A serious dearth of inventory is making the prospect of home shopping and homebuying too daunting for a majority of Americans today, according to Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey. In fact, consumers' pessimism toward homebuying conditions in April set a survey record.

Realtor.com reports that the number of new home sellers rose in April compared to last year, when most cities had shelter-in-place orders in effect. However, with the number of new listings still nearly 26% below pre-pandemic levels, buyers saw little relief as the median U.S. home listing price moved 17.2% year-over-year to a new high of $375,000 and homes sold in just 43 days.

If Q1 was any indication, the housing market is experiencing a great start to the new year, as the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has forecast that purchase originations are on track to grow 16.4% to a new record of $1.67 trillion.

Home sales in March rose by one-third over February's totals, and the demand from homebuyers drove the median sales price up above $300,000 for the first time in the history of a report published by RE/MAX Holdings, franchisor of real estate brokerage services.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has reported that independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks made an average profit of $4,202 on each loan originated in 2020, a $1,470 increase per loan over 2019’s totals.

Black Knight’s latest Home Price Index has found home prices up 11.6% in February, hitting their highest annual rate in more than 15 years. Also rising at an equally-paced clip, median single-family sales prices rose 15.9% year-over-year in February. The rise in home prices, along with the uptick in mortgage rates, has driven affordability to its lowest point since mid-2019.

Considering recent reports revealing just how competitive one must be to purchase a home in most parts of the country it should come as little surprise that Redfin just reported that homes today are selling faster than any time in recorded home-selling history.

For the ninth consecutive month, more than half of all offers authored by Redfin real estate agents faced a competing bid, according to a monthly survey by Redfin.

Historically, buying has always been a better investment than renting, but that may no longer be the case—one of several highlights from the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center.

People who were hesitant to buy a home in 2020 seem to be feeling more confident, according to a study conducted by the Harris Poll in December for NerdWallet. In fact, around 26 million Americans plan on purchasing their first home within the next five years.