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We’re are at a 50-year high of building multi family apartments. As a result, median asking rent prices for apartments were LOWER in July, the first time lower rents have occurred since 2020. (Redfin) Custom home building is at a two-year HIGH. (NAHB)
There are 135,000 homeowners currently in forbearance. That’s only around a quarter of one percent of all homes. There were around 8 million forebearences during the pandemic. (MBA)
Some economists are calling on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to introduce a 40-year mortgage to help combat affordability. (CNBC) Home affordability in the early 1980’s was worse than today.
Mortgage rates were higher, there was more inventory and we were in a recession but home prices didn’t fall. Rates eventually fell and never went higher and sales grew. (Bloomberg)
Labor/Employment stats impact mortgage rates, sometimes with more significance than Inflation data. I know, I’m a broken record on this topic. Yesterday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the actual job growth in the 12 month period through March 2024 was 30% lower than originally reported. That means the U.S. economy created 818,000 fewer jobs than in that 12 month period than previously reported. Enter Conspiracy theorists? This report could be seen as an indication that the labor market isn’t as strong as the Bureau of Labor Statistics made it out to be.
All of this data increases the likelihood of that Fed Rate cut in September. Will it be 0.25% or 0.50%? That Fed rate cut should give consumers more confidence.
