Market Studies

Mortgage rates continued to creep down near record lows this week, according to reports from Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com. Rates fell all around in Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending May 2. According to the weekly survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.35 percent (0.7 point) this week, down from 3.40 percent last week. The all-time low average is 3.31 percent, set the week of November 21, 2012. For the second week in a row, the 15-year FRM reached a new low, falling to 2.56 percent (0.7 point).

While reluctance from lenders, sellers, and appraisers has become something of a drag on sales and price improvements, David Hicks, co-president of HomeVestors, asserts the market's slow growth has kept the country away from another housing bubble. Also worth noting is the current shortage of inventory, which has boosted price points and helped to drive off the sort of speculative buying behavior that could generate a bubble. Even so, low appraisals, tough financing criteria, and buyer and seller reluctance have provided a balancing weight.

Amid reports of bidding wars are markets where the art of flipping can still be maintained. After analyzing some 600 metros in its database, RealtyTrac came up with a list of 25 markets where investors can yield the highest gross profit from flipping. The online foreclosure marketplace found flippers in Orlando, Florida averaged the highest gross profit at 63 percent. Las Vegas came in second, where flippers saw a gross profit of 53 percent last year. Phoenix, a metro known for its rapid price gains over the last year, pulled in a gross profit of 44 percent, putting it at third.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending April 27 dropped 18,000 to 324,000, the lowest level in more than five years, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to increase to 354,000 initial claims. Initial jobless claims for the week ending April 20 were revised up to 344,000 from the originally reported 342,000.

While home affordability has reached record high levels, for renters, housing cost burdens have been steadily increasing. According to the annual Housing Landscape report from the Center for Housing Policy, 26.4 percent of working renters spent more than half of their household income on housing costs in 2011. The share is an increase from 2008 when 22.8 percent of working renters had a severe housing cost burden. CHP provided two reasons the burden of renting has grown: falling incomes and rising rental housing costs. For example, the report found the median housing cost for working renters rose nearly six percent between 2008 and 2011, yet median incomes fell more than three percent.

Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA) reported a lift in business in March, with dollar volume rising both month-over-month and year-over-year. At the same time, the number of private mortgage insurance applications received by MICA members totaled 43,278 in March, up from 36,793 in February and 32,540 in March 2012. March's application volume was the highest since last October, when MICA members reported receiving 46,045 applications.

President Obama announced Wednesday his nomination of Rep. Mel Watt (D-North Carolina) to serve as FHFA's director, a role played by Edward DeMarco since he was appointed acting director in August 2009. Watt has represented his district for more than 20 years. In his time as a congressman, Watt has made it part of his mission to put a spotlight on predatory lending practices and to ensure access to mortgages for low-income borrowers. ""He's helped protect consumers from the kind of reckless risk-taking that led to the financial crisis in the first place,"" Obama said in his personnel announcement.

As debate continues to swirl around the future of the mortgage interest tax deduction, Pew Charitable Trusts released a study revealing the geographic impact of the tax deduction. With 37 percent of all filers claiming the mortgage interest tax deduction, Maryland had the highest claim rate in the country, according to data from 2010. The lowest claim rate occurred in West Virginia and North Dakota, where 15 percent of filers claimed the deduction.

First quarter data from the Texas Association of Realtors showed the Lone Star state's housing market is off to a good start, pointing to a strong selling season for the summer. A report from the association revealed first quarter home sales in Texas totaled 53,937, up 17.5 percent from a year ago.

The Market Composite Index in the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) weekly applications survey rose a seasonally adjusted 1.8 percent for the week ending April 26, the group reported. Unadjusted, the index was up 2 percent week-over-week. The Refinance Index increased 3 percent from the previous week, rising to its highest level since the week ending January 18. The share of refinance applications done under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) increased to 34 percent, its highest recorded level.