A federal judge rejected a request from housing groups on Friday to block the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest eviction moratorium, but the legal fights are far from over.

Led by the Alabama and Georgia associations of REALTORS®, with the National Association of REALTORS®’ support, the plaintiffs are expected to take their case back to appeals court, arguing that the government has overextended its legal authority with a nationwide eviction moratorium that has put housing providers at financial risk.

The recent motion made by housing groups called for the courts to immediately end the eviction ban but received a setback on Friday when U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Dabney Friedrich denied the request. But upon a closer look at her ruling, the denial was “on technical, procedural grounds, but the court confirmed its opinion that the CDC is unlikely to succeed on the merits,” NAR said in a statement. “In the ruling, the Judge said her hands are ‘tied’ by a prior D.C. Circuit Court decision that came down before a majority of the Supreme Court made its views known about the unlawfulness of the moratorium. We are confident in our position that this unlawful eviction ban will soon come to an end.”

In previous court rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court has warned that the moratorium was on legally shaky ground and could not be extended without congressional authorization with new legislation. Lawmakers attempted a last-minute request on July 30 to try to extend the nationwide eviction moratorium before the original expired on July 31 but failed to gain enough traction, resulting in the ban expiring. However, the CDC immediately issued a new order that runs until Oct. 3.

Find rental assistance resources at nar.realtor as well as state-by-state eviction moratorium laws.

The CDC’s Latest Ban

The CDC’s latest eviction moratorium was met with controversy as soon as it was introduced. Housing providers argue they’ve faced more than a year of unpaid rent. They’ve blamed moratoriums, which the CDC first put in place last September, for costing them more than $13 billion per month in unpaid rent.

The CDC’s current moratorium applies only to areas with high COVID-19 transmission. But that still covers about 90% of renters in the country, and coverage could increase to 100% with higher rates of infection.

Soon after the new moratorium was announced, the Alabama and Georgia state REALTOR® associations, along with two housing providers and their property management companies, filed an emergency motion in federal court to block enforcement of the extension. Read more about the legal challenges in NAR’s Washington Report.

Rental Assistance Still Available

As lawsuits loom, NAR is urging swifter distribution of the $45 billion in rental assistance, which is available in every state. So far, only about $4.2 billion has been allocated, according to a recent analysis by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has debuted a new tool to apply for rental assistance.

“About half of all housing providers are mom-and-pop operators, and without rental income, they cannot pay their own bills or maintain their properties,” NAR President Charlie Oppler said in a statement in early August. “NAR has always advocated that the best solution for all parties is rental assistance paid directly to housing providers to cover the rent and utilities of any vulnerable tenants during the pandemic. No housing provider wants to evict a tenant and considers it only as a last resort.”

For additional updates, visit nar.realtor/rental-assistance.

Mortgage rates inched up slightly from their near all-time lows this week. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.87%, Freddie Mac reported.

“Following last Friday’s strong jobs report, which revealed broad based gains in employment and wage growth, mortgage rates are moving higher,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “After dropping for six consecutive weeks, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased by 10 basis points week over week. Despite the rise, rates remain very low, particularly given that economic growth is strong and will continue into next year.”

While mortgage rates remain at historical lows, the National Association of REALTORS® predicts rates will rise modestly in upcoming months as the economy continues to recover. NAR predicts that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reaches a 3% average for 2021.

Freddie Mac reported the following national averages for the week ending Aug. 12:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.87%, with an average 0.7 point, rising from last week’s 2.77% average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 2.96%.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.15%, with an average 0.7 point, increasing from last week’s 2.10% average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 2.46%.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.44%, with an average 0.3 point, increasing from last week’s 2.40% average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.90%.

Freddie Mac reports average commitment rates along with average points to better reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining a mortgage.

Bidding wars are growing more commonplace in the rental market as the demand for apartments and single-family rentals outpaces the supply.

“We’ve been leasing property for almost 20 years, and we haven’t seen an applicant pool this competitive since we’ve started,” Vipin Motwani, managing principal at Iron Gate Development in Clinton, Md., told CNBC. Two weeks ago, Motwani listed a home for rent in Clinton and quickly received 10 applications. He has found that renters now have more money to offer and better credit histories than applicants in the past. He says the latest tenants are willing to pay higher security deposits.

The improvement in the economy is causing some renters to move away from the shared households that they started during the pandemic. As housing prices have rapidly risen, that has priced out some buyers, prompting some to rent.

That added competition is prompting rental prices to rise further. Rents nationwide in July increased 7% annually for one-bedroom apartments and by 8.7% for two-bedroom apartments, according to data from Zumper, a national renal listing platform.

New York City has seen rent applications double compared to 2020. San Francisco has posted a 79% increase in applications and Seattle a 55% jump, according to RentCafe, a rental listing website.

Single-family rental homes have especially grown in demand since the pandemic as renters have looked for more space. Rents for single-family homes grew 6.6% annually, nearly four times the annual increase compared to May 2020, according to CoreLogic.

