Mortgage rates continued to fall for the second straight week to near 3.0%. Freddie Mac reported today that the average rate on the 30-year fixed rate home loan fell to 3.04% from 3.13% the previous week.
Meanwhile, home prices continue to rise due to the combination of low mortgage rates and record low inventory. In fact, more than half of homes are being sold above the listed price in several states across the country particularly in the West region. However, demand isn’t going to slow down. NAR tracks the interest of people for open houses. According to Google data, more people are searching to attend an in-person open house. Specifically, public interest for open houses is more than 80% higher than a year earlier as the vaccine becomes more widely available. Although there are nearly 50% fewer people looking for an open house compared to a couple of years earlier, expect more people to attend open houses in the following months.
While housing inventory is at record lows, it’s encouraging to see that there are more people looking to sell their home compared to a couple of years earlier. If these people decide to sell, this may help to increase housing supply and ease price gains.