Mortgage demand drops further as interest rates shoot back to June high
The Storyy Real Estate and Mortgage Trend Report 09/7/22
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Before we dive into mortgage demand and interest rates, Starbucks has officially brought back its Pumpkin Spice Latte for fall! Starbucks sells over 20 million cups of the iconic fall drink every year. Making it one of Starbucks’ most popular drinks.
First-time homebuyers are taking their power back.
As the housing market continues to cool, savvy buyers are seizing the opportunity to save themselves some hard-earned cash. They’re bringing contingencies back, asking sellers to make costly repairs, and even—gasp—submitting offers for less than the asking price of a home. Sellers, eager to go under contract, are not giving these offers serious consideration. They’re also increasingly coming to the bargaining table.
Make no mistake: It’s still a seller’s market. Home prices are ratcheting up as there are far more buyers searching for homes than there are properties to go around.
However, higher mortgage rates combined with record-high home prices have doused the frenzy in the housing market. As many first-time and other buyers have been pushed beyond their financial limits, the number of home sales has plummeted. Sellers are more likely to reduce their asking price in many markets than they are to field all-cash offers in bidding wars.
It’s the owners of homes that have been on the market for a while who are more likely to compromise, especially if they need to sell fast. Buyers have the advantage when negotiating a deal for homes where they won’t encounter much competition. These are the fixer-uppers, the oddly configured homes, and the homes in less desirable locations such as busy streets.
Once buyers find a place they’re interested in, here are some winning moves they can make in the current market.
Sellers who need to relocate or finance the purchase of a new home may be the most willing to cut a deal. That could include a willingness to accept an offer below the asking price if their property has been sitting on the market.
Please, whatever you do, do not waive the home inspection. That recently renovated bungalow or newly constructed McMansion might be everything you ever wanted in a home. But a fresh coat of paint and a well-placed rug can hide a multitude of problems. A professional home inspector can identify issues that could cost tens of thousands of dollars to fix later.
Sales of newly constructed homes have plunged as higher mortgage rates are pushing these generally more expensive abodes out of the financial reach of many buyers. Sales dropped about 30% in July compared with a year ago, according to government data. That has builders spooked—so much so, that many are willing to cut a deal.
In June the average rate on the 30-year fixed shot over 6% briefly. And that was enough to turn the once-hot housing market on its heels. Rates pulled back in July and August, but the damage was already done. Now rates are heading past 6% yet again, causing already beleaguered mortgage demand to fall even further.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) increased to 5.94% last week from 5.80% the previous week. For loans with a 20% down payment, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That was the weekly average, but there were a few days when the rate rose above 6% on another survey from Mortgage News Daily.
“Mortgage rates moved higher over the course of last week as markets continued to re-assess the prospects for the economy and the path of monetary policy. With expectations for short-term rates to move and stay higher for longer,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA senior vice president and chief economist.
As a result, mortgage applications to refinance a home loan fell another 1% for the week and were 83% lower than the same week one year ago. Mortgage rates were just below 3% one year ago and were at record lows for the better part of 2021. So there are very few people now who have not already refinanced to a much lower rate than is available today.
Instagram is testing new settings for users to control what kind of content they see on the platform.
In a blog post, Meta says its tests include the ability to select multiple posts and mark them using the “not interested” button. This is supposed to flag to the app that a user doesn’t want to see similar content. Currently, users can click into an individual post to flag it, but there’s no way to do that at scale.
Instagram will also soon start testing a way for users to make a list of keywords, phrases, emojis, and hashtags. This will be for recommended posts that they’re not interested in and that they don’t want to see. TikTok rolled out a similar keyword-based feature in June. It already gave users the ability to “dislike” videos to steer their algorithm towards more of what they want to see.
The new controls on Instagram come shortly after users revolted over changes piling up on the platform. Apart from a flood of Reels, many Instagram users were upset by the amount of recommended content appearing on their feeds from accounts they don’t follow. Something Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said will only increase going forward.
Don’t Worry Darling is a 2022 film directed by Olivia Wilde and starring Harry Styles, Florence Pugh and Chris Pine. Billed as a sci-fi mystery thriller, it takes place in the 1950s. And sees a married couple played by Styles and Pugh moving into a seemingly ideal community. They thought the area is defined by its very traditional gender roles, only to find that all is not what it appears to be.[1]
The film gained notoriety in the summer of 2022 because of purported on-set drama and tensions involving Styles, Pugh, and Wilde. This quickly became a subject of memes and speculations from fans and detractors around the internet.
The memes coming from the movie are either about the drama it’s self, or using clips from the film or promotion of the movie. This includes the recent spit-gate between Harry Styles and Chris Pine.
I Wanna Go Home is a song performed by a girl that became a TikTok sound in 2022. Video creators used it to showcase a situation, setting/action that would make them want to go home instead of being out. The original video comes from a Nigerian gospel group called Destined Kids and their song “It’s a Holiday.”
To use the trend, put the sound over a video of something that frustrates, concerns, or makes you angry. Keep it fun and relatable!
The memes around Cbat and the viral Reddit post have sent the song to the top of the Viral 50 on Spotify.
You only get one shot at a first impression. Which is why the beginning of your video is the most important part. You only have 3 seconds on average to hook your audience.
Luckily for you, we developed a list of the most effective video hooks to help you stand out on social media. You can download the list here
Storyy