Fannie Mae Reminds Homeowners, Renters, and Mortgage Servicers of Disaster Relief Options for Those Affected by Hurricane Milton
WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) is reminding homeowners and renters impacted by natural disasters, including those affected by Hurricane Milton, of available mortgage assistance and disaster relief options. Mortgage servicers also are reminded of options to assist homeowners under Fannie Mae’s guidelines during these circumstances.
“This is a devastating time for many homeowners and renters impacted by Hurricane Milton, especially as some are still feeling the impacts of Hurricane Helene,” said Cyndi Danko, Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, Single-Family, Fannie Mae. “Once recovery efforts begin, we encourage homeowners experiencing hardship because of the storm(s) to contact their mortgage servicer about payment relief options as soon as possible. Homeowners and renters alike can learn more about disaster relief resources, including personalized support, by contacting Fannie Mae’s free disaster recovery counseling services.”
Homeowners and renters should call 855-HERE2HELP (855-437-3243) to access Fannie Mae’s disaster recovery counseling* or visit the Fannie Mae website for more information.
Under Fannie Mae’s guidelines for single-family mortgages impacted by a disaster:
Homeowners may request mortgage assistance by contacting their mortgage servicer (the company listed on their mortgage statement) following a disaster.
Homeowners affected by a disaster are often eligible to reduce or suspend their mortgage payments for up to 12 months by entering into a forbearance plan with their mortgage servicer. During this temporary reduction or pause in payments, homeowners will not incur late fees, and foreclosure along with other legal proceedings are suspended.
In instances where contact with the homeowner has not been established, mortgage servicers are authorized to offer a forbearance plan for up to 90 days if the servicer believes the home was affected by a disaster.
In addition, homeowners on a COVID-19-related forbearance plan who are subsequently impacted by a disaster may still be eligible for assistance and should contact their mortgage servicer to discuss options.
Homeowners and renters looking for disaster recovery resources may visit the Fannie Mae website to learn more about addressing immediate needs. Fannie Mae also offers help navigating the broader financial effects of a disaster to homeowners and renters through disaster recovery counseling at 855-HERE2HELP (855-437-3243).* Assistance is provided free of charge by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-approved housing counselors who are trained disaster-recovery experts that provide:
A needs assessment and personalized recovery plan.
Help requesting financial relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), insurance companies, and other sources.
Web resources and ongoing guidance for up to 18 months.
Services available in multiple languages.
*Operated by Money Management International/MMI
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:
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Housing Confidence Inches Higher Amid Record-High Optimism Toward Mortgage Rates
WASHINGTON, DC – The Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) increased 1.8 points in September to 73.9, its highest level in more than two years, as consumers reported survey-high optimism that mortgage rates will decline over the next 12 months. In September, a record 42% of consumers said they expect mortgage rates to decline, up from 39% the month prior and 24% in June. This compares to 31% who expect mortgage rates to stay the same and 27% who expect rates to increase. However, a plurality of consumers also indicated that they expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months, which would offset some of the expected rate-driven improvement to affordability. Respondents’ perception of homebuying conditions ticked up slightly this month but remains not far from its all-time low, with only 19% indicating it’s a good time to buy a home. On the flip side, 65 percent of consumers think it’s a good time to sell a home. The full index is up 9.4 points year over year.
“Although most consumers continue to think it’s a ‘bad time’ to buy a home, the recent shift in attitude toward mortgage rates is pushing overall housing sentiment higher, and a growing share are now pointing to high home prices rather than high mortgage rates as the primary sticking point for affordability,” said Mark Palim, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “Increased positivity that mortgage rates will continue to fall has driven the HPSI to a 30-month high, but we’ve yet to see consumers’ newfound rate optimism translate into a meaningful increase in home sales activity. Instead, as we noted in our latest housing forecast, existing home sales are on pace to record their lowest annual total since 1995. This signals to us that consumers are paying attention to the easing interest rate environment but still feel stymied by the considerable run-up in home prices over the last four years.”
Palim continued: “Notably, housing sentiment among renters, a common source of first-time homebuyers, has improved at approximately the same pace as homeowners. Over the last three months, the share of renters believing it’s a good time to buy a home has risen from 13% to 20%, while the share expecting mortgage rates to fall has risen from 16% to 30%. While these numbers are still relatively low, we think the improvement may signal that some potential homebuyers who have been waiting for mortgage rates to come down may be closer to coming off the sidelines, despite their ongoing concerns about home prices.”
Home Purchase Sentiment Index – Component Highlights
Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) increased 1.8 points in September to 73.9. The HPSI is up 9.4 points compared to the same time last year. Read the full research report for additional information.
Good/Bad Time to Buy: The percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to buy a home increased 2 percentage points this month (19%) while the percentage who say it is a bad time to buy decreased from 83% to 81%. As a result, the net share of those who say it is a good time to buy increased 3 percentage points month over month to -62%.
Good/Bad Time to Sell: The percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to sell a home (65%) remained unchanged from last month, while the percentage who say it’s a bad time to sell (35%) increased 1 percentage point. As a result, the net share of those who say it is a good time to sell fell 1 percentage point month over month to 30%.
Home Price Expectations: The percentage of respondents who say home prices will go up in the next 12 months increased from 37% to 39% and the percentage who say home prices will go down decreased from 25% to 23%. The share who think home prices will stay the same remained at 37%. As a result, the net share of those who say home prices will go up in the next 12 months increased 3 percentage points month over month to 16%.
Mortgage Rate Expectations: The percentage of respondents who say mortgage rates will go down in the next 12 months increased from 39% to 42%, a new survey high. The percentage who expect mortgage rates to go up increased from 26% to 27%. The share who think mortgage rates will stay the same decreased from 35% to 31%. As a result, the net share of those who say mortgage rates will go down over the next 12 months increased 2 percentage points month over month to 15%, a second consecutive survey high and the highest in NHS history.
Job Loss Concern: The percentage of respondents who say they are not concerned about losing their job in the next 12 months decreased from 78% to 77%, while the percentage who say they are concerned increased 1 percentage point (22%). As a result, the net share of those who say they are not concerned about losing their job decreased 1 percentage point month over month to 56%.
Household Income: The percentage of respondents who say their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago increased from 17% to 18%, while the percentage who say their household income is significantly lower decreased from 14% to 11%. The percentage who say their household income is about the same increased from 68% to 70%. As a result, the net share of those who say their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago increased 5 percentage points month over month to 8%.
About Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index
The Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) distills information about consumers’ home purchase sentiment from Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey® (NHS) into a single number. The HPSI reflects consumers’ current views and forward-looking expectations of housing market conditions and complements existing data sources to inform housing-related analysis and decision making. The HPSI is constructed from answers to six NHS questions that solicit consumers’ evaluations of housing market conditions and address topics that are related to their home purchase decisions. The questions ask consumers whether they think that it is a good or bad time to buy or to sell a house, what direction they expect home prices and mortgage interest rates to move, how concerned they are about losing their jobs, and whether their incomes are higher or lower than they were a year earlier.
About Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey
The National Housing Survey (NHS) is a monthly attitudinal survey, launched in 2010, which polls the adult general population of the United States to assess their attitudes toward owning and renting a home, purchase and rental prices, household finances, and overall confidence in the economy. Each respondent is asked more than 100 questions, making the NHS one of the most detailed attitudinal longitudinal surveys of its kind, to track attitudinal shifts, six of which are used to construct the HPSI (findings are compared with the same survey conducted monthly beginning June 2010). For more information, please see the Technical Notes.
Fannie Mae conducts this survey and shares monthly and quarterly results so that we may help industry partners and market participants target our collective efforts to support the housing market. The September 2024 National Housing Survey was conducted between September 1, 2024 and September 19, 2024. Most of the data collection occurred during the first two weeks of this period. The latest NHS was conducted exclusively through AmeriSpeak®, NORC at the University of Chicago’s probability-based panel, in coordination with Fannie Mae and PSB Insights. Calculations are made using unrounded and weighted respondent level data to help ensure precision in NHS results from wave to wave. As a result, minor differences in calculated data (summarized results, net calculations, etc.) of up to 1 percentage point may occur due to rounding.
Detailed HPSI & NHS Findings
For detailed findings from the Home Purchase Sentiment Index and National Housing Survey, as well as a brief HPSI overview and detailed white paper, technical notes on the NHS methodology, and questions asked of respondents associated with each monthly indicator, please visit the Surveys page on fanniemae.com. Also available on the site are in-depth special topic studies, which provide a detailed assessment of combined data results from three monthly studies of NHS results.
