Loan Limits – 2 weeks ago conventional loan limit increases were announced for 2024 and increased by 5.5%. This means in the Portland market you can now purchase a $790,000 home with $23,700 down if it is a primary residence and you are a first-time homebuyer. It also means that you could buy a $1,550,000 4-plex with as little as $77,500 as a primary residence.
Mortgage Rates – moved sideways this week and remain at the lowest levels we have seen since July. Rates have improved nicely since early October and have recovered completely from the two consecutive months of increases we saw in August and September. Rates are up about 0.75% from this time last year.
Jobs – the BLS Jobs Report showed 199,000 jobs created for November. September’s job gains were revised negatively by 35,000. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% to remain at 4% year over year growth. Average weekly hours rose from 34.3 to 34.4 (coming off the lowest reading since April 2020) likely due to holiday hours. Weekly earnings rose 0.6% and are up 3.7% year over year. The headline unemployment figure edged down slightly to 3.7%.
Home Equity – Core Logic’s Home Equity Report showed that in 2023 home equity increased by 6.8% to $1.1 Trillion. Nationwide negative equity decreased by 8.0% to 90,000 homes. The average homeowner gained approximately $20,000 in equity over the last year.
Used Cars – the Manheim Used Car Index showed used car prices declined 2.1% in November down 5.8% year over year. This will help with inflation (good for mortgage rates) as will the decline in oil prices.
Mortgage Applications to purchase homes remained flat from last week and are down 17% year over year. Refinances rose 14% last week and are up 10% on a year over year basis.