Welcome to the Weekly Mortgage Update! Hope you’ve been enjoying your summertime as we are already halfway thru the season and will be headed into fall before we know it! Of course, the winding down of summertime signals the start of school and so a BIG HUGE Thank You for your donations to the Grace Klein School Supply Drive! Got a Big donation full of backpacks, notebooks rulers and more, from friend of the weekly update, Randy, to close out the donation window. Thank you for your support!

ALSO, before we get to the update, reminder that we have a FANTASTIC network of trusted, locally owned, and operated resources to connect you to in order to help at your house. If it’s to fix your roof with a real roofer (not one of those random calls and texts), or plumbing, painting, or electrical or more, you can reach out to us to help connect you to someone to help, don’t just roll the dice when you can call us!  Now, back to the update. This week, rates bounced around and worsened some, but we’re hoping for improvement in the coming weeks. The rates are shown just above the trivia question. If you have questions about how these rates apply to your situation, let's talk. But as usual, there is LOTS GOING ON, SO LET’S GET STARTED!

CRAZY STORY


There was a big fight last week that led to the retirement of one of the combatants once they were hurt, but we’re NOT talking about the Connor McGregor fight… we’re talking a little more Real Steel.

In Shenzhen, China, the world's first free-combat tournament for full-sized humanoid robots kicked off, (dad joke) and things got wild fast. The two robot combatants were introduced as being named White Eagle and Matador. Once they squared off White Eagle landed a high kick that sent Matador's head rocking loose. The head kept swinging until Matador finally collapsed, crushing its own head underneath its body. Matador tried to get back up, but its head popped clean off and rolled away while the fight continued around it.

White Eagle didn't miss a beat. It broke into a celebration dance, flexed for the crowd, and kept its fists up while Matador was carried off, still doing a little victory shimmy.

The tournament, called URKL, (not necessarily a nod to Urkel of Family Matters fame) was organized by robotics company EngineAI. They had 32 teams competing using the company's T800 robots. The season runs through the year, with a championship belt worth over a million dollars on the line. With The Notorious, Connor McGregor hurt, may be time for the UFC to move over and make room for a NEW fighting division that can’t blow out their knee… their head is a different story… does anyone have a screwdriver and a soldering iron? Keep reading below.

We've had several close calls in the history of space exploration, but few from as famous of a mission as this one. After five bidders battled it out at a Sotheby's auction, a simple felt-tip pen that astronaut Buzz Aldrin used to fix a broken circuit breaker during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission just sold for $857,600. The pen and the broken switch it fixed came straight from Aldrin's own collection. Aldrin used the pen to push the circuit breaker back into place after it snapped off, which was LITERALLY the difference between coming home and being stranded on the moon. How Staples and Office Depot haven’t used this in their ads, I don’t know, but this pen saved a mission and made history. Gang, this time it's hard to call it overpaying.

You could try to get this one, but then you need to remember that Yoda said, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” This one is worth it... to the right collector. The lightsaber used by Mark Hamill in The Empire Strikes Back just sold for $3.75 million at Heritage Auctions, making it the most expensive piece of screen used memorabilia ever sold from a movie in that franchise. This isn't just any prop. It's the lightsaber from the iconic scene where (SPOILER ALERT) Darth Vader reveals he's Luke's father, one of the most famous moments in all of cinematic history. The previous record was set by a starfighter model that sold for a little over $3 million back in 2023. At that price, our editors hope that whoever bought this knows it’s a movie prop, and not an ACTUAL lightsaber. Regardless, they're buying a piece of pop culture from “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”

REAL ESTATE TO BEHOLD



We have some TRULY amazing houses last week, especially from an aggregate dollars and cents standpoint, with a listing for $400 Million, 100 million, 72 million and 50 million. SO, our editors wanted to start this week with a more unique leaning list.

A new book called Weird Buildings rounds up some of the strangest and most imaginative structures on the planet, from a Portuguese house squeezed between four giant boulders to a New York roadside shop shaped like a giant duck. There's even a house in Lebanon built to look exactly like an airplane, complete with portholes and wings. None of these are on the market, but they are proof that when it comes to real estate, normal is optional. Sometimes the best investment is just having the guts to build something nobody has ever seen before. Check them out and let us know which is your favorite!

Speaking of unique, this North Carolina estate that is a French Chateau in the Carolina Countryside, and gang, it does not disappoint. This 251-acre estate has breathtaking panoramic vistas and views, and it is listed for $29,900,000. The property comes with 8 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, and 16,000 square feet of living space. Built in 2008, the home is loaded with details you would expect from actual chateaus, including hardwood and marble floors, coffered ceilings, an elevator, a wet bar, and four fireplaces scattered throughout the home. Outside you will find a private pool, a landscaped courtyard, and even a guest house. But the real showstopper is the land itself. The estate includes an active solar farm, hay fields, cattle, and full equestrian facilities, plus room for a private vineyard, making the property genuinely income producing and capable of off grid living. There is even parking for 13 vehicles. It could practically be completely self-sufficient. Somewhere in France, ACTUAL chateaus are feeling a little jealous, or as they say in the Parisian Countryside, “un peu jaloux!” Click to see more, below. 

