U.S. advance estimates of retail and food service sales for June 2021 saw a 0.6% increase from May 2021, recording a seasonally-adjusted total of $621.3 billion.
The apartment market is booming. Based on NAR's analysis of CoStar market data in 138 markets1, net absorption (change in number of occupied units) rose by 207,035 units in 2021 Q2 from the prior quarter.
At the national level, housing affordability declined in May compared to a year ago, as the median family incomes rose modestly by 1.2% while the monthly mortgage payment increased 20%.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 2.90% from 2.98% the previous week, and homebuyers continue to benefit from low mortgage rates as home prices reached a new record high at $350,300.
NAR releases the NAR SentriLock Home Showings Report on a monthly basis. Every month SentriLock, LLC. provides NAR with data on the number of properties shown by a REALTOR®.
A strong 850,000 net new jobs were added in June. Residential construction workers and general contractors rose by 15,200. The unemployment rate edged up a notch to 5.9% as more people began searching for a job.
In May 2021, there was an increase in nationwide foot traffic on a month-to-month basis, and home showings were up 24% year-over-year.
In May 2021, properties were typically on the market for 17 days, and first-time buyers accounted for 31% of sales.
Expect continuing solid price gains in the upcoming months. Some calming of the market is only expected to happen in late autumn of this year and into 2022.
Foreclosures will likely widen the already alarming homeownership gap among income groups and racial groups, with low income and minority groups twice as likely to face foreclosure than higher income and non-minority groups and homeowners of FHA-insured loans three times as likely to face foreclosure.
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