To receive e-mail updates with other housing market research from Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group, please click here.
About the ESR Group
Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group, led by Chief Economist Mark Palim, studies current data, analyzes historical and emerging trends, and conducts surveys of consumer and mortgage lender groups to provide forecasts and analyses on the economy, housing, and mortgage markets.
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:
fanniemae.com | X (formerly Twitter) | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
Home Prices Advance Another 3 Percent in Second Quarter, Show Signs of Slowing
WASHINGTON, DC – Single-family home prices increased 6.9 percent from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024, down from the previous quarter’s upwardly revised annual growth rate of 7.3 percent, according to Fannie Mae’s (FNMA/OTCQB) latest Home Price Index (FNM-HPI) reading, a national, repeat-transaction home price index measuring the average, quarterly price change for all single-family properties in the United States, excluding condos. On a quarterly basis, home prices rose a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent in Q2 2024, down from the revised 2.0 percent growth in Q1 2024. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, home prices increased by 3.0 percent in Q2 2024.
“Home prices rose again in the second quarter, but the pace of growth slowed as important elements of housing demand and supply inched closer together,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “Elevated mortgage rates and ongoing affordability constraints are increasingly limiting homebuyer demand and thus dampening the pace of home price appreciation. Meanwhile, the number of homes available for sale is rising in many metro areas, which is also dampening home price growth. While we expect home price growth to decelerate further in the coming quarters, a still-tight inventory of homes for sale and stretched affordability remain significant challenges and, in our view, are likely to constrain mortgage demand and home sales for the foreseeable future.”
The FNM-HPI is produced by aggregating county-level data to create both seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted national indices that are representative of the whole country and designed to serve as indicators of general single-family home price trends. The FNM-HPI is publicly available at the national level as a quarterly series with a start date of Q1 1975 and extending to the most recent quarter, Q2 2024. Fannie Mae publishes the FNM-HPI approximately mid-month during the first month of each new quarter.
For more information on the FNM-HPI, including a description of the methodology and the Q2 2024 data file, please visit our Research & Insights page on fanniemae.com.
To receive e-mail updates regarding future FNM-HPI updates and other housing market research from Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group, please click here.
Fannie Mae’s home price estimates are based on preliminary data available as of the date of index estimation and are subject to change as additional data become available. Opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, beliefs, and other views of Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) group included in these materials should not be construed as indicating Fannie Mae’s business prospects or expected results, are based on a number of assumptions, and are subject to change without notice. How this information affects Fannie Mae will depend on many factors. Although the ESR group bases its opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, beliefs, and other views on information it considers reliable, it does not guarantee that the information provided in these materials is accurate, current or suitable for any particular purpose. Changes in the assumptions or the information underlying these views could produce materially different results. The analyses, opinions, estimates, forecasts, beliefs, and other views published by the ESR group represent the views of that group as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae or its management.
About the ESR Group
Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group, led by Chief Economist Doug Duncan, studies current data, analyzes historical and emerging trends, and conducts surveys of consumer and mortgage lender groups to provide forecasts and analyses on the economy, housing, and mortgage markets. The ESR Group was awarded the prestigious 2022 Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Forecast Accuracy based on the accuracy of its macroeconomic forecasts published over the 4-year period from 2018 to 2021.
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:
fanniemae.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
The Federal Housing Administration Celebrates 90 Years of Making Homeownership Possible for American Families
WASHINGTON – Today, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is recognizing the 90th anniversary of its creation under the National Housing Act of 1934, which was signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. HUD celebrated today’s anniversary with an event at its Washington D.C. Headquarters, which included opening remarks by HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman and Federal Housing Commissioner Julia Gordon. Attendees included past FHA Commissioners and leaders from the housing finance and advocacy communities.
“The Federal Housing Administration has provided a path to homeownership for millions of people, and changed their families lives for generations to come,” said HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “Under the Biden-Harris Administration, we are ensuring that FHA is accessible to everyone, particularly first-time homebuyers and people we have provided with fair access to homeownership in the past.”
“FHA’s 90th anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on both the successes and challenges of the program throughout its nine decades, and to celebrate the enduring value FHA offers to this nation’s first-time homebuyers, borrowers of color, and underserved communities,” said Federal Housing Commissioner Julia Gordon. “As one of the first public-private partnerships, FHA has a rich history of supporting the nation’s housing system in all market conditions and making homeownership possible for those not adequately served by the private market.”
FHA is the largest mortgage insurer in the world, serving a higher percentage of first-time home buyers, low- and moderate-income households, and people of color than any other mortgage channel. More than 91 million of the nation’s low- and moderate-income and first-time homebuyers have benefitted from FHA’s affordable mortgage financing since its creation, using FHA programs to build generational wealth through homeownership. More than seven million American households currently live in a home financed by an FHA-insured mortgage. On the commercial side, FHA currently insures more than 11,000 multifamily mortgages, which provide rental homes for more than 1.4 million individuals and families, as well as and more than 3,700 residential care and hospital facilities, which support access to quality healthcare in both rural and urban communities.
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, FHA has made significant changes to the program to overcome barriers to homeownership, to increase the availability of affordable rental housing, and to support quality health care facilities.
For example, under this Administration, FHA has:
Served more than 3.4 million homebuyers and renters: Since 2021, FHA has served more than 2.9 million homebuyers, the vast majority of whom were buying a home for the first time, while also financing the rental homes of more than half a million individuals and families.
Reduced costs for homebuyers: FHA cut its Single Family annual mortgage insurance premium by 35 percent in March 2023. From its implementation through May 2024, this reduction has saved more than 920,000 borrowers, an average of more than $885 per year. Together, these borrowers are saving more than $814 million through May 2024.
Helped senior homeowners to age in place: Through its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, FHA helped more than 164,000 senior homeowners aged 62 or older to age in place.
Supported greater access to quality healthcare: Under its Residential Care Facility and Hospital mortgage insurance programs, FHA insured more than 840 mortgages for nursing homes, assisted living facilities, board and care homes, and acute care hospitals throughout the nation.
Removed barriers to homeownership: FHA increased access to homeownership for borrowers with student loan debt, those seeking to purchase manufactured homes or properties with Accessory Dwelling Units, and households with a strong history of on-time rental payments.
Helped combat appraisal bias: FHA participated in HUD’s Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity Interagency Task Force and made sure that all its lenders implemented a clear process for borrowers to raise concerns about inaccurate appraisals, including improper racial bias.
Assisted borrowers in avoiding foreclosure: Through its special COVID-19 forbearance and loss mitigation home retention options, including its new Payment Supplement Partial Claim, FHA helped two million homeowners to stay in their homes and/or otherwise avoid foreclosure through the period of the Covid pandemic.
Supported financing of manufactured home communities: FHA has made cooperatives, non-profit entities and consortia, state and local governments, community development financing institutions, and Indian Tribes eligible to use FHA-insured multifamily loans to finance the acquisition of manufactured home communities.
Implemented flexibilities to support affordable rental housing development: FHA made financing for the development of new affordable rental housing more accessible by increasing the large loan limit threshold for FHA-insured multifamily mortgages and restarting and extending indefinitely a risk sharing program with housing finance agencies and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank.
Supported energy efficiency and climate resilience measures for assisted housing programs. Through its Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP), funded under the President’s Inflation Reduction Act, HUD has awarded more than $754 million in grants and surplus cash loans as of June 25, 2024. These grants and loans will help finance energy efficiency and climate resilience measures at 139 properties participating in HUD assisted housing programs, many of which also have FHA-insured mortgages, and containing more than 16,400 rental homes for low- and moderate-income individuals and families.
Furthered energy efficiency measures in residential care facilities: FHA extended its successful Multifamily Green Mortgage Insurance Premium to its Residential Care Facility mortgage insurance program, providing cost savings to facilities that meet industry-recognized energy efficiency standards.
Key Events in FHA’s History
June 27, 1934: The 1934 National Housing Act was signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, fundamentally changing the federal government’s role in housing and creating the Federal Housing Administration.
1940: FHA began paying all of its expenses from generated income.
1947: FHA began its insurance program for manufactured housing.
1950: The Housing Act of 1950 amended the National Housing Act to encourage the production of housing for middle-income families and established Section 213 for mortgage insurance on cooperative housing projects.
1959: FHA began its Section 232 program to insure mortgages for residential care facilities, including nursing homes.
1961: The Housing Act of 1961 authorized FHA’s Multifamily Section 221(d)(3) below market interest rate housing program for low-income rental housing.
