Inman

Real estate market recap, May 11-15

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Here’s what happened this week in the real estate market:

Home price growth accelerated across the country in the first quarter as demand picked up and home supply remained anemic, according to a quarterly report on home prices released by the National Association of Realtors.

Freddie Mac reported $524 million in net income for the first quarter, and judging from the $227 million in net income it reported in the fourth quarter of 2014 and the fact that this was the company’s 14th consecutive quarter in the black, it’s faring much better than its government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) counterpart, Fannie Mae.

Visio Financial Services report indicated that investors are expanding property searches and buying in higher price bands in 2015.

The number of homes lost to foreclosure and the national foreclosure inventory continued to post considerable annual declines in March, according to data aggregator CoreLogic.

Auction.com announced findings from its April 2015 Real Estate Investor Activity Report, which seemed to indicate continued interest in flipping — although that interest may be waning.

The gap between what homeowners think their homes are worth and what appraisers estimate their value to be widened for the third straight month in April, according to a new study from Quicken Loans.

According to a recent Zillow Home Price Expectations survey, many experts believe renters are content to stay where they are — at least in the near term.

Lenders and banks originated approximately 1.6 million loans on single-family homes and condos in the first quarter, a dip of 6 percent from the previous quarter and a 17 percent jump from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac’s first quarter U.S. Residential Loan Origination Report.

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) found that 66.5 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of January and end of March were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income of $65,800.

Nearly all millennials, the largest generation in U.S. history, expect to be homeowners, according to a new report from the Urban Land Institute based on a national survey of 1,270 members of the group conducted in November.

Freddie Mac‘s Primary Mortgage Market Survey indicated that mortgage rates rose for the third consecutive week to 3.85 percent.

In an economic forecast forum at the 2015 Realtors Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo, presenters said although accelerating price growth and rising mortgage rates could slow existing-home sales, those sales are expected to finish the year at the highest pace since ’06.

Mortgage applications for new home purchases increased by .03 percent in April 2015 relative to March 2015, according to The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) data.

Statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) indicated that national home sales activity posted a third consecutive month-over-month increase in April 2015.

FNC’s Residential Price Index (RPI) indicated that U.S. home prices continued to rise in March and were up 0.9 percent nationwide.