Daily market update: Sept. 9, 2015

MBA’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Sept. 4, 2015:

• Mortgage applications decreased 6.2 percent from one week earlier.
• Refinance activity decreased to 56.9 percent of total applications from 58.7 percent one week earlier.
• The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.1 percent from 4.08 percent one week earlier.

NAR’s New Home Construction/Job Growth research:

• Although some analysts have noted that job market growth is fueling a strong housing market and low foreclosure rates, NAR is concerned that it is also contributing to declines in new home construction.
• The association released a study today that shows the volume of new home construction is underperforming in 146 metropolitan areas that have seen big employment gains.
• Housing shortages and unhealthy price growth exist in many key real estate markets — and low inventory has already been a persistent problem in recent years, NAR said.

We’ll add more market news briefs throughout the day. Check back to read the latest.

Yesterday’s market news:

CoreLogic’s July 2015 National Foreclosure Report:

• Foreclosure inventory declined by 27.9 percent year over year in July.
• Completed foreclosures declined by 24.4 percent year over year in July.
• The number of foreclosures nationwide decreased year over year from 50,000 in July 2014 to 38,000 in July 2015.

Black Knight Financial’s July 2015 Mortgage Monitor Report:

• Total home equity in the U.S. increased by almost $1 trillion to its highest level since 2007.
• Total net equity is $7.6 trillion, almost 2.5 times more than it was at the end of 2011.
• The average American homeowner with a mortgage has about $19,000 more equity in the home than a year ago.

Quicken’s national July Home Price Perception Index:

• In July 2015, appraiser opinions of home values were 2.33 percent lower than homeowner estimates.
• This is nearly double the gap between homeowner estimates and appraiser opinions that Quicken noted in May 2015.
• National housing values dropped by 0.27 percent.

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