Each month, Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group releases a forecast for the economy and housing market. According to their most recent release, the group sees improvement ahead. In fact, their forecast calls for home sales to increase 6.3 percent this year and new home construction to rise almost 25 percent higher than the year before. But despite the optimistic numbers, there are still challenges facing the market. Among the biggest is the lack of existing homes available for sale. Fewer homeowners are listing their homes and the pace of new home construction, while greatly improved, is being slowed by supply constraints and a shortage of available lots. That means, inventory issues will likely continue for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae's senior vice president and chief economist, says conditions haven't affected mortgage rates. “This has yet to significantly affect mortgage rates, except to the extent that the rise in the 10-year Treasury since the beginning of the year contains an increased expected inflation component and has prevented mortgage rates from retreating further from their temporary recent peak,” Duncan said.

By now, everybody knows the housing market's hot. They're probably also familiar with the factors that have kept it buzzing. Low mortgage rates and the increasing number of Americans working remotely are just a couple of the now well-known drivers of recent buyer demand. But just how competitive is the spring market? Well, according to one recent analysis, 72 percent of the homes sold in April faced competition. In other words, nearly three-quarters of the homes sold during the month had more than one interested buyer. And that's up almost 4.5 percent from the month before. But it shouldn't be a surprise that the real-estate market isn't cooling down. After all, spring and summer are typically the busiest months for home sales. It's also when homeowners who want to sell – rather than need to – put their homes on the market. That means, the homes listed now are more likely to have been upgraded and prepped for sale, which raises the competition for them even higher.

In times of crises, people tend to come together. That's certainly been true over the past year. The coronavirus pandemic meant we all had to look out for one another a little bit more than usual, and we did. Especially, closer to home. In fact, according to one recent analysis, the pandemic led to an immediate uptick in neighborhood outreach. We started relying more on the people in our own communities for everything from picking up prescriptions to walking dogs and letting each other know where supplies that had suddenly become scarce were still in stock. The increase in neighborhood engagement wasn't just in certain locations or among certain demographics, either. It was widespread, from urban centers to rural areas and among the young and old. It was so widespread that 75 percent of surveyed neighbors said they had recently been the recipient of a random act of kindness. In short, we've all become a bit more neighborly in the past year – and that's good news, because good neighbors make for safer, happier neighborhoods.

When you own a home and its value increases, you build equity. And when the amount of equity you've built is more than double what you owe on your mortgage, you're considered equity rich – at least, according to ATTOM Data Solutions' 2021 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report. The report, which looks at the number of equity-rich properties across the country, found that almost one in three homes qualified during the first quarter. In fact, 31.9 percent of the 55.8 million mortgaged homes included in the analysis were equity-rich. That's up from 30.2 percent at the end of 2020 and nearly 5.5 percent higher than last year at the same time. Todd Teta, ATTOM's chief product officer, says it's a great time to be a homeowner. “It continues to be a great time to be a homeowner most everywhere in the country,” Teta said. “The ongoing price spikes we're seeing help to cut down the number of seriously underwater properties and boost the level of equity-rich properties.”

In order to be approved for a mortgage, borrowers have to meet certain standards. How well they meet those standards not only determines whether they're approved to borrow but also the terms of the loan they receive, should they be approved. Lending standards aren't fixed, though. Which means, there are times when they're stricter and times when they loosen. That's why the Mortgage Bankers Association tracks mortgage credit availability each month – to help potential borrowers know what to expect. In April, according to their most recent report, lending standards loosened from the month before, making credit more available. Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, says credit availability has improved as the housing market and economy have made gains. “The uptick in credit supply comes as the housing market and economy continue to strengthen,” Kan said. “One trend that has developed in recent months is the rising demand for ARMs, driven by higher rates for fixed mortgages and faster home-price appreciation.” Still, despite the improvement, credit availability hasn't yet returned to where it was before the pandemic's onset last March. 

