July 10, 2020
- To keep up with the rapid changes COVID-19 is causing in the economy and housing market, the realtor.com® economics team provides a weekly video update on the relevant real estate and economic information you need to know to navigate the housing market in these challenging times.
- This week, Senior Economist George Ratiu talks about the latest jobless claims numbers which show slight improvement. He also mentions the increase in May’s job openings, and the change in consumer credit.
- George offers an overview of this week’s housing data, as buyers return to markets amid record low mortgage rates. He mentions Freddie Mac’s 3.03 percent rate for a fixed-rate 30-year loan and the bump in mortgage applications.
- George talks about the continuing decline in inventory which is driving price growth at a faster pace than the pre-pandemic period. He discusses realtor.com® trends on total listings, sourced from the Weekly Housing Trends View, and highlights the latest Housing Market Recovery Index, with insights from Javier Vivas, which shows real estate markets rebounding from lock-down lows.
- For more real-time updates, follow the realtor.com economics team on twitter: @rdc_economics.
- Have an economic question you want the team to answer? Leave a note in the comments below!
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
- Hi – I’m George Ratiu, Senior Economist with realtor.com. Here are this week’s updates on the economy and real estate markets.
- On the economy front, new jobless claims totaled 1.3 million this past week, a slight improvement over last week. Just as importantly, the number of Americans continuing to draw unemployment benefits eased from 19.5 million to 18.1 million. Even with the improvements, unemployment remains a major challenge for the economy.
- A report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that job openings increased in May from the prior month, as businesses began reopening, but the number remains well below the level before the pandemic.
- This week we also learned that the steep decline in April’s consumer credit slowed in May. Revolving credit, like credit cards continued dropping, while non-revolving credit, like auto and student loans, rose.
- Housing data this week showed buyers returning to markets, looking to move into the new normal while taking advantage of historically low mortgage rates.
- Freddie Mac’s mortgage rates reached a new record low this week, dropping to 3.03 percent for the 30-year fixed loan.
- With rates this low, mortgage applications rose 2.2% from the prior week, with gains in both purchase and refinance applications.
- Realtor.com’s weekly indicated buyer demand is outpacing sellers bringing properties to market.
- The number of homes for sale dropped by 31% even as the decline in New listings slowed.
- Extremely tight inventory is accelerating price growth to a stronger pace than seen pre-pandemic.
- The Realtor.com Housing Market Recovery Index reached 97.8 nationwide, the largest weekly increase since the index was introduced and just 2.2 points below the pre-COVID baseline.
- The summer is seeing a wave of buyers coming to market. Will there be enough sellers and inventory? Stay tuned for next week’s update from the Economics team and if you have any questions about the economy and housing, ask them in the Comments section below.
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