Prices were up 1.3% from April, and 4.6% from 12 months earlier.

New home sales increased 23.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 330,000 last month, up from an downwardly revised 267,000 in May.

This is slightly better than the annual rate of 310,000 economists were expecting.

Known as the “Homebuyers Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010,” the bill was passed by unanimous consent. The extension applies only to transactions that have ratified contracts in place as of April 30, 2010 that have not yet closed.

This legislation is designed to create a seamless extension, and the new closing deadline for eligible home sale transactions is now September 30, 2010. There will not be any gap between June 30 and the date the President signs the bill into law.

Mortgage company Freddie Mac said on Thursday June 24 that the average rate for 30-year fixed loans sank to 4.69 percent, from 4.75 percent the previous week.

This is the lowest since rate on 30-year fixed mortgages we’ve seen since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971. The previous record of 4.71 percent was set in December 2009.

Rates for 15-year and five-year mortgages also hit lows. Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to an average of 4.13 percent, the lowest on records dating to September 1991 and down from 4.2 percent a week earlier.  Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.84 percent, down from 3.89 percent a week earlier. That was also the lowest on Freddie Mac’s records, which only date back to January 2005.

As the cutoff to qualify for the federal tax credit looms on the horizon, Congress is considering an extension for homebuyers who are racing to close home sales in order to receive a federal tax credit.   

Experts in the  real estate industry warn that many buyers who rushed to buy homes to qualify for the tax credit may not close before the deadline, and this would result in home buyers losing out on thousands of dollars if lawmakers don’t act.

One of the major issues is that there are a large amount transactions that need to be completed, and the companies responsible for handling the sales, including mortgage lenders, appraisers and title insurers and real estate brokers, are struggling to keep up.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is within one one-hundredth of a percentage point of the 4.71% reported the week ending December 3, 2009, and if rates decline two one-hundredths of a percentage point, we’re back to the spring of 1956, when the average rate hit 4.68%, according to National Bureau of Economic Research statistics.

Rates for 15-year mortgages fell for the fourth straight week, to 4.17%, the lowest rate since Freddie Mac started tracking 15-year loans in 1991.

In addition to low mortgage rates, according to a recent BankRate.com article, some lenders are beginning to loosen their requirements for down payments.  The article discusses four types of mortgages that require small down payments, some with zero down options.  While these mortgages may have limited availability, they could be a sign of what’s to come.

The Commerce Department said construction spending rose 2.7 percent, the biggest advance since August 2000, to an annual rate of $869.1 billion. March’s increase was revised up to 0.4 percent from a 0.2 percent gain.

Experts in the housing industry predicited the rate to be 425,000 for the month, and April was the second straight month of an increase.

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales have jumped 7.6% in April. This brings the seasonally adjusted rate of 5.77 million units, the upwardly revised rate was up tp 5.36 million in March.  Year over Year existing home sales also jumped 22.8%. 

“The upswing in April existing-home sales was expected because of the tax credit inducement, and no doubt there will be some temporary fallback in the months immediately after it expires, but other factors also are supporting the market,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.