Signs Point to Big Rebound in Summer Real-Estate Market
The volume of mortgage applications reached an 11-year high last week marking a complete return to pre COVID-19 levels. Pending sales activity has continued to rise heading into the summer as well. The supply of homes available for sale is dropping recently, causing a constricted effect on sales activity as a whole, but should more properties become available demand will carry sales activity to much higher...Will Millennials Find it Harder to Buy Homes?
Due to COVID-19 layoffs, over 13% of millennials find themselves without jobs. On average it takes nine months for a millennial to save a month’s worth of expenses, using the national savings rate of 6% per paycheck. What this means, is that without a job for six months, it will take millennials over four years to save the amount they’ll spend on six months of monthly expenses. Even with unemployment benefits and possible side hustles, they will need to dip into savings to cover groceries, car payments, and rent. Moving to the suburbs or more affordable metro areas could help millennials be able to buy sooner. Low mortgage rates should make buying a home more affordable should they have money left for a down...Fannie Mae Predicting Record-Low Mortgage Interest Rates Through 2021
According to Fannie Mae, the average mortgage interest rate for 2020 will be 3.2%, a small decrease from the average rate of 3.9% in 2019. In 2021 they expect that average mortgage interest rate to drop even lower to 2.9%. This same forecast predicts a refinance volume of $1.78 trillion this year, which would be the highest volume since 2003. As of the end of May, over 14 million mortgage holders could lower their rate by at least 0.75% by refinancing, saving consumers a combined $3.95 billion per month. This low interest rate environment could push refinance volume even higher as the year...Renters Less Likely to Renew After Pandemic
According to a recent study, 35.9% of renters with leases expiring in the next six months are likely to not renew said leases. In addition, renters who pay upwards of $1,750 a month are even less likely to renew with 41.6% of these consumers planning to not renew their lease. Furthermore, only 34.1% of renters said their management company has offered payment plans for May’s rent while 65.5% are unaware of any state or federal program to assist them with rent payment issues. With less people choosing to renew their leases, more buyers may soon be entering the...Congress Approves Broader PPP Loan Terms
Congress recently approved a bill to add more flexibility to the Paycheck Protection Program. Instead of the original eight week period, borrowers now have twenty-four weeks to disperse their loan funds in order to have them forgiven. In addition, the amount of money that must be directed towards payroll has been reduced from 75% to 60%. The remainder can be used for expenses such as utilities, rent, or mortgage interest. Independent contractors and self-employed will have an amount equal to twenty-four weeks of their 2019 net earnings with a cap of $15,385 forgiven. Under this new bill PPP borrowers will have until the end of the year to use their funds, but the program is only accepting new applications until June...Connect With Us
