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For this August edition, the Curated Content column includes articles to help your families prepare for getting the little ones Back-to-School. Then because it's the season -- and not the one we enjoy -- there are Hurricane Prep lists and guidelines so you'll be as safe as can be.
Finally, with Summer coming to a close next month, we feature articles on how to enjoy Summer's last few weeks. You'll find these under the caption, End of Summer Vibes. Of course we always like to include a few articles on Tips and Trends for your home as well.
Enjoy!
In the Events section, I've been looking forward to the Tammany Taste of Summer. Please get out and support our local restaurants this August 1-31. There are a lot of other events I've picked so I hope to see you around town at one or several of these.
ON THE REAL ESTATE FRONT
With sales being up 5.1% year-over-year this past June, we have seen a lot of activity in the Louisiana marketplace.
Here is additional data for Louisiana for the month June:
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Number of Homes Sold: increased 6.6% year-over-year
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Number of Homes for Sale: decreased 2.1% year-over-year
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Median Home Sales Price: increased 5.1% year-over-year
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Median Days on the Market: 52
In general, Lawrence Yun, the Chief Economist of the National Association of Realtors had these things to say about the present strength of the national real estate marketplace:
"The record high median home price highlights how American homeowners' wealth continues to grow—as a benefit of homeownership. The average homeowner's wealth has expanded by $140,900 over the past five years."
When it comes to what underscores the record high home prices, he considered how many years of undersupply may be the driving factor.
However, he also points out how home construction is woefully behind population growth.
He expounded upon this as follows:
"More supply is needed to increase the share of first-time homebuyers in the coming years even though some markets appear to have a temporary oversupply at the moment."
He closed with the theory that if interest rates were to come down, as many as 140,000 new homebuyers would be added to the market.
CURRENT MORTGAGE RATES AS OF JUNE 30:
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30-year Fixed - 6.76% [last month 6.75% and month before that 6.96%]
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15-year Fixed - 5.99% [last month 5.94% and month before that 6.23%]
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30-year FHA - 6.89% [last month 6.77% and month before that 6.45%]
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30-year Fixed V.A. - 7.14% [last month 6.84% and month before that 5.87%]
MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
Below, please find national real estate housing data and infographics from the National Association of Realtors. Keep reading to view the summary for the Louisiana market and in particular, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parishes.
We think you'll be most interested in what is happening here, but it helps to be aware of national market trends.
Please keep in mind that on the national level, data lags one month behind.
National Snapshot for the Month of June:
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Pending Sales - decreased -0.8% month-over-month [while in the regional South they decreased -0.7%]
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Existing Home Sales - decreased by -2.7% - month over month
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Home Prices - increased 2.0% - year over year
Ongoing Challenges:
- Fluctuating Interest Rates
- Economic Uncertainty
- Sellers Frozen Into Outgrown Homes Due to Low Interest Rate Lock-In
The month of June continued to trend toward a Buyer's Market with 4.7 months of Inventory.
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