Mortgage rates drift while on ‘vacation’
The national average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage drifted lower on Tuesday, closing down 0.05% to 7.05%*.
The market is in a ‘vacation’-like period until we get start to get fresh home price, consumer confidence and PCE inflation data after the Memorial Day holiday. It’s unlikely the market will pick a direction or follow a trend until we see a significant event occurring outside of the market.
Today sees the minutes from last week’s FOMC meeting released, and those aren’t expected to include any information that hasn’t been repeated multiple times over the past week.
Is Virginia’s housing market starting to move?
A recent report from Virginia Realtors stated that the housing market is, in fact, heating up in the Commonwealth. April 2024 saw the largest monthly increase in Virginia in nearly three years. Virginia saw 9,146 homes sold in April 2024. That’s up 14% since last spring.
Virginia Realtors economist Ryan Price stated, “We definitely had a lot more sales in April then we did a year ago.”
Price went on to say, “This past month really saw a surge in Virginia Beach. [The] Portsmouth market really had a lot of sales from last April, and then also Isle of Wight County which I suspect is new construction.”
Are beach towns affordable in the current market?
A recent report compiled by Realtor.com detailed the fastest growing metro areas in the U.S. and looked into the prices of homes.
Chief economist Danielle Hale stated, “The list of fastest-growing cities includes a lot of smaller cities that are not likely to be on many people’s radars. Smaller areas often top these lists because their smaller size makes it easier for them to see large percent changes.”
Texas claimed the first four spots on the list of the fastest growing cities, but only Princeton, TX has a median home price below $375,000.
When it comes to the most affordable growing cities, Leesburg, FL and Athens, OH came in at 14th and 15th place, and offer lowest median home prices. The median home price in Leesburg is $329,250, and Athens is only $315,000.
* National average rates accurate as of 5/21/24 from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are not advertised rates from Guaranteed Rate.
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