Housing Price Increase Slows Nationwide, Banks Losing Money on Mortgages

The rate of increase for the national median price of a home has slowed to a rate that hasn’t been seen since 2016. According to Realtor.com, the month-to-month median rose 2.56% in May, an increase of 0.9% relative to May of 2021. 

Here in Madison County, the median sale price continued to slide under the national average, with the local median at $314,500 compared to $441,000 nationally. While the national rate of median increase was at 0.9% in May, in Madison County, the rate of increase was only 0.2%. 

Interest rate fluctuations continued to impact the market, with 30-year fixed rate mortgages – assuming a down payment of 20% – costing borrowers an average of $296 more per month than in May of the previous year.

The dramatic shift in interest rates from 2021 to 2022 has been so wild that a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association says that many banks are actually losing money on mortgages. Banks lost an average of $301 per loan that they finalized in 2022, the first time that the MBA reported in the red since they began records in 2008. 

Consequently, these unusual conditions have continued to keep market activity relatively cool. The latest report from the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors (HAAR), dated to the week of June 10, shows that new listings for single-family units had decreased by 13.7% and pending sales were down by 3.4%. 

This downturn was more pronounced for townhouse/condo units, where new listings were down by 57.9%, and pending sales were down by 36.4%. 

However, inventory continued to rise, with a 30.5% increase in single-family units available, and a 2.9% increase in townhouse/condo units.