Top 10 ZIPS with most bank owned properties

Read Time ~ 5 Minutes. Today is a long one but all good stuff. Enjoy!

Macro Trends

Lumber Prices Down 29% YoY link

• Current Pricing: Lumber is now at $496.00 per 1000 board feet, down 29% from $694.50 a year ago.

• Seasonal Demand: Lumber prices usually peak in April or May, but there was no significant runup this Spring due to the housing slowdown. Simple, but significant.

Mortgage delinquency rate falls to lowest level since 1979 link

• The mortgage delinquency rate dropped to 3.37% in Q2 this year, the lowest in 43 years, marking a 27 basis points decrease year over year.

• Despite the overall decline, FHA delinquencies rose 10 basis points compared to last year, and 71 basis points from Q1 of 2023.

• Alongside the positive trend in mortgages, there are signs of consumer-related stress, with rising delinquencies in credit cards and car loans.

Excluding Lagged Shelter Data, Inflation Nearly Disappeared in July link

• Inflation is nearly gone when excluding lagged shelter data in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), with inflation less shelter at just 1.0% year-over-year through July, the lowest since November 2020.

• CPI rent inflation measured 0.41% month-over-month, the lowest since December 2021, and year-over-year CPI rents were up 8.0%, marking four consecutive months of cooling.

• Asking rent growth continues to cool, down to 0.78% as of July, and CPI rents will almost certainly continue to cool through 2023 and into early 2024.

Overall Real Estate Market

Institutional SFR Investors Slow Their Roll  link

• Institutional investors are focusing on efficiency, slowing down single-family rental acquisitions to what's termed as "moderate growth" in the first half of the year.

• Completed transactions for the first two quarters were only $412 million, a significant drop from the $2.7 billion last year and $2.8 billion in 2021.

• The shift reflects a strategic change, with sales involving properties of at least 50 or more units, positioning the industry to thrive in the long term.

U.S. Housing Market Recovers the Nearly $3 Trillion It Lost, Hitting Record $47 Trillion in Total Value link

• The total worth of U.S. homes reached a record $47 trillion in June, with affordable markets like Little Rock and Milwaukee seeing the biggest value jumps. Pricey West Coast metros faced large drops, with L.A. shedding $153 billion since last summer.

• Millennials gained more value than any other generation, surpassing the Silent Generation in total worth. The value of U.S. homes rose 0.4% ($166.2 billion) from a year earlier in June and 19.1% ($7.5 trillion) from two years earlier.

• Luxury homes are losing value, while homes worth between $250,000 and $750,000 are posting gains. The housing market has offset the $2.9 trillion decline in value that occurred from June 2022 through February 2023.

Home Prices Continued to Rise in Second Quarter link

• 60% of the nation's 221 largest metro areas saw home price gains in Q2, but the national median single-family home price was $402,600, marking a 2.4% decline from a year ago.

• Some of the largest price declines occurred in Austin, Texas (down 19.1%), San Francisco (down 11.3%), Salt Lake City (down 9.6%), and Las Vegas (down 7.4%).

• Housing affordability remains a pressing issue, with the monthly mortgage payment on an existing single-family home reaching $2,051 in Q2, up 11.6% from a year earlier, and families spending 27% of their income on mortgage payments.

Major markets are seeing all-time high home prices link

• Home Prices Soar: The Black Knight Home Price Index hit an all-time high in June, with 30 of the 50 largest markets reaching new peaks. Some northeastern metros are now 5-8% above 2022 highs.

• Equity Levels Rebound: Total mortgage holder equity topped $16T again in June, with tappable equity climbing to $10.5T, within $434B (4%) of 2022 peaks. Only 344K (0.65%) of mortgage holders nationwide currently owe more than their home's worth.

• Refinance Savings Impact: Existing homeowners have benefited from $42B in cumulative savings through refinance in the past three years. The average interest rate on existing mortgages is just 3.94%, contributing to today's 16-year low in seriously delinquent mortgages.

Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. Homes Are Worth at Least $1 Million, Close to All-Time High link

• The percentage of million-dollar homes in the U.S. has doubled to 8.2% since the pandemic began, a sharp increase from 3.9% in 2020.

• Cities like San Jose and San Francisco lead the pack, with 47% and 40% of homes valued at $1 million or more, respectively.

• The trend is fueled by low mortgage rates and high demand, but it's widening the wealth gap, making homeownership less accessible for many.