Pending home sales are at a record high.The National Association of Realtors survey revealed home sales jumped eight-point-eight-percent last month from July.Last month's numbers also represented a more than 24-percent bump compared to August of last year.Chief economist Lawrence Yun credited low mortgage rates for the rise in pending homes sales.
Covid has made for an odd year, according to Laith Daik, president of Texas Lonestar. “A huge time of year for the purchase market is the Spring, and because of the pandemic that market was missed and it moved to the summer,” he tells KTRH News.
The Fed had dropped interest rates to historic lows in mid-March just as the lockdowns were beginning, prompting that summer buying spree. “But that continued into the fall and we’re seeing it now spill into October.”
Fannie Mae expects mortgage interest rates to average around 2.8% for the rest of the year, while Freddie Mac projects an average eof 3.3% for the remainder of 2020. Daik says he is seeing an incredible amount of volume in the Houston residential market as October begins.
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