In April, Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index found a widening gap between the number of respondents who say it's a good time to sell a home and those who say it's a good time to buy one. The index – which is based on a survey that asks Americans for their opinions on the housing market and economy – shows the share of participants who say it's a good time to buy fell from 53 percent to 47 percent month-over-month. Conversely, the share who said it's a good time to sell rose from 61 percent to 67 percent. Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae's senior vice president and chief economist, says there are plenty of Americans who want to buy a home but conditions have made it challenging. “The decrease in home buying sentiment likely indicates that some consumers, potentially flush with savings – perhaps boosted in part by stimulus payments – may be attempting, but failing to buy a home due to heightened competition for relatively few listed homes,” Duncan said. In other words, the growing gap between home-buying and home-selling sentiment isn't due to a lack of buyer interest. Low inventory has been holding buyers back. But as more homes are listed for sale, the now widening gap between buying and selling sentiment should begin narrow.

While the housing market outperformed expectations last year, it wasn't untouched by the economic impact of the pandemic. There were scores of American homeowners who were suddenly without work or a way to cover their mortgage payment. Which is why the most recent Mortgage Monitor from Black Knight Financial is an encouraging sign. The report – which looks at loan-level residential mortgage data – found that, in April, the number of Americans paying their mortgage on time rose to the highest level since the pandemic began. In fact, 91.6 percent of mortgage holders made their monthly payments, up from 91 percent in March. Ben Graboske, Black Knight's president, said that wasn't the only metric pointing toward a strong recovery. “Despite mortgage delinquencies tending to trend seasonally upward starting in April, our McDash Flash daily performance dataset instead shows strong early payment activity for the month, ” Graboske said. That's also good news – as is the fact that the number of borrowers with at least one payment past due is now down 34 percent since February.

Everybody with a home to sell wants to get as much as they can for it. But beyond sprucing it up and making sure it looks its best, what else can you do to be certain you get a good offer? Well, according to a new analysis from ATTOM Data Solutions, you can also choose the right day to sell. ATTOM looked at 40.1 million home sales between 2011 and 2020 to determine which days of the year brought sellers the biggest premiums. The results show the month of May gives homeowners their best shot to sell their home above its estimated market value. Todd Teta, ATTOM's chief product officer, says May – which had 10 of the best days to sell – also had the single best day based on premiums. “The month of May is particularly poised to garner the greatest sale premiums,” Teta said. “Among the top five days fetching the biggest home seller premiums, May 23 is the best day of the year to sell a home, producing a premium of 19.3 percent above market value.” Overall, May sales were found to be 13.4 percent above estimated values. However, if you have to wait until June, don't despair. Premiums are still nearly 12 percent as the spring market rolls into summer.

The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are considered a leading measure of U.S. home prices. According to their most recent release, home values continue to show strength. In fact, the index found prices were up over the month before in all 20 included cities and are now rising faster than at any point since 2006. Craig J. Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P, says recent increases are among the highest they've recorded in more than 30 years of collecting price data. “More than 30 years of S&P Case-Shiller data help us to put February's results into historical context,” Lazzara said. “The National Composite's 12 percent gain is the highest recorded since February 2006, exactly 15 years ago, and lies comfortably in the top decile of historical performance. Housing's strength is reflected across all 20 cities.” Price increases are good news for homeowners thinking about selling a home this year, as low inventory means more competition for available homes. 

The number of contracts to buy homes rebounded in March, according to new numbers from the National Association of Realtors. Their Pending Home Sales Index – which measures signings, not closings – saw a 1.9 percent increase from the month before. It was the first improvement following two consecutive months of declines. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, says demand from buyers is high and will likely remain high. “The increase in pending sales transactions for the month of March is indicative of high housing demand,” Yun said. “With mortgage rates still very close to record lows and a solid job recovery underway, demand will likely remain high.” Yun also believes the low supply of homes for sale will begin to recover in the coming months as more new homes are built. “Although these moves won't immediately replenish low supply, they will be a step forward,” he said. Regionally, the South, West, and Northeast all saw month-over-month gains. The Midwest was the only region that slowed from the previous month.