“Strong job and income growth, as well as fierce competition for for-sale housing, is fueling demand for single-family rentals,” Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic, said in a statement. She predicts demand for single-family rentals to continue to remain strong for the remainder of the year.

Mortgage demand for home purchases reversed course last week, after falling for the past month, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.

Mortgage applications to purchase a home increased 2% for the week and offered a signal that more first-time buyers may be emerging. Still, purchase applications are 18% lower than a year ago, the MBA said.

Higher prices and the scarcity of housing inventories have been blamed on slowing many segments of the housing market.

“The higher level of purchase activity last week was driven by more government purchase applications, including a 3.3% increase in FHA loans,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist. “With low for-sale inventory keeping home price appreciation in many markets at record highs, the jump in FHA purchase applications is potentially a sign that more first-time buyers are finding purchase options despite the high prices.”

Mortgage rates rose slightly last week but remain near historical lows and didn’t prove to be a deterrent to home shoppers. The average contract interest rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with conforming loan balances rose to 2.99%, with points decreasing to 0.30, for loans with a 20% down payment, according to the MBA.

“Homeowners continue to respond to lower rates, with refinance activity climbing to the highest level since February 2021,” Kan said. Applications to refinance rose 3% last week but remain 8% lower than a year ago.

Lot values for single-family, detached homes have never been higher. In 2020, prices jumped 18% to a median lot price nationwide of $53,000, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by the National Association of Home Builders.

The higher prices for lots—along with material costs—have pressed on buyers’ and builders’ budgets in building new homes.

Read more: Flooded With New Orders, Builders Limit Sales

Lots are priciest in the New England area. Half of all single-family detached spec homes started in the region in 2020 had lot values of more than $120,000. “New England is known for strict local zoning regulations that often require very low densities,” Natalia Siniavskaia, the NAHB’s assistant vice president for housing policy research, writes on the association’s Eye on Housing blog.

The Pacific division tends to have the smallest lots in the country but has the second priciest—a median lot value of $103,000 in 2020.

The Mountain division also set a new record high for its lots in 2020. Half of the lots are priced at or above $73,000.

Housing inventory is increasing with an uptick in more affordable homes, which could lead to a possible door opening for more first-time buyers. New listings rose 6.5% in July, marking the fourth consecutive month for annual increases, according to realtor.com®’s Monthly Housing Report.

“July housing trends show a market still working its way back toward some version of normal,” said Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “The feverish pace of home sales is beginning to follow historical seasonal patterns, while new listings grew at an unusually high rate for the summer months, further helping the inventory crunch. This is shifting the housing market balance in a more buyer-friendly direction, but buyers may not see much price moderation as suggested by the national trend because it’s partly attributed to a shift toward smaller homes for sale.”

Nevertheless, Hale says that if the change in housing inventory levels continue, “we could see a wave of real estate activity heading into the latter part of the year.”

More than half of the nation’s 50 largest metros posted double-digit gains in new listings, led by Columbus, Ohio (up 42.9%); Baltimore (up 36.9%); Cleveland (up 35.8%); Milwaukee (34.3%); and Richmond, Va. (up 30.1%). The largest increases in new listings occurred in the Midwest (up 19.8%) and the West (up 11.3%), according to realtor.com®’s report.

The report notes that new listings remain below a typical 2017–2019 market, down 9.5%, but more sellers are starting to enter the market as they realize the price gains for their homes.

List Prices Moderating?

The national median listing price in July was $385,000, a 10.3% increase year over year. However, prices are showing signs of moderating—June’s growth rate was 12.7% annually.

Twenty-two of the 50 largest markets posted lower median listing prices in July compared to a year ago. Still, economists attribute that to the uptick in smaller, more affordable housing inventory.

In 2020, home buyers left states with high taxes and pricey housing in favor of lower-cost metro areas, such as Texas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, according to CoreLogic’s 2020 Hottest Cities for Homebuyers Report.

“The pandemic created a perfect recipe for consistently employed Americans,” said Archana Pradhan, CoreLogic’s principal economist. “If it had been any other mix of events, for example, if low housing inventory was coupled with job inflexibility, we wouldn’t have had such a large group of homebuying consumers feeling empowered to make bold moves in their living situations.”

The top 15 metros on CoreLogic’s hottest cities for home buyers report for 2020 tended to tout affordability with lower costs per square foot, lower property taxes, and no state income taxes. Also, sunny climates that offer lots of outdoor amenities tended to be a big draw.

The 15 metros with the highest inbound migration in 2020 were:

1. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.
2. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.
3. Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, S.C.-N.C.
4. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.
5. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.
6. Port St. Lucie, Fla.
7. Jacksonville, Fla.
8. San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas
9. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.
10. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
11. Stockton, Calif.
12. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.
13. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, Ariz.
14. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
15. Greeley, Colo.

Meanwhile, the cities with the highest outbound migrations in 2020 were New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.; and San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, Calif.