1962: President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11063, directing federal agencies to combat all form of racial discrimination and segregation in federal housing, which discontinued FHA’s reliance on racially discriminatory redlining.
1968: The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 established Section 236 for the production of low-cost rental housing, and Section 242, which supported capital financing for hospitals. The 1968 Act also authorized the creation of a HUD Housing Counseling Program to administer a program for housing counseling agencies to provide counseling services to renters, homebuyers, and homeowners.
1974: The Multifamily Section 223(f) refinancing program began, which insured mortgages loans for the purchase or refinancing of existing multifamily properties with or without requiring substantial rehabilitation.
1987: The Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 established the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) reverse mortgage program that allowed elderly homeowners to borrow against their home’s equity as a means to age in place.
2008: The Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) included the FHA Modernization Act which provided reforms to streamline and expand FHA’s loan programs.
During the 2008 economic crisis, FHA played a vital part in supporting the nation’s housing market, demonstrating to a degree it never had before its countercyclical role in the housing market and providing continued access to mortgage financing for qualified borrowers amid severely constricted lending conditions.
2010: The Dodd-Frank Act established the HUD Office of Housing Counseling as a separate office reporting to the Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner.
2021: FHA developed the COVID-19 Loss Mitigation waterfall that provided millions of FHA borrowers struggling financially because of the pandemic with new options to avoid foreclosure and retain their homes.
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HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.
More information about HUD and its programs is available at www.hud.gov and https://espanol.hud.gov.
You can also follow HUD on Twitter and Facebook or sign up for news alerts on HUD’s Email List.
Learn More About HUD’s Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity Work
Siemens Xcelerator to transform industrial location into city of the future – Digital, sustainable, competitive
In the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, Siemens today held the groundbreaking ceremony in Berlin for one of Europe’s largest urban development projects. Around 35,000 people will live and work at Siemensstadt Square, which will have an area of roughly 188 acres and floorspace of more than a million square meters. The project is a blueprint for the effective design of urban brownfield development projects and industrial transformation worldwide. Digital technologies from the entire Siemens Xcelerator platform – from an end-to-end digital twin to artificial intelligence (AI) – will make the district livable and fit for the future.
Together with numerous project partners, Siemens will create a “district of the future” at the more than 100-year-old industrial site in Berlin’s Spandau area; the space will bring together manufacturing, research, learning and living. Living space for up to 7,000 people will cover a total area of 270,000 square meters. Thirty percent of this space will comprise social housing. In addition, numerous companies and partners will create up to 20,000 jobs. The transformation of the district will bolster the location’s competitive edge and make the industrial jobs based there competitive and fit for the future. Siemens itself is investing €750 million – its largest-ever single investment in Berlin and a strong commitment to Germany as an industrial location. By 2035, total investment in the project will reach up to €4.5 billion.
“This laying of the foundation stone is encouraging. Because it shows what we can already achieve in Germany today – in urban planning and in the construction of modern neighborhoods. Siemensstadt will remain what it has been for 125 years – a place of new beginnings, a place of the future and of confidence!” said Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“Siemensstadt Square will be the blueprint for the city of the future,” said Roland Busch, President and CEO of Siemens AG. “The project will combine artificial intelligence, digital twins and other technologies from the Siemens Xcelerator platform to transform an industrial brownfield area into an engine for solid, healthy growth. Net zero will be ensured through automated production and building technology, optimized energy management and green mobility. It will be a blueprint for sustainable growth and competitiveness through digitalization.”
“The future is being made at a new location in Berlin. As we lay the cornerstone for the new Siemensstadt Square neighborhood, we are marking the start of an exciting urban development project: an advanced, sustainable smart city in the middle of one of Berlin’s fastest-growing areas for new construction. It will significantly help Germany’s capital city to reach its climate targets and attract skilled workers, in part because the neighborhood will offer housing with a high quality of life. I am very grateful to Siemens; the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing; and the borough of Spandau for their outstanding cooperation on this flagship project,” said Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner.
Digital transformation breaks down silos
Siemensstadt Square will demonstrate how technologies from the Siemens Xcelerator platform can combine digital and sustainable solutions at all levels of the city: from intelligent sustainable buildings with photovoltaic roofs to AI-optimized biodiversity monitoring and solutions for electric vehicles.
At the heart of the planning, optimization and operation of the urban infrastructure is an end-to-end digital twin, which consolidates all datapoints from a campus twin, a building twin and an energy twin. Through the intelligent connection and utilization of this data, a complete virtual image of the district is created, and data silos are broken down. As a result, errors can be detected in the digital city and avoided in the real world. Potential for improvement can be continuously identified in the digital world and implemented, so that even visionary concepts can be tested and a livable future actively shaped.
The campus twin, which was developed in collaboration with Bentley Systems, a partner on the Siemens Xcelerator platform, acts as a digital real-time master plan and brings together all relevant data – everything from building information to planning status. The building twin, part of the Building X software suite on the Siemens Xcelerator platform, is used to carry out the photorealistic replanning of the existing area. Siemensstadt Square is customer zero for this project. Industrial buildings more than 100 years old and with an area of around 250,000 square meters have already been integrated into a “walk-in” twin without interrupting their ongoing operation. To optimize the district’s power supply, the energy twin is used to generate forecasts in the virtual world and to monitor supply variants. With the help of data analysis, integrated AI optimizes energy efficiency, traffic and waste management and enables forecasting.
“I started my training and career at Siemensstadt thirty years ago. Today, as a member of the Managing Board, I’m laying – together with my fellow colleagues – the foundations for a district of the future. As a native of Berlin, today’s a special day for me. After more than 100 years as a closed production site, Siemensstadt Square will become an open meeting place. A space that will enable people to live together in an inclusive and climate-friendly manner and will significantly shape the future of the people of Berlin. This project is a beacon for Berlin, Germany and Europe,” said Cedrik Neike, member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG.
Sustainable neighborhood – A new piece of Berlin
The project’s comprehensive energy design shows how established cities can reduce their carbon emissions. In collaboration with Berliner Wasserbetriebe – Berlin’s water supply and wastewater disposal utility – and an energy supplier, Europe’s largest wastewater heat exchanger will be installed at the location. While the district currently emits around 3,000 tons of CO2 a year – an amount equivalent to the annual emissions of 2,100 cars with internal combustion engines – the system will combine with heat pumps to start supplying the district with 100 percent carbon-neutral heating and cooling in 2026. The electricity required for the system will be generated entirely from renewable and local energy sources. And all of this will be achieved with significantly more residents and a higher productivity level.
Construction phase for Module 1 begins – Experience Siemensstadt Square from July 2024
The groundbreaking ceremony marks the start of the construction phase for Module 1 of the project. Already from July of this year, visitors and partners will be able to experience the new Siemensstadt Square district in a showroom in the historic administration building. The German Chancellor unveiled this showroom today. The first two buildings will be completed in the fall of 2026: an atrium building – the so-called Siemens Hub Berlin – and an information pavilion that will keep local residents up to date on the project’s progress. A 60-meter high-rise structure, which will also house part of the Siemens Mobility team, and a redesigned entrance plaza (to be completed in mid-2027) are also being constructed.
HUD Expands Support for Housing Counseling Services in Tribal Communities
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Housing Counseling announced that it published a final rule outlining housing counselor certification requirements for housing counseling conducted in connection with the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) and the Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) programs. Housing counseling programs are an important tool to help further financial literacy – particularly for low- and moderate- income families. This can be the key to ensuring that potential homebuyers are set for long-term success and that renters avoid eviction. With this rule, HUD is removing previous impediments to participation in the HUD housing counseling program by Tribes, Tribally Designated Housing Entities, and other Tribal entities. HUD expects the rule to expand the number of HUD-certified housing counselors serving the unique needs of Tribal communities.
“Throughout the Biden-Harris Administration, we’ve prioritized strengthening Nation-to-Nation relationships with Tribes by working to reduce historic barriers to housing access,” said HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “After more than a year working with Tribes and Tribal Organizations on the proposed rule, HUD is proud to publish this final rule ensuring members of Tribal communities’ access to crucial housing counseling services tailored to their specific needs. We are committed to partnering with Tribes to increase equitable housing and support generational wealth building.”
Both the proposed and final rules were informed by multiple Tribal consultation and listening sessions where Tribes provided input and feedback on HUD’s existing housing counselor certification requirements and the ways in which they should be tailored to meet Tribal needs.
“Removing this barrier means that more Tribal individuals and families can be served by a trusted source within their community – a source that understands their unique cultural perspective and housing needs,” said Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner Julia Gordon. “Tribal members have long been underserved in the housing market.”
