Both Fannie & Freddie have announced updates to their low income/down payment programs that give discounts on note rate and mortgage insurance rates (these programs allow: 3% down, boarder income, ADU income, & low down payment on owner occupied 2-4 units). The updates make it more challenging to qualify. Instead of allowing 100% of Area Median Income (AMI) the programs are now capped at 80% and the no limit tracts have been removed.
Rates – improved this week as the 10 Year US Treasury gave back its gains from last week.
Fed – the New York Fed President and voting member mentioned he would like to see rates lowered by 0.5 a change from last month when he opposed change. The vice Fed chair also said cutting rates quickly would be a good strategy (he tried to walk those comments back this morning).
Jobs – the number of people filing for unemployment for the first time continues to be at very low levels. This is the sample week for the BLS job report pointing to a strong report in August.
New Construction – in the single family market has seen steady gains, this index is up 7 points from the beginning of the year, builders are happy.
PDX Market Update – In June Pending sales are up 0.8% from the previous year but down 6.3% from May. New listings are down 5.2% from June 2018 and declined 12.7% from the previous month. Closed sales is a similar story – down 6.4% year over year and 7.2% from the previous month. Inventory is up marginally to 2.4 months and average days on market decreased to 42.
*Thanks David Caldwell for the data!