American Enterprise Institute
Key takeaways:
- Purchase volume continues to be strong, with week 26 running 36% above the same week in 2019 and at about the same level as in 2020.
- Despite higher mortgage rates than at the start of the year, supply constraints and Work from Home flexibilities are fueling the acceleration in HPA recently and projected through the summer.
- Prior to the pandemic homebuyer preferences had already made a shift out of urban centers into less dense areas, but the work-from-home explosion created by the pandemic has significantly accelerated this trend.
- The second/vacation home market trend in 2021 continues to run above the same weeks in 2019. Additionally, volume in ZIP codes with 20% or more vacation home share is now growing only 4% faster than the rest of the market since the pandemic.