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Pending home sales reach slowest pace in a decade

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April marks sixth consecutive month of declines for contract signings.

Pending home sales continued spiraling downward in April, a 3.9% decrease from a month prior, resulting in an index reading of 99.3, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

In March the index’s reading was 103.7. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.

The decline marked the sixth consecutive month of decreases and the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year drops for the Pending Home Sales Index. According to NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, it’s the slowest pace of contract signings in nearly a decade.

“The escalating mortgage rates have bumped up the cost of purchasing a home by more than 25% from a year ago, while steeper home prices are adding another 15% to that figure,” Yun said.

Yun expects existing home sales to fall by 9% in 2022 with home price appreciation leveling off to 5% by the end of the year.

“If mortgage rates stabilize roughly at the current level of 5.3% and job gains continue, home sales could also stabilize in the coming months,” Yun said. “Home sales in 2022 are expected to be down about 9%, and if mortgage rates climb to 6%, then the sales activity could fall by 15%. Home prices in the meantime appear in no danger of any meaningful decline. There is an ongoing housing shortage, and properly listed homes are still selling swiftly – generally seeing a contract signed within a month.”

All four major U.S. regions recorded year-over-year decreases in contract signings. The Northeast saw the largest drop at 14.3% to a reading of 74.8. Month over month, the South (119.0), the West (85.9) and the Northeast (74.8) saw decreases of 4.7%, 4.3% and 16.2%, respectively. The Midwest was the only region to record a monthly increase (6.6%), bringing its index to 100.7.

Get more like this on Real Trends.

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How Homeownership Changes You

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It’s not just a financial commitment. It can alter people’s relationships to a community, a place, and even time.

​Growing up, Erin Nelson used to make fun of their dad for spending so much time looking out the window at what the neighbors were up to. “Now I’m that person,” Nelson, a 31-year-old who bought their first house a year ago in Portland, Oregon, told me. “I’m always peeking out the window … That’s like my new TV.” Nelson, who uses they/them pronouns, has realized that as a homeowner, their life is bound up with the people next door in a way it never has been before.

Buying a first house is, for those who can afford it, among the largest financial decisions someone makes in their life, and lately, the process has only gotten more stressful: During the pandemic, home prices have shot up, and shopping for a house has become intimidatingly competitive in many places. But even some winners of the competition have buyer’s remorse. In a recent survey from the real-estate site Zillow, roughly one-third of respondents reported regretting how much work or maintenance their home required, and roughly one-fifth concluded that they had paid too much.

Perhaps forgotten amid the bidding wars and the rush to lock in a mortgage as interest rates rise is the fact that this transaction has a way of changing people as well. In addition to buying an assemblage of wood, glass, and other materials and committing to a host of unfamiliar chores, homeowners are also buying a psychological grab bag of new stressors, time sucks, comforts, perks, and trivial fixations—such as the neighbors’ comings and goings. Homeownership can change your mental time horizon, your conception of your community, and your stakes in a physical place.

For starters, homeownership alters people’s relationship to the tangible stuff that makes up their house. “When I [rented] an apartment, I was like, ‘I’m hanging this photo on the wall. Whatever—not my wall!’” Maia Bittner, a 34-year-old in the Seattle area who works at a financial-technology company, told me. “Now I’m like, ‘Good God, I put every dollar I have into the down payment and this drywall is like a shrine.’”

Today’s new homeowners may even feel more of a desire to preserve and perfect their living space than previous generations. Logan Mohtashami, the lead analyst for the real-estate news site HousingWire, told me that buyers tend to hold on to their home for longer than they used to; the typical length of “tenure” was five to seven years from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, and is now, according to the real-estate site Redfin, about 13 years. “The psychology is that this is yours and you’re going to make it as good as possible because you’re in for a long time,” Mohtashami said. Bittner does not love the work that this requires, though. The stress of home maintenance—say, coordinating the repair of a leaky window—is less meaningful to her than the stress of her job, which she feels at least has the benefit of moving her career forward.

Committing to owning a house can also tie people more closely to a place. Nelson, who works for a tech start-up, told me that after moving frequently during childhood and hopping from rental to rental in their 20s, they find homeownership “very calming” at age 31. It has also led them to wonder, “Now that I’ve settled and claimed this little piece of land, what am I going to do to invest in my community?” One of Nelson’s answers has been to devote about 10 percent of their disposable income to local nonprofits.

Read more like this on The Atlantic.

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A Complete Guide to Shopping at Your Neighborhood Farmers’ Market

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Nothing brings about the joys of warmer weather quite like a stroll around your local farmers’ market. With its abundance of fresh produce and new choices every week, it’s easy to get overwhelmed without a tour guide.

