To get a sense of market direction, we track the rolling four week average of newly written contracts. The number of sales contracts being written continues to be impressive. During the past four weeks 48 single-family homes have gone under contract (without contingencies) in Ponte Vedra Beach. One year ago during the same period 39 homes went under contract. The five year average for this interval is 36 contracts.

Mortgage interest rates remain at lows not seen since 1950. Thirty-year fixed rate mortgages in the Jacksonville area averaged 4.00% this week, down from 4.04% a week ago. Jumbo mortgages with a thirty-year fixed rate edged up to 4.56% this week from 4.55% last week.

To get a sense of market direction, we track the rolling four week average of newly written contracts. The number of sales contracts being written continues to be impressive. During the past four weeks 64 single-family homes have gone under contract (without contingencies) in Southeast Jacksonville. One year ago during the same period only 37 homes went under contract. The five year average for this interval is 45 contracts.

Mortgage interest rates remain at lows not seen since 1950. Thirty-year fixed rate mortgages in the Jacksonville area averaged 4.00% this week, down from 4.04% a week ago. Jumbo mortgages with a thirty-year fixed rate edged up to 4.56% this week from 4.55% last week.

Pending sales is a forward looking indicator based on contract signings. The numbers bode well for second quarter closings.

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it will be offering up new rules for mortgage servicers aimed at making monthly mortgage statements more transparent in disclosing fees or changes in a loan.

“For too long, mortgage servicers have not been held accountable to their customers, and the result has been profoundly punishing to home owners in distress,” says Richard Cordray, director of the consumer bureau. “It’s time to put the ‘service’ back in mortgage servicing.”

Servicers will be required to provide more details in monthly mortgage statements. For example, the agency is considering a requirement that servicers offer a breakdown of mortgage payments by principal, interest, and fees in the statements. Also, servicers may soon be required to itemize fees and charges part of a loan and include warnings to consumers about possible late fees. The agency is also seeking a rule that statements must contain warnings about any future interest rate changes and penalty fees if a mortgage is paid off early.

The new rules are expected to take effect January 2013.

Source: “Consumer Bureau to Crack Down on Mortgage Servicers,” CNNMoney (April 10, 2012)

We also see the pace of sales continue to improve and it has now reached healthy levels.  For ten consecutive quarters we have seen year-over-year sales numbers improve.

Additionally, the number of distressed sales eased during the first quarter.  We experienced only 16 distressed sales of single-family homes during the first quarter this year versus 20 in the previous quarter and 26 in the first quarter of 2011.

Looking forward the data is also positive.  Forty-six homes went “Pending” during the past four weeks compared to 41 during the same period a year ago and a five-year average of only 30 during the same interval.

We also see the pace of sales continue to improve and it has now reached healthy levels.  In nine out of ten previous quarters we have seen year-over-year sales numbers improve.

Looking forward the data is also positive.  Fifty-four homes went “Pending” during the past four weeks compared to 38 during the same period a year ago and a five-year average of 41 during the same interval.

Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, April 11, 2012

More home buyers may jump off the sidelines this spring as they get more urgent about purchasing a home, fearing that home price and mortgage rate increases are on the horizon.

Housing surveys in recent weeks have shown that more Americans are seeing now a great time to purchase a home. In the most recent survey, 73 percent of Americans say now is a good time to buy, according to the latest Fannie Mae Housing Survey conducted in March. That’s up from 70 percent in February who said it was a great time to buy.

“Conditions are coming together to encourage people to want to buy homes,” says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. “With an increasing share of consumers expecting higher mortgage rates and home prices over the next 12 months, some may feel that renting is becoming more costly and that home ownership is a more compelling housing choice.”

Indeed, more buyer urgency is evident in the market. Thirty-three percent of those surveyed by Fannie say they expect home prices soon to increase, which is the highest percentage in a year. What’s more, nearly 40 percent say they expect mortgage rates to rise in the next year too, which is also up from previous surveys.

Coupled with that, 48 percent of Americans say they expect rents to continue to climb, and 44 percent say they expect their financial situation to improve in the next year.