08/25/2022
-U.S. home values fell 0.1% from June to July, the first decline in the raw Zillow Home Value Index since 2012. Home values fell last month in 30 of the 50 largest metro areas, but are still up 16% from a year ago.
- Rising inventory is being driven by homes lingering on the market and new listings trailing pre-pandemic levels. It took 10 days for a listing to go pending in July, two days longer than in June.
- Rent appreciation is slowing, but the growth rate remains much higher than pre-pandemic levels.
- Inventory, sales and price cut trends show home buyer demand has cooled across the board, but competition is strongest for the lowest-priced homes in each market, reversing a pandemic trend.
- Inventory fell furthest for the most expensive homes over the majority of the pandemic, but now inventory for the least expensive homes is lagging behind other price tiers.
- Sales for the lowest-priced homes surpassed sales for the most expensive homes starting in late 2021, closing a historically large gap between the two price points.
- 4.81 million existing homes were sold in July (SAAR), down 5.9% from June and down 20.2% from July 2021, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
- Total housing inventory at the end of July amounted to 1,310,000 units, NAR said, up 4.8% from June and unchanged from one year ago.
- The median existing-home price for all housing types in July was $403,800, up 10.8% from July 2021.
- Housing starts fell to 1.45 million in July, down 9.6% from revised June 2022 figures and down 8.1% from July 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Housing permits issued in July were down 1.3% from June and up 1.1% from a year ago, to 1.67 million (SAAR).
- 1.42 million (SAAR) homes were completed in July, up 1.1% from June and up 3.5% year-over-year.
- Mortgage rates declined slightly last week. Inflation data released last week came in below market expectations, resulting in interest rate declines and a rally in equity markets.
- Investors viewed this data as an indication that the Federal Reserve may not have to increase short term rates as much as previously estimated.
- While both consumer and producer prices showed increases in July, the rate of increase slowed substantially.
- Even with the decline in rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications last week were at the lowest level since 2000, due to slower demand and affordability challenges given rising home prices and high mortgage rates.
