Even though mortgage brokers and homebuilders report stronger home sales in the Southeast, mortgage financing remains short of demand in the region for October, according to senior analyst Whitney Mancuso of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
With the housing market in Southeast bumping along the bottom for a long time, the increase in sale gains and new home sales on a year-over-year basis indicates the market is turning positive. The lack of financing, however, does remain a headwind.
Click on the graph for October homes sales for builders and brokers compared to the previous year.
The availability of mortgage finance for homebuyers in the market was more than 50% short of demand, according to builders and brokers in the region.
Click on the graph to view accessibility of mortgage finance in the market.
Available credit also fell short of demand in regards to accessing finance for construction development. More than 80% of homebuilders perceived construction development challenging as a result of credit shortfall.
Click on the graph to view the construction development finance in the market.
Home inventories continue to decline from a year-over-year basis, with home prices increasing in October. This also indicates that home prices improved from last year. As a result, homebuyer traffic is ahead of last year levels and is expected to rise throughout the rest of the year.
Click on the graph to view homebuyer traffic levels compared to a year ago.
The results posted are based on responses from 58 residential brokers and 25 homebuilders throughout the region, according to the Atlanta Fed’s SouthPoint blog.
