No doubt you've heard that mortgage rates are low. They're lower than they've ever been in history.  The news is everywhere. Just check out some of these headlines from the last 24 hours: Mortgage rates set new lows for the 6th straight week (Reuters) Mortgage rates fall again; 30-year fixed at 4.54% (Wall Street Journal) Mortgage rates hit another low : 4.54% (NPR) Fixed mortgage rates are now down more than 1/2 percent from the start of the year, and 3/4 percent from just 1 year ago. The drop has dramatically improved home affordability for home buyers in Chicago while creating ...

For the second consecutive month, U.S. consumer confidence is plunging. July's official reading is its lowest since July of last year and the figures run in stark contrast to just two months ago, when the index touched a multi-year high. According to The Conference Board, July's figures are reflective of a more pessimistic consumer; one concerned about "business conditions and the labor market". Falling confidence numbers are presumed to be poor for the economy. For homeowner and home buyers in Chicago , however, they can create opportunity.  Low confidence can influence the mortgage ...

After a down month in May, the sales of newly-built homes appears back on track. As published by the Census Bureau, June's New Home Sales report showed: A 24 percent sales volume increase from the month prior A 2-month drop in the supply of newly-built home There are now just 210,000 new homes for sale nationwide. June's data is a major improvement over May, but it's possible that the true "new home market" may be softer than the statistics suggest.  This is for several reasons. First, we're comparing June's sales data to the worst month in New Home Sales history. In May, sales of new ...

Mortgage markets worsened last week for the first time in 6 weeks last week. Investors were pleased with corporate earnings reports and the European bank stress tests results.  Stocks gained on the news, and bonds lost. Mortgage rates rose last week, but only slightly. Rate are still hovering near their lowest levels of all-time. Of the bigger stories last week was Existing Home Sales. As reported by the National Association of Realtors®, sales volume was down in June and home supplies were up. But figures were a bit better than expected, giving some hope for housing. Notably, the ...

Consistent with most post-home buyer tax credit housing news, the National Association of Realtors® says Existing Home Sales eased lower last month. An "existing home" is a home that cannot be considered new construction. The 5 percent drop in sales from May to June was expected, but a closer look at the month's data reveals some interesting trends. First, repeat buyers accounted for 44 percent of home resales in June, up from 40 percent in May. That's a healthy increase for just 4 weeks' time and the tax credit is a likely catalyst. First-timer buyers bought starter homes owned by former ...

The New York Times ran an important story this week concerning pregnancy and mortgage approvals. Titled "Need a Mortgage? Don't Get Pregnant", the article discussed the difficulties that expecting and recently-expanded families are having with their mortgage financing. NBC's The Today Show picked up the story as well, as shown in the 3-minute clip above. The crux of the issue is that maternity/paternity leave often leads to a change in household income and mortgage lenders will no longer assume one or both parents will go back to work full-time.  The loss of income can raise ...

Single-family Housing Starts eased lower last month, falling by 0.7 percent from May, or 3,000 units nationwide. A "housing start" is a home on which construction has started. June's Housing Starts data is somewhat soft and may partially explain why home builder confidence dropped to its lowest level since April 2009, but for buyers and sellers in Chicago , the Housing Starts report is not nearly as bad as headlines say. This is because when the press reports on Housing Starts, it doesn't single out single-family homes. The press lumps every type of home into a single, giant reading. As a ...

Builder confidence in the housing market slipped this month, according to the National Association of Homebuilders' monthly Housing Market Index. The Housing Market Index is actually a weighted composite of 3 separate surveys. One measures current single-family sales; one measures projected single-family sales; and one measures traffic of prospective buyers. All three surveys were down in July: Single-Family Sales : From 17 (June) to 15 (July) Single-Family Project : From 22 (June) to 21 (July) Buyer Foot Traffic : From 13 (June) to 10 (July) The HMI's July reading of 14 puts confidence at ...