The sharp rise in mortgage rates from May to July of this year presents an opportunity to reflect on the merits of one pillar of the US mortgage finance system; the 30-year fixed rate mortgage. The 30-year FRM has many positive and a few negative qualities, but its role in the U.S. system is central and provides consumers with multiple important benefits. Additional options and alternatives for a stable long-term financing product could only benefit the system, but it is important to maintain one that works.

Rising interest rates and home prices are blamed for a slight dip in the number of pending sales in June the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said today.  NAR's Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) slipped 0.4 percent to 110.9 in June compared to a revised index of 111.3 in May.  The May Index was originally reported at 12.1 percent but even with the downward revision it remains the highest PHSI since December 2006 when it was 112.8.   The June Index is 10.9 percent higher than in June 2012 when it was 100.0. 

Home buyers pay cash for their residences in Southwest Florida more than almost anywhere else in the nation, the result of market domination by deep-pocketed investors and cash-rich retirees.

Florida’s housing market continued to show increased strength in June, including more closed sales of single-family homes, more new listings, rising median prices and a reduced inventory of homes for sale, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®.

Home prices in Southwest Florida suffered their biggest monthly setback in nearly three years in June, signaling that not even the sector's robust recovery from the market's collapse is immune to an annual summer lull.

A sea change in the housing recovery is underway. Current homeowners are providing much of the buying power currently driving the housing market, while investors are continuing to lose steam in the face of rapidly escalating home prices. Those are some of the major findings contained in the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey results. Homeowners Surge, Investors Slump | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com