The monthly mortgage payment on the typical single-family home is now $1,059, according to new third-quarter data from the National Association of Realtors. Up $27 from last year, the increase comes as the NAR's most recent quarterly price report shows home prices up in every measured metro area. In fact, more than half of the included cities had double-digit increases and all four major regions were up year-over-year. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, says rising prices are going to affect affordability conditions, regardless of how low mortgage rates go. “Favorable mortgage rates will continue to bring fresh buyers to the market,” Yun said. “However, the affordability situation will not improve even with low interest rates because housing prices are increasing much too fast.” But why are prices rising? Well, part of it is too few homes for sale. The pandemic caused already low inventory to fall further. And too few available homes, combined with elevated buyer demand, has caused more competition and bidding wars, which push prices higher.

Favorable mortgage rates have helped the housing market handle affordability challenges, low inventory, and the coronavirus. With record low rates counteracting continuing price increases, demand from home buyers has stayed strong and the market has been resilient. And fortunately, according to a recent forecast from Freddie Mac, low rates aren't going anywhere any time soon. “One of the main drivers of the strong housing recovery is historically low mortgage interest rates,” the forecast reads. “Given weakness in the broader economy, the Federal Reserve's signal that its policy rate will remain low until inflation picks up, and no signs of inflation, we forecast mortgage rates to remain flat over the next year.” In fact, Freddie Mac says rates should continue to hover just above record lows through the end of 2021. That's good news for anyone interested in buying a home any time soon. It's also encouraging for current homeowners who may be able to benefit from refinancing.

There is a lot of real estate data devoted to tracking buyer demand. Reports covering home sales, contract signings, and builder confidence are all, in one way or another, measuring how many interested buyers are in the market. These reports are worth following, especially for anyone thinking of buying or selling a home. After all, having a general awareness of how many buyers there are can help prospective home shoppers know how much competition to expect when they start looking for a house. And, obviously, someone thinking of selling their home will want to know whether or not there are buyers in the market. That's why new data looking at the number of showings homes for sale have scheduled is interesting. The report – which looked specifically at showings in September – found that they were up over last year by a significant amount. In fact, showing traffic was up 64.1 percent year-over-year. Regionally, the Northeast saw the biggest increase, with traffic 68.4 percent higher than last year – though the West, Midwest, and South all followed closely behind. Ultimately, the data shows that, despite the pandemic and the end of the summer season, buyers and sellers are still active and the market's still hot.

If you're a homeowner thinking about selling your house, you're in luck. Today's market is good for selling and, according to new numbers from ATTOM Data Solutions, it only got better during the third quarter of this year. In fact, the report found that the typical home sale generated a gain of $85,000 for homeowners. That's up from $75,000 in the second quarter and $66,000 last year at the same time. The results mean the typical homeowner received a 38.6 percent return on investment compared to the price they paid for their home. Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM, says the housing market continues to thrive despite the economic damage of the pandemic. “Home prices and seller profits across the nation continue racking up new highs as the housing market remains relatively immune from the economic havoc caused by the coronavirus pandemic,” Teta said. “It's almost as if the housing market and the overall economy are operating in different worlds.” Both the raw-profit and return-on-investment figures are at their highest point since before the housing crash and financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Home prices can be deceiving. After all, the sales price of a home isn't really the number that matters most to a prospective home buyer. The monthly mortgage payment is, and it depends on a number of different factors, including property tax, mortgage rates, the down payment, mortgage insurance, etc. In other words, when thinking about how much house you can afford, it's best to take everything into consideration, not just the sticker price. That's why a new analysis is good news for home buyers concerned about affordability. According to the numbers, released by a popular online real estate portal, the typical mortgage payment has become more affordable over the past two years. In fact, homeowners earning the median income could cover the monthly payment on the typical U.S. home in September with 17.5 percent of their earnings. That's down over two percent from two years ago. That means, despite the fact that home prices have continued to rise, the drop in mortgage rates – which are considerably lower than they were in October 2018 – has helped make mortgage payments more affordable.

