Home borrowing costs, housing market low supply

June 02, 2021

Home borrowing costs were essentially unchanged last week and remain at historically low levels. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was at 3.17% with 0.39 in points for the week ending May 28, 2021. The Market Composite Index, a measure of total mortgage loan application volume, fell 4%, the Purchase Index declined by 3.1% while the Refinance Index declined by 4.6% and was 6% higher from a year ago. Spokesperson Joel Kan said, “Tight housing inventory, obstacles to a faster rate of new construction, and rapidly rising home prices continue to hold back purchase activity.”

The housing market continues to heat up as low supply and high demand continues to push up home prices and the amount of homes that sold above listing prices. The report shows that a bit more than half of homes (51%) have sold above their listing price in the four week period ending May 23, 2021, up from 26% one year ago. Also, many other sales records were hit which include the median home sale price of $354,250 and the number of days on the market, 17, from 36 a year ago. Asking prices also reached an average of $361,875, another record high.