Interesting Article

Below is an excerpt from an article written by Eric Schroeder that appeared in the Inside Lending newsletter.

INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE...Increasingly, the wrong thing for consumers to do is to stay out of the housing market. In many locales, owning a home is now less expensive than renting. Rents are rising and vacancies falling, according to a report that tracked leasing data across the country. For the second quarter, rents rose in all but two of 82 markets, while vacancies dropped in 72 of them, sending the vacancy rate to 6%, its lowest level since 2008. Another report showed rental listing prices up 6.7% nationally in June versus a year ago.

Meanwhile, national average mortgage rates got pushed down some more, thanks to the prior week's disappointing jobs report. And the Mortgage Bankers Association reported demand for purchase loans was at about the same level as a year ago, although down a tad from the week before.