“This rule is the result of strong collaboration among HUD’s Offices of Housing Counseling and Native American Programs and Tribal representatives to remove a long-standing barrier to delivering robust and culturally sensitive housing counseling to Tribal members,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Counseling David Berenbaum. “We look forward to welcoming more Tribal entities into the HUD housing counseling network.”
With today’s final rule, HUD will implement a new category of HUD-certified housing counselor, called a HUD-certified Tribal housing counselor, and will implement a new Tribal housing counselor certification exam specifically for Tribes that will include adjustments for distinctions in fair housing laws pertaining to Tribes and the unique status of trust land. The provisions of the final rule establish a four-year transition period to allow Tribal grantees sufficient time to ensure that housing counselors can be certified. In addition, HUD will:
Require that housing counseling that is funded with or provided in connection with IHBG or ICDBG funds is performed by individuals who are HUD certified;
Facilitate additional training for counselors who become certified to provide housing counseling for the IHBG and ICDBG programs; and
Modify study materials for housing counselor certification examinations to account for tailored content specific to Tribes.
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HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.
More information about HUD and its programs is available at www.hud.gov and https://espanol.hud.gov.
You can also follow HUD on Twitter and Facebook or sign up for news alerts on HUD’s Email List.
Learn More About HUD’s Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity Work
LOWE’S Pioneers A New Era of In-Store Kitchen Design With Apple Vision Pro
CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 3, 2024 — Lowe’s is the first home improvement retailer to offer customers an in-store, Apple Vision Pro-powered experience, with a pilot set to launch in three test markets this month. Customers can try Lowe’s Style Studio™ for Apple Vision Pro firsthand, allowing them to visualize and design their dream kitchens using spatial computing and the help of a Lowe’s associate.
Launched in February, Lowe’s Style Studio™ is a breakthrough experience—purpose-built for Apple Vision Pro—that immerses users in a high-fidelity 3D kitchen environment, and enables them to explore, imagine and bring their unique project to life in minutes. Using Apple Vision Pro’s intuitive input system, which is controlled by a user’s eyes and hands, Lowe’s Style Studio™ reimagines the art of kitchen visualization, making it a more accessible and confidence-building experience than ever before. Now, by bringing the experience to stores, Lowe’s offers customers the opportunity to use Apple Vision Pro in collaboration with a dedicated Lowe’s associate to design their dream kitchen.
“Lowe’s has a history of breaking new ground in our industry, and being the first home improvement retailer to offer an Apple Vision Pro experience in select stores is an exciting step in our omnichannel journey,” said Seemantini Godbole, Lowe’s executive vice president, chief digital and information officer. “We believe Apple Vision Pro can enhance in-store kitchen design experiences, empowering our customers to visualize their dream kitchens using advanced spatial computing technology.”
The in-store Lowe’s Style Studio™ experience centers on an immersive kitchen visualization session, where customers wear Apple Vision Pro and run the Lowe’s Style Studio app to explore preset styles curated by Lowe’s professional designers, and customize hundreds of real-world materials, fixtures, and appliances – all available at Lowes.com or in store – to fit their personal taste. A Lowe’s associate will guide customers through the process during their one-on-one appointment, immersing them in Lowe’s Style Studio™, and letting them explore a virtual playground of real-world products. With Lowe’s Style Studio™, customers can choose from nearly 80 billion design combinations, creating a kitchen inspiration that is uniquely their own. When they have found a winning theme, customers can save their style selections, easily email, text or AirDrop them as a beautiful PDF to friends, family, a designer or contractor, and ultimately shop them in store, online, or in the Lowe’s mobile app.
The pilot will launch in three select stores, kicking off in Lowe’s hometown at its Central Charlotte, N.C. store, from June 8 through June 12. Later in the month, from June 22 through June 25, the experience will be available at Lowe’s stores in North Bergen, N.J. and Sunnyvale, CA. Customers in these pilot markets will be able to access an online booking tool to select the time and date that works best for them, and Lowe’s will also accommodate a limited number of walk-ins.
Lowe’s Style Studio™ is the latest development in a portfolio of innovations from Lowe’s Innovation Labs, a team focused on imagining, exploring, and accelerating the future of home improvement through emerging technologies. The organization has developed features like Measure Your Space®, a room measurement tool that uses ARKit and the LiDAR Scanner on iPhone, experiences like Lowe’s Product Expert™, a custom GPT that delivers home improvement product recommendations via generative AI, and the home improvement retail industry’s first interactive store digital twin.
To learn more about Lowe’s Style Studio in-store availability and to select an appointment, please visit: https://www.lowesinnovationlabs.com/projects/lss-in-store
For more information about Lowe’s, visit Lowes.com.
About Lowe’s
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a FORTUNE® 50 home improvement company serving approximately 16 million customer transactions a week in the United States. With total fiscal year 2023 sales of more than $86 billion, Lowe’s operates over 1,700 home improvement stores and employs approximately 300,000 associates. Based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe’s supports the communities it serves through programs focused on creating safe, affordable housing and helping to develop the next generation of skilled trade experts. For more information, visit Lowes.com.
Fannie Mae: Higher Rate Environment Projected to Dampen Housing Activity Through 2024
WASHINGTON, DC – Housing activity is expected to slow modestly compared to previous projections, if the broad upward movement in mortgage rates since the start of the year is sustained, according to the May 2024 commentary from the Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group. However, the ESR Group notes upside risk to its latest forecasts for housing starts, single-family mortgage originations, and home sales activity, particularly if upcoming data releases lead market participants to believe that the Federal Reserve is closer to easing monetary policy, which would likely push mortgage rates downward.rnrnThe ESR Group forecasts overall economic growth to slow and mortgage rates to end the year near 7 percent. As a result, they expect a slight slowdown in housing activity through 2024 compared to their previous forecast. However, with active home sale listings now up approximately 30 percent compared to a year ago, the ESR Group believes sizable declines in home sales are unlikely and continues to forecast a modest upward drift in existing home sales over the forecast horizon, particularly compared to the historically low sales levels of the previous two years.rnrnThe ESR Group’s full-year 2024 real GDP outlook is unchanged at 1.8 percent, as underlying growth in the first quarter remained solid but still appears on track to slow as the year progresses. Household income growth has not kept pace with strong consumer spending and personal outlays on debt interest remain high, suggesting to the ESR Group that the higher interest rate environment will eventually weigh on future consumption. Combined with potential softening in payroll employment growth, the ESR Group expects inflation to decelerate through 2024 but remain sticky enough in the near term to prevent a Federal Reserve rate hike until September.rnrn“The question our economics team is asked most frequently by industry participants remains where we think mortgage rates are headed,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “For now, we see rates remaining closer to 7 percent through the end of the year – before trending downward in 2025 – but note potential downside to that forecast given recent actual movements in rates. Our consumer survey suggests that households who are paying attention to the housing market continue to take a wait-and-see approach. This is consistent with our latest housing forecast, which does not foresee a dramatic change in activity until affordability improves. Given ongoing supply constraints and recent indications that the labor market may be weakening, a downward movement in mortgage rates appears to be the likeliest lever to achieve an improvement in affordability.”rnrnVisit the Economic & Strategic Research site at fanniemae.com to read the full May 2024 Economic Outlook, including the Economic Developments Commentary, Economic Forecast, Housing Forecast, and Multifamily Market Commentary. To receive e-mail updates with other housing market research from Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group, please click here.rnrnOpinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, beliefs, and other views of Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group or survey respondents included in these materials should not be construed as indicating Fannie Mae’s business prospects or expected results, are based on a number of assumptions, and are subject to change without notice. How this information affects Fannie Mae will depend on many factors. Although the ESR Group bases its opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, beliefs, and other views on information it considers reliable, it does not guarantee that the information provided in these materials is accurate, current, or suitable for any particular purpose. Changes in the assumptions or the information underlying these views could produce materially different results. The analyses, opinions, estimates, forecasts, beliefs, and other views published by the ESR Group represent the views of that group or survey respondents as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae or its management.rnrnAbout the ESR GrouprnFannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group, led by Chief Economist Doug Duncan, studies current data, analyzes historical and emerging trends, and conducts surveys of consumer and mortgage lender groups to provide forecasts and analyses on the economy, housing, and mortgage markets. The ESR Group was awarded the prestigious 2022 Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Forecast Accuracy based on the accuracy of its macroeconomic forecasts published over the 4-year period from 2018 to 2021.rnrnAbout Fannie MaernFannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:rnfanniemae.com
Fannie Mae Announces the Results of its Thirty-first Reperforming Loan Sale Transaction
WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) today announced the results of its thirty-first reperforming loan sale transaction. The deal, announced on April 16, 2024, included the sale of 6,484 loans totaling $1.47 billion in unpaid principal balance (UPB), offered in three pools. The winning bidder was Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO) for Pools 1, 2 and 3, each awarded individually. The transaction is expected to close by June 25, 2024. The pool was marketed with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. as advisor.
