Home listings data from Realtor.com as of June 2021 indicates that housing demand in outlying counties of metropolitan areas is growing at a more robust pace than in the central counties, although both outlying and central counties are performing remarkably well compared to pre-pandemic conditions.
Housing starts rose strongly in June, above 1.6 million units and housing inventory has also modestly improved in the last several months.
Mortgage rates rose slightly this week but remained below 3% for the fifth straight week. As of today, the average rate is clocking in at 2.93%.
The strong surge in consumer spending for travel and recreation in the wake of a big vaccination rollout and the relaxation of masking and social distancing guidelines pushed gross domestic product (GDP) to expand at an annualized rate of 6.4% in the second quarter, with Real GDP running at 2% above the pre-pandemic level.
During April 2020–March 2021, the dollar volume of U.S. existing homes purchased by foreign buyers fell 27% to $54.4 billion and the number of existing homes purchased fell 31% to 107,000 units compared to the levels in the prior 12-month period.
Mortgage rates dropped significantly this week, with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate falling to 2.78% from last week's 2.88%.
U.S. advance estimates of retail and food service sales for June 2021 saw a 0.6% increase from May 2021, recording a seasonally-adjusted total of $621.3 billion.
The apartment market is booming. Based on NAR's analysis of CoStar market data in 138 markets1, net absorption (change in number of occupied units) rose by 207,035 units in 2021 Q2 from the prior quarter.
At the national level, housing affordability declined in May compared to a year ago, as the median family incomes rose modestly by 1.2% while the monthly mortgage payment increased 20%.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 2.90% from 2.98% the previous week, and homebuyers continue to benefit from low mortgage rates as home prices reached a new record high at $350,300.
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