A report from Marketplace. “‘Marketplace’ host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Vivian Gueler, chief financial officer of Pacific Trust Group in Los Angeles, about the mortgage brokerage industry and the housing market. Kai Ryssdal: Every single time we’ve gotten you on the phone, I’ve said, ‘How’s business?’ And you’ve said, ‘Oh my God, we’re unbelievably busy.’ But is that still the case? Vivian Gueler: Oh my God, no. It’s basically come to a screeching halt.”
From Forbes. “‘With home sales under pressure, the parabolic increase in house prices will soon peter out, and some price declines by mid-next year seem more than likely,’ says Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi. ‘With rates now moving quickly higher and affordability and demand being hammered, prices will come under pressure.’”
From Money. “The housing market might be — finally — starting to cool off. In some cities, at least. Here are the top 10 cities where prices have fallen the most, along with the annual change in median listing price as of March: Toledo, Ohio: -18.7%. Rochester, New York: -17%. Detroit, Michigan: -15.4%. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: -13.7%. Springfield, Massachusetts: -5.8%. Tulsa, Oklahoma: -5.0%. Los Angeles, California: -5.0%. Memphis, Tennessee: -4.6%. Chicago, Illinois: -3.7%. Richmond, Virginia: -3.4%.”
From CBS Denver in Colorado. “After a year of record price hikes in real estate across the Denver metro area, sellers are feeling pressure to lower prices. But sellers looking to cash out on that appreciation are facing competition now, said Aurora Realtor Sunny Banka. ‘Things are starting to balance out just a little bit so you have to be a little more realistic.’”
“Banka advised sellers Dale and Loretta Lindsey to drop the asking price for their ranch-style home by $20,000 to $575,000 after just a couple of weeks on the market. Banka said, ‘We’re seeing a few price reductions in certain price ranges and certain areas and a lot of that is due to the increase in the interest rates – which is exactly what the intent of raising the interest rates was to do. Was to help slow down the market.’”
“After 28 years in their home, rising prices played a role in the Lindseys’ decision to leave Colorado for retirement. Dale Lindsey said, ‘I wanted to go somewhere that was cheaper to live. So we started looking and we ended up here in Missouri.’ Now the Lindseys have advice for other sellers, Loretta said, ‘Don’t wait. If you’re gonna do it, do it now. We wondered if we would have been able to get it on the market two weeks even one week quicker than what we did, it would have been sold.’”
“As of April 26, there are 300 active listings in Aurora. Banka added, ‘So we still have an inventory shortage, we are just not seeing the inventory be absorbed as quickly as we were seeing a month or so ago. This is a good opportunity for buyers. They probably will not be in a bidding war.’”
The Bay Area Newsgroup. “‘A rise in interest rates definitely has an impact on buyer psychology,’ said Oscar Wei, economist for the California Association of Realtors. ‘It should have an impact on demand, sales, and, of course, price.’”
“Cupertino agent Ramesh Rao said Silicon Valley buyers have started to adjust their purchasing strategies in light of higher interest rates. More families are choosing to make larger down payments, and maintain a similar amount of monthly cash flow. On a $2 million mortgage, for example, a higher interest rate could cost an additional $1,000 a month. ‘At the end of the day,’ he said, ‘everybody has a limited amount of cash coming in on a monthly basis.’”
The Toronto Star in Canada. “Home prices tumble across the GTA since February peak, with suburban townhomes leading the pack.”
From Canadian Mortgage Trends. “‘Rising rates are a problem and will almost certainly weight significantly on [housing] demand through the remainder of the year unless things change quickly,’ wrote real estate analyst Ben Rabidoux. ‘Resale markets across the country are still exceptionally tight, but we are now seeing a significant inventory build the likes of which we haven’t seen since 2010.’”
From CTV News in Canada. “The scorching hot Ottawa real estate market is cooling due to increased interest rates, according to one veteran realtor. ‘We’re seeing sales are down across Ottawa 25 per cent,’ Marnie Bennett from Bennett Property Shop Realty told CTV News. ‘“Prices are not going to go down but they’re not going to escalate like we’ve been seeing in the past at 27 per cent. We’re likely going to go back to more normal times, maybe nine or ten per cent. … It won’t be the crazy circus that we’ve had. This is not the U.S. There won’t be a crash. We have one of the best banking systems in the world.’”
“Bennett says the real estate market shifts and changes. ‘We are in a shift now. Listings are up 105% since last year. With each shift or cycle there are different challenges and myths.’”
From Stuff New Zealand. “New Zealand has a buyers’ market sooner than expected, with house sales volumes at the weakest they have been in a decade, CoreLogic says. CoreLogic chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said it would be necessary to go back about a decade to find softer sales results for any given January, February or March.”
“The key drivers for the sales slowdown were fundamental and longer-lasting, he said. ‘The big picture is we’ve probably shifted into a ‘buyer’s market’ already in many parts of the country, sooner than what might have been anticipated. With buyers now feeling they have the upper hand when it comes to offers, it’s no surprise to see that price pressures have faded away too. The momentum has certainly shifted, and some key areas saw values drop in March, including Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin,’ he said.”