The loan pool awarded in this most recent transaction includes:
Pool 1: 2,959 loans with an aggregate UPB of $667,197,001; average loan size of $225,481; weighted average note rate of 3.204%; and weighted average broker’s price opinion (BPO) loan-to-value ratio of 48%.
Pool 2: 2,197 loans with an aggregate UPB of $498,589,899; average loan size of $226,941; weighted average note rate of 3.208%; and weighted average broker’s price opinion (BPO) loan-to-value ratio of 49%.
Pool 3: 1,328 loans with an aggregate UPB of $299,535,261; average loan size of $225,554; weighted average note rate of 3.201%; and weighted average broker’s price opinion (BPO) loan-to-value ratio of 49%.
The cover bid, which is the second highest bid for the pool, was 78.554% of UPB (32.30% of BPO) for Pool 1, 78.640% of UPB (32.70% of BPO) for Pool 2 and 78.870% of UPB (32.72% of BPO) for Pool 3.
Reperforming loans are loans that have been or are currently delinquent but have reperformed for a period of time. The terms of Fannie Mae’s reperforming loan sale require the buyer to offer loss mitigation options to any borrower who may re-default within five years following the closing of the reperforming loan sale. All purchasers are required to honor any approved or in-process loss mitigation efforts at the time of sale, including forbearance arrangements and loan modifications. In addition, purchasers must offer delinquent borrowers a waterfall of loss mitigation options, including loan modifications, which may include principal forgiveness or payment deferral prior to initiating foreclosure on any loan.
Interested bidders can register for ongoing announcements, training, and other information here. Fannie Mae will also post information about specific pools available for purchase on that page.
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:
fanniemae.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
The Home Depot Kicks Off 15th Year of Campus Enhancements For Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Will Surpass $10 Million in Financial Support
ATLANTA — The Home Depot is kicking off its 2024 Retool Your School program, which provides career development opportunities and improves campuses at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The 2024 program marks the 15th year that The Home Depot has supported campus renovations that uplift HBCU students across the nation. This year, The Home Depot is expected to surpass $10 million in financial support since the program began in 2009.
A portion of The Home Depot’s 2024 investment will focus on career development such as internships, externships, scholarships, community projects and innovation lounges. The remaining funds will support the flagship Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grants.
This year’s Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grant is expected to support 30 campuses with grants ranging from $40,000 to $150,000 per school. HBCU students, alumni and supporters can vote for a deserving college or university at RetoolYourSchool.com/vote. Voting opens Monday, February 26, and ends Sunday, March 24, 2024.
“Over the past 15 years, I’ve personally witnessed the long-term impact of this program,” said Arlette Guthrie, senior vice president of human resources at The Home Depot. “Retool Your School reflects The Home Depot’s core values and commitment to supporting the communities we serve, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next 15 years.”
Since its inception in 2009, the Retool Your School program has:
Enabled HBCUs to allocate funds for need-based initiatives. Examples include upgrading high-use campus spaces like dorms and athletic courts, as well as improving surrounding communities through neighborhood clean-ups and supply drives.
Supported students through career development. Scholarships and externships have not only helped pay for college tuition and other costs, but also supported students by providing opportunities to learn from professionals in their chosen fields and gain critical experience as they enter the job market.
Garnered over 68 million votes and positively impacted 77 campuses, accounting for more than 70% of the nation’s HBCUs.
For more details on The Home Depot’s Retool Your School program, including student opportunities and grant applications, visit RetoolYourSchool.com.
About The Home Depot
The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer. At the end of the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, the company operated a total of 2,333 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. The company employs approximately 470,000 associates. The Home Depot’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index.
About Retool Your School
The Home Depot’s Retool Your School grant program strives to give back to our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) what they have so generously given to their communities: a strong foundation, renewed purpose and distinctive character through campus uplift and beautification funding. Established in 2009, Retool Your School has invested more than $9.25 million to support 273 grants provided to more than 70 percent of the nation’s HBCUs. To learn more about Retool Your School, visit RetoolYourSchool.com and follow us on Twitter @HomeDepotRetool, Instagram @RetoolYourSchool and Facebook @RetoolYourSchool.
Fannie Mae Recognizes 32 High-Performing Mortgage Servicers Across Three Key Performance Areas
WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) announced its 2023 Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards™ (STAR™) Program results, recognizing 32 mortgage servicers for competency, capacity, and overall performance. For more than a decade, Fannie Mae’s STAR Program has awarded high-performing mortgage servicers for their loan volume and portfolio composition, and for demonstrating leading practices to improve the housing industry.
“Our servicing partners’ success is essential to achieving Fannie Mae’s goal of preserving homeownership and maintaining the safety and soundness of our business,” said Cyndi Danko, Senior Vice President and Single-Family Chief Credit Officer, Fannie Mae. “We’re proud to recognize our top-performing STAR Program servicers and their commitment to ensuring operational excellence, reducing credit loss, and continuously improving the overall homebuyer experience.”
Since 2011, Fannie Mae’s STAR Program has enabled broad and lasting improvements across the mortgage servicing industry by promoting servicing knowledge and excellence. The program continues to gain positive momentum and has seen sustained servicer improvement in both metric performance and operational assessment results year over year.
For the 2023 program year, mortgage servicers were evaluated for STAR Performer recognition in three categories: General Servicing, Solution Delivery, and Timeline Management based on the results of the Servicer Capability Framework and STAR Performance Scorecard.
The 2023 STAR Program recipients are:
General Servicing
Bank of America, N.A.
Carrington Mortgage Services
Fifth Third Bank, N.A.
Freedom Mortgage Corp.
Guild Mortgage Company, LLC
Iowa Bankers Mortgage Corporation
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
LoanCare, LLC
Provident Funding Associates, L.P.
Regions Bank
ServiceMac, LLC
Specialized Loan Servicing
The Huntington National Bank
Solution Delivery
Associated Bank-Corp
Broker Solutions, Inc.
Cenlar Federal Savings Bank
Colonial Savings, F.A.
Mortgage Clearing House
Mr. Cooper
RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing LLC
US Bank, NA
General Servicing and Solution Delivery
BOKF, National Association
M&T Bank Corp.
PennyMac Corp
PHH Corporation
Planet Home Lending, LLC
PNC Bank, N.A.
Truist Bank
General Servicing and Timeline Management
Flagstar Bancorp, Inc.
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Solution Delivery and Timeline Management
Rocket Mortgage, LLC
General Servicing, Solution Delivery, and Timeline Management
Newrez, LLC
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:
fanniemae.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
Media Contact
Louie Wein
202-752-0607
Fannie Mae Newsroom
https://www.fanniemae.com/news
Photo of Fannie Mae
https://www.fanniemae.com/resources/img/about-fm/fm-building.tif
Fannie Mae Resource Center
1-800-2FANNIE
Home Sales, Mortgage Originations Likely to Begin Slow Recovery in 2024
Economy Expected to Decelerate in 2024 After Surprisingly Resilient 2023
WASHINGTON, DC – Single-family home sales likely bottomed out in Q4 2023 and, due to the recent pullback in mortgage rates, are expected to begin a slow but meaningful recovery over the course of the next year, alongside upward-trending mortgage origination activity, according to the December 2023 commentary from the Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group. Purchase mortgage applications have rebounded approximately 15 percent from their trough in November, a trend that the ESR Group expects to continue if mortgage rates continue to slide. However, the same dynamics that kept home sales in 2023 at their lowest level since the Great Financial Crisis, including affordability challenges, the lock-in effect, and a lack of homes available for sale, will likely persist in 2024. As such, the ESR Group expects the home sales recovery to be meaningful but slow.
The ESR Group also continues to forecast a modest downturn in 2024, followed by a return to growth in 2025, noting that many of the underlying business cycle dynamics that contributed to last year’s recession call remain. While the likelihood of a soft landing has certainly improved over the last few months, engineering it while avoiding a resurgence in inflation will likely be a difficult task.