This next one caused some major confusion across our editors. One editor was expressing some EXUBERANCE about getting property on the Island of Rum, only to find out that the actual name is ISLE of RUM and has very, Very, VERY little Caribbean influence. Kinloch Castle, a Victorian era former hunting lodge on the tiny Scottish island of Rum, is back on the market for offers over 750,000 British pounds. The island only has about 40 residents, and the government agency selling it wants the new owner to help support the local community and nature, not just fix up the building. No sunshine and cocktails here, just misty mountains and a whole lot of history. Click below to see more! 

Finally, ummmm, not 100% sure how to introduce this next one, so we will keep it straightforward. Hell is for sale. Hell, Michigan, a popular tourist stop near Pinckney, just went up for sale for $625,000. The listing includes just over seven acres, two buildings, and the mini golf course that makes the town famous (sounds like the perfect course for my golf game.) Despite the sign out front, locals say Hell is still open for business and welcoming visitors. Somebody is about to become the proud new owner of Hell, and THAT is a side hustle that MAY get attention on LinkedIn. Click below to read more! 

THE ECONOMY AND REAL ESTATE

You’re going to see some headlines about the all-time highest sales price for houses, but there is a silver lining. Existing home sales fell 2.4% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 4.09 million units, and the median home price hit a record $440,600, which you would have ASSUMED would have caused a deepening affordability challenge squeeze tied to high mortgage rates and tight inventory. But here's the twist. Even with prices at an all-time high, housing affordability actually improved year over year for the first time in more than a year. Wages grew nearly twice as fast as home prices, and the average 30-year mortgage rate dipped to 6.49% from 6.82% a year earlier, which combined to ease the squeeze for qualifying buyers. So, the headline sounds scary, but the real story is a little more encouraging.

Alabama residents are buying homes more often than they have in recent years. The Alabama Association of Realtors Economic and Real Estate Report, released July 20, shows home buying rates across the state have increased for five months straight, hitting their highest monthly level since December 2022. Alabama recorded 7,138 home sales in June, up 2.9% from May and 6.2% higher than the same time last year. Total dollar volume sold in June reached $2.33 billion, a 6.4% jump from May and 25.3% more than a year ago.

Alabama Association of Realtors economist Evan Moore said mortgage rates remain well below where they were a year ago, and with listings and new home permits climbing, sales are expected to rise again in July.



The median home price hit $282,139, up 1.1% from May and 13.2% year over year. Moore noted that price growth has slowed the last two months, suggesting buyers are watching costs more closely, and he expects prices to hold steady in July. Active listings reached a post pandemic high of 21,681, and new home permits kept climbing too, up 13.8% from a year ago.

Speaking of housing, we wanted to close this week with something inspired from our friends at Keeping Current Matters. It touches on something we're seeing here in the Birmingham market too. It was titled More Homes, Better Prices: A Buyer's Summer. Keep reading the summary from KCM below.

If you've been house hunting the past few years, you probably ran into two problems: prices that kept climbing and not enough homes to pick from. This summer, both of those problems are easing up in a lot of places.



Sellers Are Pricing To Attract Buyers:

According to Realtor.com, the national median asking price was $430,000 in June, almost $11,000 lower than the year before. That's the eighth month in a row asking prices have come in under where they were the year before.

This is not a warning sign of a crash. These are asking prices, not sold prices. It just means sellers are pricing smart from the start instead of listing high and cutting later. Realtor.com's chief economist, Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com, said,

“Sellers are reading market conditions and are pricing accordingly from the start rather than listing high and cutting later, and buyers are taking note and making bids. This is a welcome sign that we are in a functioning market."

More Homes Are Available Now

If you've watched homes disappear before you could even schedule a tour, this part is for you. June had the highest number of homes listed for sale in three years, which means more options and less competition for each one.

Supply isn't fully back to normal everywhere, but in a lot of places it's better than it's been in a while. You don't have to rush an offer just to stay in the race, and you have better odds of finding the right home instead of just the available one.

Why This Is Encouraging if You're Buying Your First Home

These trends line up especially well for first-time buyers eyeing lower-priced homes. Zillow's chief economist points out the lowest price tiers are softening on price while also seeing the most growth in listings, the first time that's happened since 2022.

Bottom Line

If a tight budget or a thin selection has kept you from buying a home, now might be the time to restart your search. Ready to see what's available? Let's connect.

RATES:

Pricing and rates remain erratic and volatile. Confirm rates & pricing directly with your loan officer.

Check out the trivia below and remember, there is a drawing to enter to win a gift card. This is your chance to enter for a chance to win the gift card awarded every other month. This trivia question is for the July & August drawing/card.

TRIVIA QUESTION

Until further notice, our trivia questions are going to come from the phenomenal podcast Acquired, which has become our chief editor's favorite current listen. This week's question comes from their incredible episodes on Nintendo.

You may not know that Nintendo is a 137-year-old company. Founded in 1889, it began as a handmade playing card company. It wasn't until nearly a century later that Nintendo became the company we know today through Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and the Switch.

Before being all in on the electronic gaming industry, Nintendo was involved with which of the following businesses?

A. Owning the Seattle Mariners

B. Vacuum cleaners

C. A taxi company

D. Instant rice

E. All of the above

F. None of the above

Click here to EMAIL ME YOUR ANSWER.

**Email your answer to me to have your name entered in a drawing for a gift card at the beginning of even months and YES you can go back and answer previous weeks’ questions if you have not answered them already AND if we have not unveiled the answer yet***