Black Knight, Inc.'s Mortgage Monitor Report for the month of May 2021 revealed that it was the month with the greatest single-month acceleration on record.
“The Black Knight HPI shows home prices in May up nearly 18% from the same time last year,” said Black Knight Data and Analytics president Ben Graboske. “Frankly, home values are appreciating at rates we've simply never seen before as low interest rates, ultra-scarce inventory and increasingly competitive homebuyers combine to create a truly unprecedented market.”
“Indeed, the rate of growth has been accelerating by more than 2% in each of the past two months, and May's 2.1% rise marked the sharpest monthly jump on record. Single-family home prices are up more than 18% from last May – also a record. And the growth has been widespread – home price appreciation accelerated in each of the nation's 100 largest metros in May, with even the slowest appreciating metro area now seeing at least 10% annual growth. Data from our Collateral Analytics Group suggests even further acceleration may be on tap, as the median sales price of single-family homes in the first three weeks of June was already up 25% year-over-year.”
According to the report, with tappable equity at record highs and interest rates remaining relatively low, cash-outs are starting to make up a larger share of refinance lending, especially with rate/term refis on the decline.
Additionally, nearly half of all tappable equity – the amount available to a homeowner with a mortgage to borrow against before hitting a maximum 80% combined loan-to-value (CLTV) ratio – is held by borrowers with current interest rates of 3.75% or higher, providing many homeowners with the opportunity to simultaneously reduce their interest rates while also tapping into record levels of available equity.
Read more about May's intense increase in home prices from the Mortgage Monitor Report.