“Last week’s comments by Chairman Powell, as well as the Federal Reserve’s updated Summary of Economic Projections, suggest increased Fed confidence that a soft landing has been achieved and inflation is headed sustainably to 2 percent,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “Clearly, the many economic forecasters who previously forecasted a recession beginning in 2023 were wrong, including us. However, we continue to think there are reasons for concern that will likely lead to a mild economic downturn, including stretched consumer spending relative to personal incomes and the continued effects of restrictive monetary policy still working through the economy. Although we expect headline growth to clock in at 2.6 percent in 2023 – above what is generally considered to be the economy’s long-term growth potential of 1.8 percent – we’re also forecasting slightly negative growth in 2024.”
Duncan continued: “Notwithstanding the recent mortgage rate rally, housing and mortgage markets will enter 2024 at approximately the same level as they entered 2023. Thus, while we think home sales will start to rise over the new year, the combination of modest increases in home prices and still-elevated interest rates suggest a slow pace of recovery from previously recessionary levels of housing activity.”
Visit the Economic & Strategic Research site at fanniemae.com to read the full December 2023 Economic Outlook, including the Economic Developments Commentary, Economic Forecast, Housing Forecast, and Multifamily Market Commentary. To receive e-mail updates with other housing market research from Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group, please click here.
Opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views of Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) group included in these materials should not be construed as indicating Fannie Mae’s business prospects or expected results, are based on a number of assumptions,and are subject to change without notice. How this information affects Fannie Mae will depend on many factors. Although the ESR Group bases its opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views on information it considers reliable, it does not guarantee that the information provided in these materials is accurate, current or suitable for any particular purpose. Changes in the assumptions or the information underlying these views could produce materially different results. The analyses, opinions, estimates, forecasts, and other views published by the ESR group represent the views of that group as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae or its management.
About the ESR Group
Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group, led by Chief Economist Doug Duncan, studies current data, analyzes historical and emerging trends, and conducts surveys of consumer and mortgage lender groups to provide forecasts and analyses on the economy, housing, and mortgage markets. The ESR Group was awarded the prestigious 2022 Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Forecast Accuracy based on the accuracy of its macroeconomic forecasts published over the 4-year period from 2018 to 2021.
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:
fanniemae.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
Media Contact
Matthew Classick
202-752-3662
Fannie Mae Newsroom
https://www.fanniemae.com/news
Photo of Fannie Mae
https://www.fanniemae.com/resources/img/about-fm/fm-building.tif
Fannie Mae Resource Center
1-800-2FANNIE
Agencies to Host Roundtable on Special Purpose Credit Programs
Joint Release
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Federal Housing Finance Agency
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Washington, D.C. – Four federal agencies will host a roundtable discussion September 12, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. EDT regarding the availability of special purpose credit programs (SPCP) to help meet the credit needs of eligible individuals. The event will be open to the public via livestream.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra L. Thompson, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra are scheduled to offer remarks at the event. The event will also include a roundtable discussion with representatives from community groups and industry trade organizations that is focused on the opportunities and benefits of SPCPs.
SPCPs are a long-established tool permitted under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B. SPCPs can help creditors expand responsible credit access to economically or socially disadvantaged consumers and commercial enterprises. With proper planning, development, and implementation, lenders can use SPCPs as permitted under ECOA and Regulation B to help address the critical credit needs of underserved communities.
Information about how to participate via livestream is available here: https://www.fhfa.gov/Media/PublicAffairs/Pages/Four-Federal-Agencies-to-Host-Roundtable-on-Special-Purpose-Credit-Programs.aspx#:~:text=livestream%20is%20available-,he%E2%80%8Bre.,-%23%23%23
More Than 4,000 RE/MAX Agents Recognized As Being Among “America\’s Best”
RE/MAX® proudly announces another remarkable achievement, as thousands of its agents have been recognized as “America’s Best” on the RealTrends + Tom Ferry America’s Best Real Estate Professionals List. An impressive 4,117 RE/MAX professionals qualified for the honor, which is based on 2022 productivity. RE/MAX agents also stood out in the recently released RealTrends + Tom Ferry The Thousand ranking – an elite subset of America’s Best.rnrnOf the nearly 28,000 agents who applied for recognition as an “America’s Best,” almost one out of every seven is affiliated with RE/MAX, underscoring the network’s undeniable impact on the industry.rnrnAmerica’s Best grouped teams into four categories based on number of team members. When all teams qualifying by transaction sides are combined by brand, RE/MAX teams have a higher sides-per-agent average among brands qualifying at least 100 teams for transaction sides. rnrnThe 1,347 qualifying RE/MAX teams of all sizes averaged 21.6 sides per agent, compared to the average for competitor teams of 13.3 sides. RE/MAX teams also had the highest sides-per-agent average in three of the four team categories: 28.6 for Small, 19.1 for Medium, and 16.7 for Large.rnrn”We are incredibly proud of these RE/MAX agents for being recognized as the best” said Nick Bailey, RE/MAX, LLC President and CEO. “This honor is a testament to their unwavering commitment to excellence and their dedication to providing exceptional service. It underscores our brand’s ongoing position as the best option for productive professionals.”rnrnKnown as a home of top-producers, RE/MAX equips agents to thrive in a competitive marketplace by offering comprehensive support and resources. The network offers industry-leading educational programs through RE/MAX University, cutting-edge technology platforms such as the recently launched MAX/Tech powered by kvCORE, and a global referral network of professionals with a presence in more than 110 countries and territories.rnrnRealTrends + Tom Ferry’s America’s Best Real Estate Professionals is the industry’s largest ranking of agents specifically based on homes sold. Eligibility for the America’s Best ranking required individual agents to close at least 40 transaction sides or $16 million in sales volume in 2022, while teams had to close at least 60 transaction sides or $24 million in sales volume.rnrn# # #rnAs one of the leading global real estate franchisors, RE/MAX, LLC is a subsidiary of RE/MAX Holdings (NYSE: RMAX) with more than 140,000 agents in over 9,000 offices and a presence in more than 110 countries and territories. Nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX, as measured by residential transaction sides. RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with great independence. RE/MAX agents have lived, worked and served in their local communities for decades, raising millions of dollars every year for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® and other charities. To learn more about RE/MAX, to search home listings or find an agent in your community, please visit www.remax.com. For the latest news about RE/MAX, please visit news.remax.com.
Perceived Homebuying and Home-Selling Conditions Diverged Further in May
WASHINGTON, DC – The Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) decreased in May by 1.2 points to 65.6, as affordability constraints continue to color consumers’ perceptions of homebuying and home-selling conditions. Four of the HPSI’s six components decreased month over month, most notably the component polling consumers’ belief that it’s a “good time to buy,” which is once again nearing its survey low. The “good time to sell” component, however, increased in May to its highest level since last July. Additionally, for the second consecutive month, a greater share of consumers indicated that they expect home prices to increase over the next year. The full index is down 2.6 points year over year.
“As we near the end of the spring homebuying season, the latest HPSI results indicate that affordability hurdles, including high home prices and mortgage rates, remain top of mind for consumers, most of whom continue to tell us that it’s a bad time to buy a home but a good time to sell one,” said Mark Palim, Fannie Mae Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Consumers also indicated that they don’t expect these affordability constraints to improve in the near future, with significant majorities thinking that both home prices and mortgage rates will either increase or remain the same over the next year. Notably, the same factors impacting affordability may also be affecting the perceived ease of getting a mortgage. This was particularly true among renters: 81% believe it would be difficult to get a mortgage today, matching a survey high.”
Home Purchase Sentiment Index – Component Highlights
Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) decreased in May by 1.2 points to 65.6. The HPSI is down 2.6 points compared to the same time last year. Read the full research report for additional information.
Good/Bad Time to Buy: The percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to buy a home decreased from 23% to 19%, while the percentage who say it is a bad time to buy increased from 77% to 80%. As a result, the net share of those who say it is a good time to buy decreased 7 percentage points month over month.
Good/Bad Time to Sell: The percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to sell a home increased from 62% to 65%, while the percentage who say it’s a bad time to sell decreased from 38% to 34%. As a result, the net share of those who say it is a good time to sell increased 8 percentage points month over month.
Home Price Expectations: The percentage of respondents who say home prices will go up in the next 12 months increased from 37% to 39%, while the percentage who say home prices will go down decreased from 32% to 28%. The share who think home prices will stay the same increased from 31% to 33%. As a result, the net share of those who say home prices will go up increased 6 percentage points month over month.
Mortgage Rate Expectations: The percentage of respondents who say mortgage rates will go down in the next 12 months decreased from 22% to 19%, while the percentage who expect mortgage rates to go up increased from 47% to 50%. The share who think mortgage rates will stay the same remained unchanged at 31%. As a result, the net share of those who say mortgage rates will go down over the next 12 months decreased 5 percentage points month over month.
