Tag Archives: Campbell Surveys

Mortgage rates may be rising, but the housing market doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, several indicators have improved alongside rising rates, according to the HousingPulse Tracking Survey released this week. The lending atmosphere is becoming friendlier, especially to first-time buyers. Simultaneously, the average time on market for non-distressed properties and the average sales-to-list price ratio both improved year-over-year in December.

Mortgage rates are inching higher and higher, but the market does not seem to be paying any heed as it continues to show signs of improvement, according to the HousingPulse Tracking Survey released this week. It indicates the emerging slowdown in home purchases appears to be largely seasonal with a number of key indicators--distressed sales, time on market, and purchase offers--still in positive territory.

As prices rise, investors are having a harder time justifying housing market purchases, according to a recent Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking survey. In May, the share of home purchases from investors fell to the lowest level in more than three years, dropping to 20.2 percent from 22 percent in April, according to the survey.

In April, the share of sales involving foreclosures and short sales maintained their downward path, falling to the lowest level since 2009, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking survey. Using a three-month moving average, the survey found distressed sales accounted for 33 percent of home purchases in April, a decrease from 35.6 percent in March and 43.6 percent in April 2012. As expected, investor activity also slowed during the same time period.

Interest from first-time homebuyers is steadily growing due to concerns over rising interest rates and prices, while investor interest remains strong, according to results from the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The survey found first-time homebuyers accounted for 34.5 percent of home purchase transactions in February, leading to the second monthly increase. Meanwhile, investor purchases reached a four-month high after accounting for 34.5 percent of transactions in February, according to the survey results.

Winter weather did not slow down the housing market's momentum, with homebuyer traffic still going strong in December, according to survey results from Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The three homebuyer groups--current homeowners, first-time homebuyers and investors--all recorded their biggest traffic gains of 2012 in December, data from the HousingPulse survey revealed. The survey also measured the relative health of the housing market by assessing time on market, number of offers, closed transactions, and sales prices. Overall, survey data revealed all measures improved at the end of 2012.

Limited inventory and increased competition helped push June's average home sales-to-listing price ratio above 95 percent, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. HousingPulse attributed the boost to increased competition for the falling inventory of non-distressed property listings, as well as particularly strong home purchase activity in California, Nevada, and Arizona.

Refinance applications and appraisal complications are holding up home sale closings, according to a HousingPulse survey released Monday. The report states that the normal timeline for a closing is about 30 days. That timeline has been extended to between 45 and 60 days. However, the delay is even more exacerbated among short sales and sales of foreclosed homes - which according to the survey made up 44.4 percent of the market in September.

Processing delays have taken their toll on first-time homebuyer interest in short sales, according to the latest HousingPulse Tracking Survey released Monday. First-time homebuyers were a part of 39.7 percent of the short sale transactions completed in August. That's the lowest percentage for this buyer segment ever recorded by the survey. The study found that the average time-on-market for short sales is 16.6 weeks, with the majority of that time spent waiting for approval.

Home prices, which have been sputtering along for much of the year, are likely to dip further by the end of 2011, according to the results of a nationwide industry survey of real estate agents. Factors cited as driving an expected decline include restricted financing for real estate investors, a large gap between the supply of distressed properties and demand from first-time homebuyers, and the shadow inventory of both foreclosed and short sale properties.