The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index measures the number of contracts to buy homes signed each month. It's an important barometer of housing-market health because it can be a reliable indicator of future home sales numbers. In September, the index found pending sales down 2.2 percent from the previous month, though still 20.5 percent higher than last year at the same time. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, says home buying demand is still strong. “The demand for home buying remains super strong, even with a slight monthly pullback in September, and we're still likely to end the year with more homes sold overall in 2020 than in 2019,” Yun said. “With persistent low mortgage rates and some degree of a continuing jobs recovery, more contract signings are expected in the near future.” Regionally, only the Northeast saw a month-over-month improvement, with pending sales now up 27.7 percent from last year in the region.

In today's market, there are more home buyers than there are homes available for sale. In other words, it's a seller's market. But despite favorable conditions for sellers, the number of homes for sale is down 37 percent year-over-year. So why aren't more homeowners putting their homes up for sale? Well, according to one recent survey, uncertainty is the answer. Among Americans who have considered selling in the next few years, 34 percent said life is just too uncertain right now, with 31 percent citing financial uncertainty specifically. Among those respondents, 27 percent recently changed jobs and 17 percent had a spouse or partner who had been laid off. But not all potential sellers were holding off because of financial uncertainty. Some have put a pause on their plans because they see conditions getting even better in the future. In fact, nearly 40 percent of participants who are considering selling said they feel they'll get a better price if they wait. And if that's the case, it suggests we'll soon reach a point where we see more homeowners listing their homes, which will help bring greater balance to the market. 

These days, there are plenty of interested home buyers but fewer homes for sale. That means, home sellers have options and buyers have to be prepared. So what are some things buyers can do to ensure their success? Well, they should start by making sure their finances are in order. According to one recent survey, more than one-in-five home sellers who've had an offer fall through said it was because of issues with financing. So, if you're thinking about buying soon, getting pre-approved for a mortgage should be at the top of your to-do list. Pre-approval is different from pre-qualification because it involves a deeper look into your credit and finances. But because of that, it also gives sellers assurance that your offer is secure and you'll have no problem closing. Another important consideration for today's buyer is bidding wars. In a hot market, the likelihood that you'll be competing against other offers means you need to consider what the absolute top of your price range is well before shopping homes. Setting a firm price ceiling will help you avoid paying more than you'd like and ending up in a home you can't afford. Most of all, though, buyers should become familiar with conditions in their local market, hire experienced pros to guide them, and be ready to move quickly when it comes time to make an offer.

New numbers from the National Association of Realtors show just how quickly homes are selling these days. Their September existing-home sales report found that, not only were sales of previously owned homes up 20.9 percent over last year's pace, but 71 percent of homes sold during the month were on the market for less than a month. In fact, the typical property was on the market just 21 days. That's an all-time low. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, says the usual seasonal sales patterns may not apply this year. “Home sales traditionally taper off toward the end of the year, but in September they surged beyond what we normally see during this season,” Yun said. “I would attribute this jump to record-low interest rates and an abundance of buyers in the marketplace, including buyers of vacation homes given the greater flexibility to work from home.” The combination of spiking buyer demand and an unusually low number of homes for sale means home buyers this fall should be prepared for summer-like conditions – with prices up, homes selling quickly, and potential competition for the best listings.

It's not surprising that the coronavirus had many economists, analysts, and experts expecting the housing market to suffer in 2020. Social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and fear were all expected to slow sales and put the brakes on what was originally forecast to be a hot spring/summer market. But since buyers bounced back faster than predicted, the housing market's outlook has gotten much brighter. For example, Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group's most recent outlook calls for annual home sales, mortgage origination volume, and home price growth all to significantly outpace their 2019 levels. Amid a historic pandemic, that's no small feat. Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae's chief economist and senior vice president, says supply – not demand – has turned out to be the big issue in 2020. “Housing continues its multi-year theme of historic supply constraints,” Duncan said. “Strong demand-side drivers, including low mortgage rates and a surge of millennials looking to purchase homes, are contributing to significant home price appreciation, particularly as many older homeowners continue to age in place and other would-be home-sellers adopt a more conservative posture due to COVID-19 concerns, further limiting supply.”