Job Loss Concern: The percentage of respondents who say they are not concerned about losing their job in the next 12 months decreased from 79% to 77%, while the percentage who say they are concerned increased from 21% to 22%. As a result, the net share of those who say they are not concerned about losing their job decreased 3 percentage points month over month.
Household Income: The percentage of respondents who say their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago decreased from 24% to 20%, while the percentage who say their household income is significantly lower increased from 11% to 12%. The percentage who say their household income is about the same increased from 64% to 67%. As a result, the net share of those who say their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago decreased 5 percentage points month over month.
About Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index
The Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) distills information about consumers’ home purchase sentiment from Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey® (NHS) into a single number. The HPSI reflects consumers’ current views and forward-looking expectations of housing market conditions and complements existing data sources to inform housing-related analysis and decision making. The HPSI is constructed from answers to six NHS questions that solicit consumers’ evaluations of housing market conditions and address topics that are related to their home purchase decisions. The questions ask consumers whether they think that it is a good or bad time to buy or to sell a house, what direction they expect home prices and mortgage interest rates to move, how concerned they are about losing their jobs, and whether their incomes are higher than they were a year earlier.
About Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey
The National Housing Survey (NHS) is a monthly attitudinal survey, launched in 2010, which polls the adult general population of the United States to assess their attitudes toward owning and renting a home, purchase and rental prices, household finances, and overall confidence in the economy. Each respondent is asked more than 100 questions, making the NHS one of the most detailed attitudinal longitudinal surveys of its kind, to track attitudinal shifts, six of which are used to construct the HPSI (findings are compared with the same survey conducted monthly beginning June 2010). For more information, please see the Technical Notes.
Fannie Mae conducts this survey and shares monthly and quarterly results so that we may help industry partners and market participants target our collective efforts to support the housing market. The May 2023 National Housing Survey was conducted between May 1, 2023 and May 22, 2023. Most of the data collection occurred during the first two weeks of this period. The May 2023 NHS was conducted exclusively through AmeriSpeak®, NORC at the University of Chicago’s probability-based panel, on behalf of PSB Insights and in coordination with Fannie Mae. Calculations are made using unrounded and weighted respondent level data to help ensure precision in NHS results from wave to wave. As a result, minor differences in calculated data (summarized results, net calculations, etc.) of up to 1 percentage point may occur due to rounding.
Detailed HPSI & NHS Findings
For detailed findings from the Home Purchase Sentiment Index and National Housing Survey, as well as a brief HPSI overview and detailed white paper, technical notes on the NHS methodology, and questions asked of respondents associated with each monthly indicator, please visit the Surveys page on fanniemae.com. Also available on the site are in-depth special topic studies, which provide a detailed assessment of combined data results from three monthly studies of NHS results.
To receive e-mail updates with other housing market research from Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group, please click here.
About the ESR Group
Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group, led by Chief Economist Doug Duncan, studies current data, analyzes historical and emerging trends, and conducts surveys of consumer and mortgage lender groups to provide forecasts and analyses on the economy, housing, and mortgage markets. The ESR Group was recently awarded the prestigious 2022 Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Forecast Accuracy based on the accuracy of its macroeconomic forecasts published over the 4-year period from 2018 to 2021.
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:
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The Home Depot Launches the Path to Pro Network, Unique Jobseeker Platform Focused on the Skilled Trades
ATLANTA, Oct. 18, 2022 — The Home Depot® launched a new jobseeker marketplace created to connect skilled tradespeople to hiring trades professionals in the construction and home improvement industries.
According to a new survey conducted by The Home Depot in partnership with Morning Consult, half of trades professionals (50%) say that determining whether an applicant is qualified for a job is an obstacle to hiring. Skilled trades jobseekers can visit PathtoPro.com to create a profile, upload their resume and add photos of their work to connect with The Home Depot’s Pro customers looking to hire in their local area. To help jobseekers showcase their skills, the Path to Pro Network features skill badges that indicate if someone has accredited training, is a U.S. Military Veteran, or has graduated from The Home Depot’s free trades training program.
“There is not a leading jobseeker platform for the skilled trades and The Home Depot is committed to connecting skilled tradespeople with our Pro customers for jobs,” said Eric Schelling, vice president of global talent acquisition at The Home Depot. “The Path to Pro Network was designed to provide jobseekers with new career networking opportunities in the trades. Building a profile in the Path to Pro Network is the best way to showcase to potential employers that you have what it takes to work in the skilled trades.”
The Path to Pro Network is part of The Home Depot’s larger Path to Pro program to help address the growing skilled labor shortage in the U.S. and build the next generation of trades professionals. Launched in 2021, the Path to Pro Skills Program offers a free training program for those interested in pursuing and growing a career in the skilled trades and prepares them for their first job. Visit PathtoPro.com to learn more.
ABOUT THE HOME DEPOT
The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer. At the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2022, the company operated a total of 2,316 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. The company employs approximately 500,000 associates. The Home Depot’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index. The Home Depot is #17 on the 2022 Fortune 500.
SOURCE The Home Depot
CONTACT: Catherine Mootz, 404-386-1831, catherine_s_mootz@homedepot.com
The Home Depot Announces $150 Million Venture Capital Fund to Fuel Innovation in Retail and Home Improvement
ATLANTA, The Home Depot® today announced Home Depot Ventures, a venture capital fund created to identify, fund and partner with early-stage companies to accelerate emerging technologies that aim to improve the customer experience and shape the future of home improvement.
The $150 million fund aims to invest in companies that advance The Home Depot’s ability to provide a seamless interconnected shopping experience, develop new and differentiated capabilities, and extend its low-cost provider position to:
Better Serve Customers:
Simplify how people invest in their homes throughout the meaningful milestones of home ownership, including initial purchase and move-in, ongoing maintenance and repairs, and renovations or remodels
Evolve how professional (Pro) customers efficiently manage and grow their businesses, saving them time and money
Better Serve Associates:
Improve the lives of Home Depot associates and enable them to collaborate more safely, easily and efficiently to meet the rapidly changing expectations of customers
Deliver Operational Excellence:
Drive operational excellence to continue to deliver value for customers, including platform innovation, delivery optimization, asset and network optimization, and the application of data science
“With Home Depot Ventures, we’re lending our support and expertise to enable rapid scale of innovation,” said Richard McPhail, executive vice president and chief financial officer of The Home Depot. “This is an exciting opportunity to find and scale the next big ideas in technology and retail.”
The fund will consider investment opportunities in businesses at various stages of development, with an emphasis on early and growth stage companies that solve challenges for The Home Depot’s customers and show potential to scale. Home Depot Ventures will serve as a valuable partner by providing growing companies with direct access to the expertise and expansive footprint of the broader enterprise.
Home Depot Ventures builds on a successful history of investments in startups, which have delivered consistently strong returns and business partnerships. Investments include Afero, a secure, end-to-end Internet of Things (IoT) platform to provide smart capabilities for products in virtually any industry; Loadsmart, a freight technology company designed to help shippers and carriers price, book and move freight more efficiently; Made Renovation, an end-to-end digital platform for bathroom renovations; and Roadie, a crowdsourced delivery platform that enables same-day delivery to more than 20,000 zip codes nationwide, which was acquired by UPS in 2021.
About The Home Depot
The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer. At the end of fiscal year 2021, the company operated a total of 2,317 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. The company employs approximately 500,000 associates. The Home Depot’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index. The Home Depot is #18 on the 2021 Fortune 500.
SOURCE The Home Depot
CONTACT: For more information, contact: Financial Community: Isabel Janci, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer, 770-384-2666, isabel_janci@homedepot.com; News Media: Christina Cornell, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, 770-384-8747, public_relations@homedepot.com
Enterprise and Amazon Join Forces to Support Real Estate Developers of Color
NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Real estate developers of color in Nashville, Tennessee, Northern Virginia and Washington state’s Puget Sound region are eligible for organizational capacity building and project-related grants from Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) through a $5 million grant from The Amazon Housing Equity Fund. The funds will help developers of color scale their operations and seed their pipeline of affordable housing projects.
“Talented developers of color face a massive capital gap from decades of systemic racism that makes it harder to both grow their businesses and serve their communities. We are excited to work with Amazon to close that gap,” said Priscilla Almodovar, president and chief executive officer, Enterprise. “The partnership is perfectly aligned with Enterprise’s $3.5 billion ‘Equitable Path Forward’ initiative to advance racial equity in the real estate industry.”