However, once you have your bearings, you can save yourself a few trips to the supermarket and swap your grocery store staples for farmer’s market finds. Some don’t even need to be cooked to make delicious, fresh meals.

Here's the bounty of produce options you’ll see at the market this season and unique ways to use them in your everyday meals.

Asparagus

Select: Colors can range from white to green to purple, but no matter what hue you choose, look for tightly closed tips and stalks with no sliminess or dryness. The roots should be green, not brown.

Store: Keep the stalks moist by wrapping them in a damp paper towel or standing upright in a few inches of water. Store in the fridge and wash just before eating.

Cook: Phyllo-Wrapped Asparagus with Prosciutto

Basil

Select: Look for leaves that show no signs of wilting. Colors vary from shades of green to purple.

Store: Store basil in a plastic bag in the refrigerator or in a vase with about 2 inches of water. You can also freeze the leaves to keep them fresh through the summer months.

Cook: Chicken Panang Casserole

Beets

Select: Whether you’re choosing golden, red, or striped, pick out bulbs that feel heavy for their size and have few surface cracks. If the greens are attached, they should be vibrant rather than wilted.

Store: Stored correctly, beets can have a shelf-life of up to 3 months. Remove the stems from the bulbs (but don’t throw out the greens, you can eat those too!) and keep the bulbs in a sealed plastic bag in your crisper drawer. Leave them unwashed until ready to use.

Cook: Hasselback Beets with Tangy Dill Sauce and Caraway

Blackberries

Select: Select plump, well-colored berries with hulls detached. If hulls are still intact, the berries were picked too early.

Store: Fresh blackberries are best stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. Choose a wide, shallow bowl to store berries, and cover with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out. Make sure to use them up before they go bad!

Cook: Blackberry Turnovers

Blueberries

Select: Pick plump, juicy berries with blooms that have no trace of mold or discoloration. Look for firm, uniformly sized berries with a deep color and no hulls or stems.

Store: If eating blueberries within 24 hours of picking, store them at room temperature; otherwise, keep them refrigerated in a sealed container up to 3 days. Wash right before eating to keep the berries fresher longer.

Cook: Blueberry-Sour Cream Muffins

Get the full list on myrecipes.com

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The housing market just slid into a full-blown correction, says economists

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Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi is ready to call it. He tells Fortune that we've officially moved from a housing boom into a "housing correction."

The real estate data rolling in for April and May shows that the U.S. housing market is softening. New home sales fell 19% to their lowest level since April 2020. Redfin reports 19% of home listings cut their price over the past month. Inventory is rising fast, while mortgage applications and existing home sales are also falling.

This drop-off isn't a result of seasonality, or a soft month or two. Zandi says it's a trajectory flip: Demand is pulling back—fast—in the face of mortgage rates that have spiked dramatically.

"The housing market has peaked…everything points to a rolling over of the housing market," Zandi says. "In terms of home sales, they're falling sharply. Housing demand is coming down fast. Home price growth [will] go flat here pretty quickly; we will see [home] price declines in a significant number of markets."

Unlike a stock market correction, which means a greater than 10% drop in equities, Zandi says a "housing correction" means the end of the housing boom and the beginning of a period where home prices will fall in some regional markets. Over the coming 12 months, he expects year-over-year home price growth to be 0%. If that comes to fruition, it'd mark the worst 12-month stretch since 2012. It would also be whiplash for real estate agents and brokers who've watched home prices soar 19.8% over the past year.

This is all by design. The Federal Reserve has a dual mandate from Congress: Keep both unemployment and inflation low. Of course, with the jobless rate at 3.6% and the latest CPI reading at 8.3%, it's obvious which mandate the Fed has shifted its attention to: inflation. In the Fed's mind, if it can end the housing boom, it can slow down overall price growth. That's why the Fed hit the housing market with an economic shock of higher mortgage rates.

Keep reading on Fortune.com

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Just Listed: Charming Bright Home in Littleton

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Welcome to this charming home, nestled into the quiet neighborhood of Columbine West!

This highly sought after neighborhood is just minutes away from amazing recreation and amenities such as Chatfield State Park, South Platte Park and Carson Nature Center, Denver Botanic Gardens-Chatfield Farms, Red Rocks Amphitheater, as well as convenient everyday shopping! This beautifully updated home boasts an open floor plan! The remodeled kitchen features maple shaker cabinets, granite counters and tile floors. The custom banquette by the bay windows provides seating and extra hidden storage. Gorgeous flooring in the main living area was recently installed. Enjoy spending time and entertaining in the large yard with a great deck and mature trees. This home has been very well maintained and is ready for your finishing touches!

Listed by KJ Pogorzelski for West + Main Homes. Please contact KJ for current pricing + availability.

 
 
 

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