The surge in mortgages — as homeowners took advantage of Federal Reserve rate cuts during the pandemic — is officially on the wane.
A quarterly report on household debt from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows new mortgages, including refinanced loans, falling in the first quarter of 2022 compared to a “historically brisk” 2021. With interest rates rising, their first quarter total was $859 billion.
Although declining from a peak in 2021, mortgage borrowing was still higher than just before the coronavirus pandemic struck the U.S. And with home prices skyrocketing in most of the country, up 30% over the last two years, buyers must borrow more to finance their homes.
U.S. mortgage debt now stands at $11.18 trillion, which is up 10% from the first quarter in 2021.
Since the pandemic began, people have been moving out of cities and into suburbs, according to the New York Fed.
As homeowner protections implemented during the pandemic are lifted, the number of foreclosures is rising, but past due balances remain at a historic low.
To help you stay current on the market, ZeroDown compiled a weekly real estate market report using data from Redfin. Statistics are as of the four weeks ending May 8, 2022. Metros with more than 50 homes sold during this time period were considered for metro-level rankings for each statistic.
Median sales price: $397,356
- One-year change: +16.6%
Metros with highest median sales price
#1. San Francisco, CA metro area: $1.7 million
#2. San Jose, CA metro area: $1.6 million
#3. Santa Cruz, CA metro area: $1.3 million
Metros with lowest median sales price
#1. Saginaw, MI metro area: $122,662
#2. Carbondale, IL metro area: $125,925
#3. Peoria, IL metro area: $126,012
BROWSE: Homes for sale in Salisbury, North Carolina.
Median sales price per square foot: $214
- One-year change: +19.0%
Metros with highest median sales price per square foot
#1. San Francisco, CA metro area: $1,108
#2. San Jose, CA metro area: $989
#3. Kahului, HI metro area: $932
Metros with lowest median sales price per square foot
#1. Carbondale, IL metro area: $75
#2. Pine Bluff, AR metro area: $79
#3. Peoria, IL metro area: $85
BROWSE: Homes for sale in Oakland, California.
Average sales to list price ratio: 1.03
- One-year change: +0.02
Metros with highest sales to list price ratio
#1. Oakland, CA metro area: 1.14
#2. Rochester, NY metro area: 1.14
#3. San Jose, CA metro area: 1.14
Metros with lowest sales to list price ratio
#1. Carbondale, IL metro area: 0.96
#2. Utica, NY metro area: 0.97
#3. Brownsville, TX metro area: 0.97
BROWSE: Homes for sale in Orlando, Florida.
Homes sold with price drops: 10.5%
- One-year change: -1.3%
Metros with most homes sold with price drops
#1. New York, NY metro area: 28.0%
#2. Grants Pass, OR metro area: 25.5%
#3. Beaumont, TX metro area: 25.3%
Metros with least homes sold with price drop
#1. Carbondale, IL metro area: 0.0%
#2. Springfield, IL metro area: 0.0%
#3. Blacksburg, VA metro area: 0.0%
BROWSE: Homes for sale in Los Angeles, California
Off market in two weeks: 55.8%
- One-year change: +1.7%
Metros with the most homes off market in two weeks
#1. Rochester, NY metro area: 89.1%
#2. Olympia, WA metro area: 88.3%
#3. Seattle, WA metro area: 88.2%
Metros with the least homes off market in two weeks
#1. Morristown, TN metro area: 0.0%
#2. Urban Honolulu, HI metro area: 3.7%
#3. Oshkosh, WI metro area: 4.1%
Months of supply: 7.0 months
- One-year change: -0.5 months
Metros with the most months of supply
#1. Brownsville, TX metro area: 78.4 months
#2. Beaumont, TX metro area: 19.3 months
#3. New York, NY metro area: 19.0 months
Metros with least months of supply
#1. Portland, ME metro area: 2.7 months
#2. Lewiston, ME metro area: 2.8 months
#3. Seattle, WA metro area: 3.5 months
To ensure that the buyer (and lender) is paying a fair amount for the home, buyers insert an appraisal contingency, which allows the buyer the ability to walk away from the purchase without penalty if the appraisal returns a value lower than a set value (usually the purchase price). Aside from walking away, the buyer can renegotiate for a lower price with the seller, request that their lender make an exception, and approve their loan as if the property had appraised to match the purchase price or make up the difference between the purchase price and appraised value via their own funds. In most cases, if the buyer makes use of the appraisal contingency to walk away, they are likely to receive a complete refund of their earnest money. However, buyers must be cautious and include this in the contract to avoid problems at a later stage.
We're constantly keeping up with the latest real estate trends and news - let us keep you in the loop!
If you want to buy a property on a budget or if you’re looking for a project you can get stuck into, a fixer-upper property could be perfect for you.
We looked at Census Bureau data to see how much revenues states collect in property taxes each year.
ZeroDown has gathered the 25 metro areas with some of the highest homeownership rates in the U.S., which are concentrated in the Midwest and South.
.jpg)