As part of Equitable Path Forward, Enterprise is working to reshape the affordable housing industry to better reflect the communities it serves. Just 2% of development companies are Black-led, and minority-led real estate firms control only 1.5% of real estate assets under management. Housing providers of color lack access to sufficient capital to grow their operations or real estate portfolios when equity and debt are out of reach. Enterprise is channeling debt, grants, equity and other opportunities to developers of color to create lasting change.
The flexible capital funded through the Amazon grant will enable organizations to build needed capacity to scale their real estate operations, including growing and training staff, board of director training and enhancing operations like accounting and technology. Specific project support in the form of predevelopment grants can be provided for feasibility analysis, legal and consultant fees, and other costs typically associated with developing affordable housing.
The $5 million grant comes from the Amazon Housing Equity Fund, a more than $2 billion fund dedicated to creating and preserving 20,000 affordable homes for individuals and families earning moderate- to low- incomes in Washington state’s Puget Sound region; the Arlington, Virginia region; and Nashville, Tennessee—three communities where Amazon has a large and growing presence.
“If we are going to bring about lasting, holistic, and meaningful change to how affordable housing is developed, developers of color need to be a part of the solution,” said Catherine Buell, director of the Amazon Housing Equity Fund.
About Enterprise Community Partners
Enterprise is a national nonprofit that exists to make a good home possible for the millions of families without one. We support community development organizations on the ground, aggregate and invest capital for impact, advance housing policy at every level of government, and build and manage communities ourselves. Since 1982, we have invested $44 billion and created 781,000 homes across all 50 states – all to make home and community places of pride, power and belonging. We support community resilience nationwide and are working to reform national policy to make disaster recovery faster and more equitable. Join us at Enterprise Community Partners.
SOURCE Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.
CONTACT: Jordan Miller, 212-784-5703, jmiller@groupgordon.com
Supply and Labor Constraints Continue to Hinder Economic Growth, Home Sales
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — For the second month in a row expectations for near-term real GDP growth were revised downward – and outward – due to persistent supply chain disruptions and labor market tightness, according to the September 2021 commentary from the Fannie Mae (OTCQB: FNMA) Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group. The ESR Group now projects full-year 2021 real GDP growth to clock in at 5.4 percent, down from its previous forecast of 6.3 percent, anticipating instead that much of the previously projected second-half 2021 growth will take place in 2022, for which it upgraded its economic growth forecast from 3.2 percent to 3.8 percent. Inflation continues to be a key concern, as well, with the ESR Group forecasting the Consumer Price Index to end the year at an annualized pace of 5.4 percent and remain above 5 percent until the second quarter of 2022. The pulling back of recent transitory inflation drivers, such as the surge in used auto prices, is expected to be partially offset by longer-lasting wage and housing-related pressures. Principal risks to the forecast include the ongoing behavioral response of consumers to COVID developments, the duration of labor scarcity and supply chain constraints, and policymakers’ fiscal and monetary actions.
Supply constraints also continue to impede the housing market. While existing home sales recently came in stronger than expected, other indicators of home sales activity, including purchase mortgage applications and pending home sales, point to near-term softening. However, the lack of inventory of homes for sale continues to be the primary impediment, with the months’ supply of inventory near historical lows and the pace of new listings too low to sustain the current sales pace. Home construction is also being held back by supply problems, and as such the ESR Group downgraded its expectations for fourth quarter new home sales from 846,000 units to 789,000 units. The forecast for purchase mortgage originations was little changed for 2021 but now envisions a 6.3% increase for 2022; meanwhile, refinance origination volumes are expected to decline from a 58 percent share of total mortgage origination activity to 40 percent in 2022.
“Economic growth continues to be held back by supply chain and labor market constraints, both of which we expect to continue well into 2022,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “We also expect inflation to remain elevated through much of next year, even if the crest of the recent surge is behind us. Given the strength of recent house price appreciation and rent growth, we continue to believe that the contribution from housing to underlying inflation has yet to be fully realized within the official measures of inflation. Further, affordability remains a challenge, even with mortgage rates near historic lows; if the pace of income growth doesn’t keep up with inflation and interest rates rise more than expected, we’d expect housing activity to slow from our current projections.”
Visit the Economic & Strategic Research site at fanniemae.com to read the full September 2021 Economic Outlook, including the Economic Developments Commentary, Economic Forecast, Housing Forecast, and Multifamily Market Commentary. To receive e-mail updates with other housing market research from Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group, please click here.
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae helps make the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and affordable rental housing possible for millions of people in America. We partner with lenders to create housing opportunities for families across the country. We are driving positive changes in housing finance to make the home buying process easier, while reducing costs and risk. To learn more, visit: fanniemae.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
Fannie Mae Newsroom
https://www.fanniemae.com/news
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Fannie Mae Resource Center
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Opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views of Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) group included in these materials should not be construed as indicating Fannie Mae’s business prospects or expected results, are based on a number of assumptions, and are subject to change without notice. How this information affects Fannie Mae will depend on many factors. Although the ESR group bases its opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views on information it considers reliable, it does not guarantee that the information provided in these materials is accurate, current or suitable for any particular purpose. Changes in the assumptions or the information underlying these views could produce materially different results. The analyses, opinions, estimates, forecasts, and other views published by the ESR group represent the views of that group as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae or its management.
SOURCE Fannie Mae
U.S. Home Sales Likely to Hit Record High of $2.5 Trillion In 2021
SEATTLE, May 11, 2021 — (NASDAQ: RDFN) — Redfin forecasts a record $2.53 trillion worth of home sales in America in 2021—a 17% year-over-year gain that would mark the largest annual increase in percentage terms since 2013. Redfin (www.redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage, made the prediction in a new report out today. To put $2.53 trillion into perspective, it’s roughly equal to the value of Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. combined, or the 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) of France.
U.S. Home Sales Likely to Hit Record High of $2.5 Trillion In 2021
U.S. Home Sales Likely to Hit Record High of $2.5 Trillion In 2021
The U.S. housing market has undergone a meteoric rise during the coronavirus pandemic, fueled by record-low mortgage rates and a wave of migration made possible by remote work. Almost two-thirds (60%) of people expect to continue working from home at least part time after the pandemic, according to an April survey of Redfin.com visitors who have moved to a different metro area in the last year. These factors—alongside an acute housing shortage—helped March become the hottest month in housing history, with home values, price growth and selling speed all hitting new heights.
In short, the combination of rising demand (home sales) and surging home prices is fueling the increase. While home prices could grow more slowly if mortgage rates rise, that would result in a more balanced housing market, which could actually lead to more home sales, according to Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.
“We expect 2021 to be an even more active year for the housing market than 2020 because homebuyers have a better sense of what the future looks like,” said Fairweather. “Employers are providing clarity on permanent remote-work policies, the economy is recovering and mortgage rates remain low. All of these factors mean that we’ll likely see even more buyers enter the market this year and in 2022.”
The South is expected to lead the way with $1.09 trillion of home sales forecast for 2021, followed by the West with $696.3 billion, the Midwest with $422.6 billion and the Northeast with $322.8 billion.
The South has consistently held the top spot, but has inched further ahead in recent years. This is likely because it has more vacant land on which to build, and has attracted scores of out-of-town homebuyers who are in search of affordability and space, Fairweather said. Seven of the 10 U.S. metros with the biggest net inflows in the first quarter were in the South. Net inflow is a measure of how many more Redfin.com home searchers looked to move into a metro than leave.
“A lot of wealth from the coasts is shifting South,” said Fairweather. “Affluent homebuyers from New York and San Francisco have moved to places like Florida and Texas during the pandemic, which has fueled home sales and driven up prices in those areas.”
To read the full report, including additional charts and graphs, please visit:
Housing-Market Mayhem: U.S. Home Sales Likely to Hit Record High of $2.5 Trillion In 2021
About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate broker, instant home-buyer (iBuyer), lender, title insurer, and renovations company. We sell homes for more money and charge half the fee. We also run the country’s #1 real-estate brokerage site. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home can take an instant cash offer from Redfin or have our renovations crew fix up their home to sell for top dollar. Since launching in 2006, we’ve saved customers nearly $1 billion in commissions. We serve more than 95 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 4,100 people.
For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin’s press release distribution list, email press@redfin.com. To view Redfin’s press center, click here.
SOURCE Redfin
CONTACT: Redfin Journalist Services: Angela Cherry, 913-638-8249, press@redfin.com
Related Links
https://www.redfin.com