Today’s News Synopsis:

Freddie Mac reported mortgage rates increased again after five weeks of decline with 30-year rates now at 4.03% and 15-year rates at 3.27%.  The National Association of Realtors reported a 0.8% decrease in pending home sales as prices are increasing and houses are becoming less readily available.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are said to be profitable after following years of hardship after the financial crisis.

In The News:

Realty Trac – “Home Sellers Realized Average Price Gain of $44,000 in First Quarter of 2017, Highest Since Q3 2007” (4-27-2017)

“ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s largest multi-sourced property database, today released its Q1 2017 U.S. Home Sales Report, which shows that homeowners who sold in the first quarter realized an average price gain of $44,000 since purchase, representing an average 24 percent return on the purchase price — the highest average price gain for home sellers in terms of both dollars and percent returns since Q3 2007.”

Freddie Mac – “Mortgage Rates Increase After Weeks of Decline” (4-27-2017)

“Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS^®), showing average mortgage rates rising for the first time in five weeks.”

CNBC – “Too few listings pinch real estate in March; pending home sales slip 0.8%” (4-27-2017)

“High prices and tight supply are taking the wind out of home sales.  A monthly measure of signed contracts to buy existing homes slipped 0.8 percent in March from February.”

Bloomberg – “Fannie and Freddie, Back in the Black” (4-27-2017)

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were among the biggest disasters of the financial crisis. In September 2008, nine days before Lehman Brothers failed, the federal government took over the mortgage companies; it eventually spent more than $187 billion bailing them out.”

Realtor.com – “Home Owned by the Last Man on the Moon Lands on Market in Houston” (4-27-2017)

“The family of the late NASA astronaut Gene Cernan—the last man on the moon—has put his 6,067-square-foot, Houston-area mansion on the market for $2.55 million.”

DS News – “Treasury Secretary Approves of Financial CHOICE” (4-27-2017)

“Following Wednesday’s Financial Services Committee hearing on the Financial CHOICE Act, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin released a statement on Thursday supporting the act.”

Mansion Global – “Hamptons Luxury Real Estate Continued Softening in First Quarter of 2017” (4-27-2017)

“The real estate market in the Hamptons remained “soft at the top,” with the number of sales over $5 million hitting the lowest point in more than three years in the first quarter of this year, according to Douglas Elliman’s first quarter market report published Thursday.”

Redfin – “Redfin Report: Trump Appointee Home Purchases Contribute to 33 Percent Price Surge in D.C.’s Luxury Market” (4-27-2017)

“Luxury home prices rose 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 2016, to an average of $1.65 million, according to the latest luxury housing market report by Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation real estate brokerage.”