042123 Real Estate Directory

U.S. HOME SALES FALL IN MARCH

Alex Veiga ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES — The spring

homebuying season in the U.S. is off to a tepid start, as buyers contend with sharply higher mortgage rates and near historiclow inventory of properties on the market.

Existing U.S. home sales fell 2.4 percent last month from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.44 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s below the 4.5 million home sales economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Sales slumped 22 percent compared with March last year. The annual drop was steepest in markets across the Western part of the country, where sales sank more than 30 percent from a year ago. The national median home price slipped 0.9 percent from March last year to $375,700, the NAR said. That’s the biggest annual median home price drop since January 2012.

While the drop in prices is good news for buyers after years of soaring home values, a stubbornly low inventory of properties for sale continues to drive bidding wars in many markets, especially for the most affordable homes.

Some 28 percent of homes purchased last month sold for more than their list price, said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.

“Home sales are trying to recover and are highly sensitive

Mortgage rates rise: 30-year climbs to 6.39 percent

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. mortgage rates rose this week for the first time in more than a month, at least a temporary setback for would-be home buyers and a housing market already reeling from more than a year of interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that that average fixed-rate 30-year mortgage edged up to 6.39 percent from 6.27 percent the week before. A year ago, the average rate was 5.11 percent.

The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with those refinancing their homes, also rose — to 5.76 percent from 5.54 percent a week earlier.

The Fed, responding to a surge in inflation that last year hit a four-decade high, has raised its benchmark interest rate nine times in just over a year. Mortgage rates surged — to a two-decade high of 7.08 percent last fall. But rates had fallen five straight weeks before the upturn this week.

Higher borrowing costs have taken a toll on the housing market.

The National Association of Realtors reported Thursday that sales of existing U.S. homes fell 2.4 percent from February to March at an annual rate of 4.44 million. Median home prices fell to $375,700, down 0.9 percent from a year ago, biggest year-over-year drop since January 2012.

Investment in U.S. housing has dropped for seven straight quarters — including freefalls at an annual rate of 27.1 percent from July through September and 25.1 percent from October through December last year.

to changes in mortgage rates,” Yun said. “Yet, at the same time, multiple offers on starter homes are quite common, implying more supply is needed to fully satisfy demand.”

The U.S. housing market has been slow to regain its footing this year after posting its deepest slump in nearly a decade last year.

Homebuyers continue to grapple with sharply higher mortgage rates, which can add hundreds of a dollars a month in costs, on top

of home prices that have only come down slightly recently after soaring in recent years.

While more homes traditionally hit the market during the spring homebuying season, the number of properties for sale remains near historic lows at under 1 million, limiting options for would-be buyers.

Some 980,000 homes were on the market by the end of March, the NAR said. That’s an increase of 1 percent from February and

5.4 percent from March last year. Even so, that amounts to a 2.6-month supply at the current sales pace. In a more balanced market between buyers and sellers, there is a 5- to 6-month supply.

The inventory of homes for sale has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. Last month’s inventory was down 41 percent from March 2019, when there were 1.7 million homes on the market.

The uptick in homes for sale in

March reflects properties sitting on the market longer. The number of homes listed for sale for the first time in March was down 17 percent from a year earlier, Yun said.

Many homeowners who locked in a mortgage rate in 2020 and 2021, when they averaged below 3 percent, are reluctant to sell now that rates have doubled, which is limiting the inventory of homes for sale.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage reached a two-decade high of 7.08 percent in the fall following a series of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Higher rates can add hundreds of a dollars a month in costs for homebuyers, on top of already high home prices.

Rates eased in February then ticked higher in early March, reaching an average of 6.73 percent by the second week of the month. The average rate on a fixed-rate 30-year home loan rose to 6.39 percent this week, snapping a five-week slide, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. The rate averaged 5.11 percent a year ago.

The combination of high borrowing costs and intense competition for the most affordable homes on the market is keeping many first-time buyers on the sidelines. They accounted for 28 percent of home sales in March, up from 27 percent in February but down from 30 percent in March last year, the NAR said.

“First-time buyers are still struggling,” Yun said.

JEFF CHIU / ASSOCIATED PRESS

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NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

PursuanttoChapter91,HawaiiRevisedStatutes,noticeisherebygiventhatthe HawaiiHousingFinanceandDevelopmentCorporation(HHFDC),Departmentof Business,EconomicDevelopmentandTourism,StateofHawaii,willholdavirtual publichearingonMonday,May22,2023,at11:00a.m.tocreateanewchapter, Chapter15-304,"AdministrationofFederalPrograms,"HawaiiAdministrativeRules (HAR).Writtentestimonyontheseproposedrulemakingactionswillbeaccepted throughMay22,2023,atthefollowingaddress:HHFDC,Attention:CynthiaNyross, 677QueenStreet,Suite300,Honolulu,Hawaii96813;orviaemailto Cynthia.C.Nyross@hawaii.gov.

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