Morning Report: Sell City, Buy Country

Vital Statistics:

Stocks are higher this morning on stronger than expected overseas economic strength. Bonds and MBS are flat.

The upcoming week will be mainly about the jobs report. The Street is looking for 2MM jobs to be added in July, with unemployment expected to drop to 10.5%. Other than that, we will still have a lot of earnings reports to deal with.

“Sell City, Buy Country.” Mortgage Applications for suburban homes are surging as people flee the citites, according to the CEO of Caliber Home Loans. Health concerns, the ability to work from home, and the attraction of more space are the big drivers.

Speaking of real estate prices, home price appreciation in late July was up 11%, according to Redfin, which was the fastest home price appreciation since 2011. The sale-to-list ratio was 99%, the highest since 2012.

“One of the first things I have to do with many of my buyers here in Houston is educate them on the reality that many houses are selling for more than asking,” explained Houston Redfin agent Melanie Miller. “You can’t wait around for a price drop. Rather, homes that are priced right are receiving offers at or above full price within three days of being listed, so serious buyers need to be ready to act quickly.”

“The shortage of homes for sale makes people think ‘maybe I should wait until things get cooler’, but unless we start to see a huge surge of new listings, things aren’t going to cool down much,” said Dosch. “Even new construction is selling out faster than it is being built. The shortage has extended into rentals too. A lot of people are living with family and friends now because it’s too hard to enter the market.”

Zillow just announced that its workers are permitted to work from home indefinitely.

Author: Brent Nyitray

In the physical sciences, knowledge is cumulative. In the financial markets, it is cyclical View all posts by Brent Nyitray