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CALIFORNIA PENDING HOME SALES UP IN JUNE

CALIFORNIA PENDING HOME SALES UP IN JUNELed by the San Francisco Bay Area, California pending home sales continued their upward momentum in June to post three straight months of annual increases, C.A.R. said this week. 

Statewide pending home sales rose in June on an annual basis, with the Pending Home Sales Index increasing 3.2 percent from 123.4 in June 2015 to 127.3 in June 2016, based on signed contracts. With pending sales on a rising trend in the past couple of months, June’s increase should portend for higher closed transactions in July and August.

California pending home sales declined 7 percent on a monthly basis compared to May, primarily due to seasonal factors. When adjusting pending sales for typical seasonal patterns, pending sales were down 3.2 percent from May and up 3 percent from June 2015.

DOES HOME BUYER EDUCATION LEAD TO HOUSING STABILITY?

DOES HOME BUYER EDUCATION LEAD TO HOUSING STABILITY?
Source: DSNews.com
 
Borrowers are making better choices to achieve housing and financial stability thanks to counseling programs in mortgage literacy and preparedness, home buyer outcomes, and loan performance, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). A study into the benefits of counseling buyers was released by HUD, titled, “The First-Time Home Buyer Education and Counseling Demonstration,” which found that programs to educate new buyers improved mortgage literacy, created greater appreciation for communication with lenders, and enhanced underwriting qualifications. HUD studied more than 5,800 prospective first-time home buyers across 28 metro areas.

HOW TO ADDRESS CALIFORNIA’S HOUSING AFFORDABILITY CRISIS

HOW TO ADDRESS CALIFORNIA’S HOUSING AFFORDABILITY CRISIS
Source: Intersections

State Treasurer John Chiang has penned an article calling for more housing supply in California to address the state’s affordability problem. He notes that “California is short 1.5 million affordable homes for families struggling to make ends meet, and the hole is growing bigger each year.” He added, “As our state’s chief investment officer, I see the cost of our neglect of housing needs from an economic lens as well as a human one. The credit rating agencies that influence the cost of borrowing for infrastructure projects and schools say the cost of housing is hurting businesses, and our CEOs say a lack of workforce housing is the reason companies like Toyota are moving jobs out of state.” He urges the state to start building.

WOMEN ARE THE PRIMARY BORROWER ON MILLENNIAL MORTGAGES
Within the Millennial generation, women were listed as the primary borrower on more than one-third of closed loans, according to Ellie Mae’s Millennial Tracker.

Out of those 32 percent of closed loans where women were the primary borrower, more than 60 percent are single, and only 38 percent are married, according to the tool. On the other hand, of the loans where men are the primary borrower, just 41 percent are single while 58 percent are married.

Highlights include:

• More Millennials tend toward FHA loans, which make up 37 percent of their closed loans. In the general population, FHA loans make up about 23 percent of total closed loans.
• The average day for Millennials to close got just a little slower, from 43 days in April to 44 days in May.
• The average FICO score among Millennials who closed loans is up from 721 in April to 722. The average FICO score for men was slightly higher than the average score for women at 724 versus 723.
• The average age for women who closed on a loan was 29, while men came in slightly higher at 29.2.