Economists' Outlook

This trend reflects the decline in the share of buyers who obtain mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Veterans Administration (VA) which insure zero and low downpayment loans.

The REALTORS® Confidence Index (RCI) survey gathers on-the-ground information from REALTORS® based on their real estate transactions during the month.

Affordability declined in April compared to March as the median family incomes declined by 1.0% while the monthly mortgage payment increased 16.1%.

Mortgage rates dropped further this week, from 2.96% to 2.93%, although the Fed revised upward their forecast about inflation.

Retail sales recorded a seasonally-adjusted total of $620.2 billion in June, a 1.3% decrease. While retail sales in May realized a month-over-month loss, sales remain near the record high.

Housing starts picked up in May. The trend since the onset of the pandemic has been notably higher single-family homebuilding and subdued multifamily construction. That tilt is a proper response, given the limited single-family home inventory and what had been a decelerating deceleration in apartment rent growth.

In 2020, vacation home sales rose by 16.4%, outpacing the 5.6% growth in total existing-home sales.

Lisa Herceg, lead author of the report, provides perspectives on how to use the report, insights into the data, and the results she found to be most interesting.

The eviction moratorium is slated to expire on June 30, 2021, but many renters are still struggling to pay rent, and need rental assistance of at least $3.4 billion to avoid potential eviction.

Mortgage rates dropped this week to 2.96% from 2.99% the previous week, following the trend of the 10-year Treasury yield. NAR forecasts mortgage rates to average 3.2% in 2021.