Across the nation, home sales are down 3% according to the National Association of Realtors.
For the month of April existing home sales put an end to two straight months of gains. There was a 3.3% drop in existing home sales here in the west.
What does this mean for the consumer?
With what the NAR (National Association of Realtors) calls “staggering low inventories” is the main cause in the drop-in numbers. Another reason for the drop-in sales is that the median home price went up. The median home price in April 2018 was 257,900, that’s a 5.3% increase from the 245,000 just one year ago. Keep in mind these stats are “national”, this does not reflect Denver’s current market. Denver’s market median home price for a single-family home has reached $500k, per the Denver Business Journal.
Anyone looking to buy may have noticed this trend here in Colorado, and this stresses the importance of getting pre-approved for a mortgage loan so the home buying process can be expedited as fast as possible. Basically, consumers must move fast and furious to compete in this housing market. We are typically seeing properties staying on the market for an average of 17 days in March in the price range of $200-400k. As a point of reference check out 9 News article recently updated on May 1, 2018.
If you are a sports fan we have all heard the saying “speed kills”, well this saying is more prevalent in today’s real estate market. The immense importance of moving quickly and having a pre-approval from a lender will go a long way in securing the house of your dreams.
Many lenders are offering a quick and expedited process for mortgage loans, including ourselves. We have rolled out our Express Lane Approval program. Express Lane Approval is our new streamlined loan approval process. Through our strong partnership with Fannie Mae, we have been granted the ability to leverage the industry-leading technology within their Day 1 Certainty platform while expanding its reach to additional programs and adding our unique level of service to the borrower experience. At its core, Express Lane Approval allows virtually all employment, income, and asset validation to be completed electronically instead of gathering and submitting numerous documents that you gather and provide to us. An Underwriter will still have to review your information; however, when it is obtained electronically, the review time can be significantly reduced. All of this adds up to a faster closing with less hassle on your part!
Now I know what you are thinking, “Isn’t this the kind of lending that tanked the housing market back in the mid-2000’s, and that’s a valid concern. On the surface, I can understand why it looks that way. However, this time is a very different approach to reducing the need for paperwork. Previously, borrowers didn’t have to provide documentation because of the loan programs that allowed loan approvals with no evidence or validation of financial means to make the payments. This time around, we’re simply using electronic means to securely verify the information on your loan application. The loan programs are the same as if you provided everything in one big stack of paperwork…we’re just modernizing the process to reduce paperwork and obtain the same information digitally.
The importance of quickly and accurately gathering information to get you pre-approved for a home loan is what we are about here at the Mortgage Maestro group. We want you to have a chance to compete in the current market and are rolling out all the tools that we have at our disposal. If you are interested in learning more or this or any of our available programs, please contact us at (303)799-0591.
