Mortgage rates dipped for the second week in a row, but applications for mortgages stayed flat and for refinanced loans dropped.“Currently, higher rates, low inventory, and high prices are keeping prospective buyers out of the market,” Joel Kan, the associative vice president of economic and industry forecasting for the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in a statement.

High Mortgage Rates, Low Inventory

Rates continued to top what they have been over the last two years, with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.46%. That was down from 5.49%.

Applications for a new mortgage were flat compared to the week before and down 16% compared to a year ago. Refinancing applications have fallen in the nine of the last 10 weeks, Kan noted. Compared to January of 2022, mortgage refinancing is down 66%, he said.

Higher mortgage rates and soaring home prices left sales of new single-family homes at a two-year low in April. First-time buyers were forced out of the market. Sales dropped 16% to 591,000 homes, Reuters reported, even as there is record low housing inventory.

A similar trend prevailed with the sales of previously owned homes, which also fell to a two-year low in April.

Builders, facing shortages and higher prices, have been unable to begin construction on all of the homes already approved.

To help you stay current on the market, below is a weekly real estate market report for the Seattle metro area. Statistics are as of the four weeks ending May 22, 2022. Metros with more than 50 homes sold during this time period were considered for metro-level rankings for each statistic.

Median sales price

Seattle, WA metro area:
– Median sales price: $846,244
– One-year change: +16.7%

Metros with highest median sales price
#1. San Francisco, CA metro area: $1.7 million
#2. San Jose, CA metro area: $1.6 million
#3. Santa Cruz, CA metro area: $1.3 million

Metros with lowest median sales price
#1. Davenport, IA metro area: $125,062
#2. Carbondale, IL metro area: $126,650
#3. Cumberland, MD metro area: $130,188

Median sales price per square foot

Seattle, WA metro area:
– Median sales price per square foot: $488
– One-year change: +19.0%

Metros with highest median sales price per square foot
#1. San Francisco, CA metro area: $1,109
#2. San Jose, CA metro area: $970
#3. Kahului, HI metro area: $925

Metros with lowest median sales price per square foot
#1. Carbondale, IL metro area: $83
#2. Davenport, IA metro area: $86
#3. Peoria, IL metro area: $87

Sales to list price ratio

Seattle, WA metro area:
– Average sales to list price ratio: 1.08
– One-year change: +0.00

Metros with highest sales to list price ratio
#1. Rochester, NY metro area: 1.14
#2. Oakland, CA metro area: 1.13
#3. San Jose, CA metro area: 1.12

Metros with lowest sales to list price ratio
#1. Weirton, WV metro area: 0.95
#2. Carbondale, IL metro area: 0.96
#3. Greenville, OH metro area: 0.96

Homes Sold with Price Drops

Seattle, WA metro area:
– Homes sold with price drops: 5.2%
– One-year change: -1.0%

Metros with most homes sold with price drops
#1. The Villages, FL metro area: 28.1%
#2. New York, NY metro area: 27.2%
#3. Victoria, TX metro area: 25.7%

Metros with least homes sold with price drop
#1. Lake Charles, LA metro area: 0.0%
#2. Visalia, CA metro area: 0.0%
#3. Hanford, CA metro area: 0.0%

Off-market in Two Weeks

Seattle, WA metro area:
– Off market in two weeks: 86.7%
– One-year change: -0.7%

Metros with the most homes off market in two weeks
#1. Rochester, NY metro area: 88.2%
#2. Seattle, WA metro area: 86.7%
#3. Lancaster, PA metro area: 85.7%

Metros with the least homes off market in two weeks
#1. Morristown, TN metro area: 0.0%
#2. Urban Honolulu, HI metro area: 2.9%
#3. Oshkosh, WI metro area: 3.4%

Months of supply

Seattle, WA metro area:
– Months of supply: 4.2 months
– One-year change: +0.7 months

Metros with the most months of supply
#1. Lake Charles, LA metro area: 28.0 months
#2. New York, NY metro area: 17.8 months
#3. Atlantic City, NJ metro area: 17.5 months

Metros with least months of supply
#1. Crestview, FL metro area: 2.6 months
#2. Portland, ME metro area: 2.9 months
#3. Lewiston, ME metro area: 3.0 months

This story originally appeared on ZeroDown and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio, it has been republished with permission. The Auburn Examiner has not independently verified its content.

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