.9% 60.8
BMO Capital Markets --- -4.4% 62.0
BNP Paribas --- --- 58.0
BofA Merrill Lynch Resear --- -3.9% 61.0
Briefing.com --- -3.8% 59.0
Capital Economics -0.4% -4.1% 65.0
CIBC World Markets --- -4.2% 62.5
Citi --- --- 61.0
Commerzbank AG --- -4.0% 60.0
Credit Agricole CIB --- --- 62.0
Credit Suisse --- -3.8% 55.0
Daiwa Securities America --- --- 62.0
DekaBank --- --- 61.5
Desjardins Group --- -3.9% 61.0
Deutsche Bank Securities --- --- 62.0
Exane --- --- 61.5
Fact & Opinion Economics --- -3.5% 59.0
First Trust Advisors --- --- 59.9
FTN Financial --- --- 60.0
Helaba --- --- 60.0
HSBC Markets -0.2% -3.9% 60.0
Hugh Johnson Advisors --- --- 60.5
IDEAglobal --- -4.0% 60.0
IHS Global Insight --- -3.9% 61.0
Informa Global Markets --- --- 61.0
ING Financial Markets -0.2% -3.9% 63.0
Insight Economics --- -3.9% 59.0
Intesa-SanPaulo --- --- 63.0
J.P. Morgan Chase -0.1% -3.8% 60.5
Janney Montgomery Scott L -0.3% -4.8% 62.0
Jefferies & Co. --- --- 62.0
Landesbank Berlin --- --- 58.0
Manulife Asset Management --- --- 61.0
Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc --- --- 62.5
MF Global -0.5% -4.2% 60.5
Moody’s Analytics --- --- 59.0
Morgan Stanley & Co. --- --- 64.0
Natixis --- -4.0% 61.0
Nomura Securities Intl. --- -3.9% 59.8
Nord/LB --- --- 60.0
Parthenon Group -0.4% --- 59.7
Pierpont Securities LLC --- --- 64.0
PineBridge Investments 0.4% --- 61.5
Raiffeisenbank Internatio --- --- 62.0
RBC Capital Markets --- --- 62.0
RBS Securities Inc. --- --- 59.5
Scotia Capital --- --- 59.0
SMBC Nikko Securities -0.1% -3.8% 63.0
Societe Generale -0.2% --- 66.7
Standard Chartered -0.3% -4.8% 61.0
State Street Global Marke 0.1% -3.6% 60.1
Stone & McCarthy Research --- --- 62.5
TD Securities -0.5% --- 60.0
UBS -0.2% -3.9% 62.0
UniCredit Research --- -4.0% 61.0
Union Investment --- --- 61.8
University of Maryland -0.4% -4.1% 60.0
Wells Fargo & Co. --- --- 59.3
WestLB AG --- -4.9% 60.5
Westpac Banking Co. --- --- 60.5
Wrightson ICAP 0.0% --- 63.0
================================================================
To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net
Existing Home Sales Hit 6 Month Low
U.S. Existing-Home Sales Hit Six-Month Low
A for sale sign is displayed outside of a house in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Photographer: Jay LaPrete/Bloomberg
June 21 (Bloomberg) — Sales of existing U.S. homes decreased in May to the lowest level in six months. Purchases of existing homes fell 3.8 percent to a 4.81 million annual pace last month, in line with the 4.8 million median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists, data from the National Association of Realtors showed today. Margaret Brennan and Michael McKee report on Bloomberg Television’s “InBusiness With Margaret Brennan.” (Source: Bloomberg)
June 21 (Bloomberg) — Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital, talks about May U.S. existing-home sales data and the outlook for tomorrow’s policy statement by the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee. Purchases of existing homes fell 3.8 percent to a 4.81 million annual pace last month, data from the National Association of Realtors showed today. Maki speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “InBusiness With Margaret Brennan.” (Source: Bloomberg)
Sales of existing U.S. homes decreased in May to the lowest level in six months, a sign that the housing market is lagging other parts of the economy.
Purchases of existing homes fell 3.8 percent to a 4.81 million annual pace last month, in line with the 4.8 million median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists, data from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. Preliminary figures showing a jump in contract signings suggest May will prove to be the weakest sales month of the year, according to the group’s chief economist.
An unemployment rate hovering around 9 percent and tight credit standards mean it may take years to absorb the 1.8 million distressed properties on the market that are weighing down home values. Persistent weakness in the housing market is one reason why Federal Reserve policy makers are likely to maintain record stimulus when they meet this week.
“There is no real let-up in the weakness,” said David Semmens, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York. “Distressed sales are going to be weighing down prices further.”
The median sales price declined from a year earlier and 31 percent of transactions were of distressed dwellings.
Stocks maintained gains after the report and as the Greek government prepared to face a confidence vote that may determine whether it avoids a default. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.8 percent to 1,288.97 at 10:20 a.m. in New York.
Estimates for home sales ranged from 4.5 million to 5.18 million, according to the median of 69 forecasts in the Bloomberg survey. Purchases reached a record 7.08 million in 2005, and slumped to a 13-year low of 4.91 million last year.
Cash Transactions
Of all purchases, cash transactions accounted for about 30 percent, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a news conference today as the figures were released. The Realtors group began tracking the monthly figure in August 2008, and the share on a yearly basis before that was around 10 percent, Yun has said.
Distressed sales, which comprise foreclosures and short sales, in which the lender agrees to a transaction for less than the balance of the mortgage, accounted for a smaller share of the total in May than in recent months because the market for non-distressed properties is usually stronger during this time of year, Yun said.
May sales will probably turn out to be “the low point of the year,” Yun said in the press conference. Pending sales, which are based on contract signings, look to be up around 15 percent for May, Yun said based on incomplete data. The report is due next week.
By Region
Existing-home sales decreased in three of four regions in May, led by a 6.4 percent drop in the Midwest.
The median sales price fell 4.6 percent last month from May 2010 to $166,500.
The number of previously owned homes on the market fell to 3.72 million in May from 3.76 million the previous month. At the current sales pace, it would take 9.3 months to sell those houses, compared with 9 months at the end of April. Supply in the eight months to nine months range is consistent with stable home prices, the group has said.
The 1.8 million of inventory of distressed homes nationwide would take about three years to sell at the current pace, Daren Blomquist, communications manager at RealtyTrac Inc., said last week.
Competition from existing homes selling at discounted prices is hurting builders. Sales of new properties dropped 5.3 percent in May to a 306,000 annual pace, economists said ahead of a June 23 report from the Commerce Department. A record-low 323,000 new homes were sold last year.
‘Very Weak’
“We still see housing demand at very weak levels,” Bill Wheat, chief financial officer at D.R. Horton Inc. the second- largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, said last month at a housing conference in New York. “It could still be a struggle in 2012.”
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has been among those forecasting that the recent slowdown in growth will prove temporary as commodity prices retreat. At the same time, the central bank should maintain record stimulus to bolster a “frustratingly slow” recovery, he said this month. Officials are scheduled to meet in Washington today and tomorrow to determine the course of policy.
To contact the reporter on this story: Timothy R. Homan in Washington at thoman1@bloomberg.net
Mortgage Rates remain stable
Mortgage Rates remain stable at 4.375% – 4.5% on the 30 year fixed rate mortgage loans. FHA mortgage rates are at 4.25% 30 year fixed. 15 year mortgage rates remain very low while adjustable rate mortgage rates are lower than they have been over the last several months.
www.current-mortgage-rates.net
