Real estate market recap, Sept. 28-Oct. 2

Check Inman every day for the daily version of this market roundup.

Weekly mortgage rates:

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Thursday, Oct. 1:

RealtyTrac’s “Why Homes Are More Affordable With Home Prices Higher” report:

• Home prices in the first quarter of the year hit their most affordable level in two years.
• The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped 57 basis points, or 13 percent from the first quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015.
• The drop in interest rates — along with wage growth outpacing home price appreciation in 32 percent of counties — meant buying a home in the first quarter required a smaller share of the average wage compared to a year ago.

U.S. Census Bureau’s August 2015 construction report:

• Construction spending during August was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.09 trillion.
• This is a 13.7 percent increase over August 2014’s estimate of $955 billion.
• From January 2015 to August 2015, construction spending comprised $683.4 billion.

Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey:

• The rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 3.85 percent.
• The rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages was 3.07 percent.
• The rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages was 2.91 percent.

Wednesday, Sept. 30:

Freddie Mac’s September 2015 Insights & Outlook:

• Home sales this year are expected to be the highest since 2007.
• Low mortgage rates and the decline in unemployment is boosting demand for homes.
• Freddie Mac has increased its estimate of 2015 mortgage originations to $1.53 trillion and 2016 originations to $1.40 trillion.

Tuesday, Sept. 29:

CoreLogic’s cash sales blog post:

• Cash sales comprised 31.3 percent of total home sales in June 2015, down from 33.9 percent year-over-year.
• Cash shares fell by 0.7 percentage points in June 2015 compared with May 2015.
• Prior to the great recession, cash sales share of total home sales averaged about 25 percent.

Realtor.com’s advance read on market trends and hotness index:

• The national median list price is $230,000, down 1 percent over August 2015 and up 6 percent year-over-year.
• The median age of inventory is now 80 days, up 6.7 percent from August 2015 but down 5 percent year-over-year.
• Eleven California cities appear on the list of the 20 hottest markets in the U.S.

S&P/Case-Shiller July 2015 Home Price Index:

• The index rose 4.7 percent year-over-year in July 2015.
• The national index rose 0.7 percent month-over-month in July.
• San Francisco, Denver and Dallas reported the highest year-over-year gains with 10.4 percent, 10.3 percent and 8.7 percent price increases, respectively.

Auction.com’s September 2015 Real Estate Nowcast:

• Existing home sales are up 1.7 percent from August 2015 and 5.9 percent from September 2014.
• Sales prices for existing homes will fall between $216,372 and $239,148 in September, with a targeted price of $227.760.
• This represents an 8.9 percent year-over-year increase.

Federal Housing Finance Agency’s August 2015 average interest rates:

• Interest rates on conventional mortgages decreased from July to August.
• The average interest rate on all mortgage loans was 3.99 percent, down from 4.01 percent in July.
• The average interest rate on conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgages of $417,000 or less was 4.20 percent, unchanged from July.

Monday, Sept. 28:

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s second-quarter Foreclosure Prevention Report:

• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 63,593 foreclosure prevention actions in the second quarter (Q2) of 2015.
• The real estate-owned inventory for both government-sponsored enterprises declined 14 percent during Q2.
• The number of 60-plus-day delinquent loans declined 6 percent during Q2.

NAR’s August Pending Home Sales:

• Pending home sales decreased 1.4 percent to 109.4 in August 2015 from July 2015.
• Pending home sales are still up 6.1 percent year-over-year.
• The national median existing-home price is expected to increase 5.8 percent in 2015 to $220,300.

Black Knight July 2015 Home Price Index Report:

• U.S. home prices were up 0.4 percent month-over-month in July 2015.
• They were up 5.3 percent year-over year.
• This is 5.5 percent below the June 2006 market peak.

Email market updates to press@inman.com.