Tag Archives: First American

According to a new First American Financial Company blog post, millennials are poised to surpass boomers as the largest generation and will be the major purchasers of their homes. Here’s what that will mean for the industry.

"It's clear that increased housing inventory and better interest rates are essential to revive the housing market," said NAR Chief Economist Yun. Click through for more on NAR’s August Pending Home Sales report.

U.S. housing supply jumped to 7.8 months at the current sales rate in August, the highest measure recorded since March 2023, as the inventory of completed homes for sale continued to climb, hitting its highest level since April 2020.

Consumer homebuying power decreased from June to July 2023 and decreased 11.0% year-over-year, according to the First American Real House Price Index, sending housing affordability to its lowest level in more than three decades.

A new Housing Perspectives Blog post by Mark Fleming, the Chief Economist for First American Financial Corporation and the lead of First American’s Decision Sciences Team, focused on housing market potential and the lock-in effect.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, privately owned housing units counted by the number of building permits issued in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,442,000. This number is slightly above the revised June rate but still 13% below the July 2022 rate of 1,658,000.

Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA’s VP of Industry Analysis, reported that “FHA delinquencies rose 10 basis points compared to year ago levels. … As the economy slows and labor market cools, homeowners with FHA loans are likely to feel the distress first.”

Odeta Kushi, First American’s Deputy Chief Economist, has authored a new blog post discussing the definition of a housing recession and looking at the momentum of sales to determine if we are in fact flirting with a “double-dip” housing recession.

HUD and the Census Bureau report that privately-owned housing units recorded an annual rate of 1,440,000 units in June, down from 922,000 reported year-over-year.

MortgagePoint speaks with mortgage servicing execs from BOK Financial, Carrington, the NMSA, PHH Mortgage Corporation, and Servbank about the unusual times and unusual opportunities the industry faces midway through 2023.