Some exciting new companies are being formed as we speak.”I'm a freelance writer and journalist from Houston, covering real estate, mortgage and finance topics. Forecasts from Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association back this up, both predicting 2020 rates within this range. See my current work in Forbes, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, TheI'm a freelance writer and journalist from Houston, covering real estate, mortgage and finance topics. Sometimes known simply as the interest rate, the Bank of England base rate influences how much banks and other lenders charge you to borrow money, and how much interest is paid on your savings.. In May alone, applications to purchase a home jumped 26%. “As first-time buyers lock-in these historically amazing rates and existing owners refinance—in droves in recent months, everyone will stay put and not sell. At the same time. These 2020 – 2021 mortgage rate forecasts are partly the result of actions taken by the Federal Reserve. Last month’s residential construction report from the Census Bureau saw building permits and housing starts both increase over the year. “But in this crisis, it took less than 10 weeks.”To be fair, refinancing is going strong, too. It’s no wonder, either. And slowly but surely, it is breathing new life into small towns outside of major urban hubs.”The Urban Land Institute recently named Hipsturbia as one of its top real estate trends to watch in 2020.As the report explains, “If the live-work-play formula could revive inner cities a quarter-century ago, there is no reason to think that it will not work in suburbs with the right bones and the will to succeed.”The mortgage and real estate spheres have been moving away from their manual, paper-laden processes in recent years, and 2020 will only see that trend expand further—especially as more tech-savvy Millennials enter the market.As Hundtofte explains, “In 2020, we’ll continue to see Millennials growing their share of the mortgage market, which in turn, will serve as a catalyst to lenders to continue to rapidly innovate their technology offerings to meet the expectations of an audience more accustomed to an Amazon, Venmo-like experience.”Though plenty of tech offerings already exist—from e-signing and e-notary software to fully-digital mortgage applications, automated income verification and more—Hundtofte says we’ll probably see these solutions start teaming up in the new year.“Rather than compete with each other, we’ll see companies combining technologies across the board, from startups partnering with startups to startups partnering with legacy institutions,” he says.Aaron Block, the co-founder of MetaProp—a venture capital fund focusing solely on real estate technology—says to keep an eye on the Airbnb and WeWork brands specifically in this regard.On WeWork’s recent IPO blunder, Block says, “One major positive outcome of this year's ‘DiePO’ is the plethora of ‘proptech’ innovation talent hitting the street.
Sean Hundtofte, chief economist for online mortgage lender Better.com, says that thanks to these continued low rates, refinancing should remain a popular choice in the new year.
Freddie Mac predicts even higher numbers.“The low mortgage rate environment led to a surge in refinance mortgage originations in the first half of 2020,” the company’s latest housing forecast reads. More Forecast | … Here’s what they say is in store for the year to come:Mortgage rates currently sit at 3.75%, according to Freddie Mac’s most recent numbers—nearly a 1% difference from the monthly average a year ago. Unemployment is near 50-year lows, the stock market was at all-time highs before its historic slide the week of February 24. Those clocked in at an average rate of just 2.59% this week.Despite the bargain-basement rates, though, mortgage activity actually declined in recent days. ET ... according to this forecast. According to Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president of economist and industry forecasting, it’s more likely a side effect of tightening housing supply.“One factor that may potentially crimp growth in the months ahead is that the release of pent-up demand from earlier this spring is clashing with the tight supply of new and existing homes on the market,” Kan says. It was the lowest level of refinance activity in three weeks.Fortunately, it doesn’t appear the slide is an ominous trend just yet. Meanwhile, shares of Baby Boomer and Gen X mortgage activity declined. Data from Arch MI shows the chance of home price declines at a mere 11% for the next two years. And for homebuyers, he says, they’ll “be able to afford more house than they would have otherwise.”Home prices will continue their climb upward, according to experts, largely thanks to tight inventory and high demand.According to the latest home price forecast from property data firm CoreLogic, home prices should tick up by 5.6% by next September—up from the just 3.5% jump we saw this year.As Daryl Fairweather, chief economist for real estate brokerage Redfin, explains, “Right now we aren’t seeing a ton of new listings. Mortgage rates hit a 50-year low today at 3.125% for prime borrowers; “The low mortgage rate environment led to a surge in refinance mortgage originations in the first half of 2020,” the company’s latest housing forecast reads. Rock-bottom mortgage rates are causing a surge in mortgage refinances, so much so that the industry's largest trade group is revising sharply higher its origination forecasts for the year.