The Current Mortgage Market

The mortgage market

Higher mortgage rates rained on Spring sales. Existing (previously owned) home sales dropped 1.9% month-over-month to 4.14 million units annualized in April. That was the 2nd-straight month of declines. However, the median sales prices rose 3.7% MoM to $407,600, as higher-end home sales rebounded. [Source: NAR]

Home sales remain steady

68% of the homes sold in April were on the market less than a month (up from 60% in March). The average home sold in April received 3.2 offers (up from 3.1 in March and 2.7 in February). Defying high home prices and mortgage rates, first-timers made up 33% of the purchases in April. [Source: NAR]

Rates hold around 7%

The slower existing AND new home sales that we saw in April reflected 30-yr mortgage rates closer to 7.5%. But in the past few weeks, rates have dropped back closer to 7% on cooler inflation, employment, and retail sales data.  [Source: Mortgage News Daily]