Tom Lamalfa: May 2020 Survey of Secondary Market Executives

What follows are findings from a survey of senior mortgage executives I conducted in the first half of May. Due to cancelation of MBA’s National Secondary Market Conference, this survey was completed over the phone rather than face to face, as has been the case in the 23 preceding surveys done since 2008.

Pre-COVID-19, Opportunity Zones See Strong Home Price Growth

ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., said more than two-thirds of homes in government-designated “Opportunity Zones” saw positive price growth in the first quarter—that is, before the economic effects of the coronavirus took effect.

ATTOM: Home Sellers Saw Average Price Gain of $67,100 in 1Q

ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., released its First-Quarter 2020 U.S. Home Sales Report, which showed home sellers nationwide realized a home price gain of $67,100 on the typical sale, up from $66,264 in the fourth quarter and up from $59,000 a year ago.

February New Home Sales Meet Expectations, Pre-Coronavirus

February new home sales dipped a bit, HUD and the Census Bureau reported yesterday. Sales of new single-family houses came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 765,000, down by 4.4 percent from the revised January rate of 800,000, but 14.3 percent higher than a year ago (669,000).

ATTOM: Home Prices in Opportunity Zones See Annual Increases

ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., said nearly half of Opportunity Zones saw median home prices rise more than the national increase of 9.4 percent from fourth quarter 2018 to fourth quarter 2019.

Redfin Forecast: ‘The Mother of All Inventory Crunches’

Despite a strong start to the 2020 housing market, Redfin, Seattle, said a deepening shortage of homes for sale and surging homebuyer demand are set to push prices up at the fastest rate in years.