Tag Archive for ‘interest rates’

Federal Reserve Outlook: Housing Considerations

At the conclusion of its December policy meeting, the Federal Reserve announced changes to its outlook and projections that move monetary policy further away from the accommodative stance that has supported the economic rebound from the 2020 recession. This pivot toward tighter policy is a direct result of ongoing, elevated inflation data. Today’s announcement makes several changes to both the… Read More ›

Federal Reserve: Closer to Taper

The Federal Reserve has been supporting the housing market during the virus crisis, the 2020 recession, and the subsequent, ongoing recovery via asset-backed purchases (among other tools), including $40 billion a month of mortgage-backed security (MBS) purchases. These MBS purchases have held interest rates lower than they otherwise would have been. Today, the Fed moved closer to announcing a tapering… Read More ›

Existing Home Sales Fall in August

As tight inventory continued to push up prices, existing home sales fell in August but remain above pre-pandemic levels, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Though the median existing home prices has increased 34% since January 2020, housing demand remains strong thanks to low mortgage rates and buyers are waiting for more inventory. Total existing home sales, including… Read More ›

Rates Continue to Decline on Most Types of AD&C Loans

In the second quarter of 2021, interest rates on three of the four categories of loans tracked in NAHB’s Survey on Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) Financing continued the downward trend that has prevailed since the third quarter of last year.  The average effective rate (based on  rate of return to the lender over the assumed life of the loan… Read More ›

Rates on Development & Construction Loans Continue to Decline.

Builders and developers responding to NAHB’s Survey on Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) Financing continued to report declining interest rates in the first quarter of 2021.  The average effective rate (based on rate of return to the lender over the assumed life of the loan taking both the contract interest rate and initial fee into account) decreased from 7.27 to… Read More ›

Better Credit Conditions & Rates for Builders at End of 2020

While home buyers were benefitting from low mortgage rates at the end of 2020, builders and developers were also experiencing lower interest rates and improved credit conditions, according to NAHB’s survey on financing for Acquisition, Development and Construction (AD&C).  The net tightening index derived from the NAHB survey was -17.0 in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to -3.3 in… Read More ›

Increased Share of All-Cash New Home Sales Marks a Busier-Than-Usual Fourth Quarter

NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that conventional loans financed the most new home sales in a fourth quarter since 2006 (see red bars in the chart below). However, the share of sales backed by conventional loans in the fourth quarter was down 2.2 percentage points (quarter-over-quarter)… Read More ›

Record Low Interest Rate Fuels Refinancing Wave

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Weekly Application Survey shows that, for the week ending November 27, 2020, mortgage application activity decreased by 0.6% from the prior week on a seasonally adjusted basis, as indicated by its Market Composite Index. One of its two constituent indexes, the Purchasing Index, increased by 9% from the previous week while the other, the… Read More ›