The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that it was extending the time that owner-occupants can view and purchase foreclosure listings over investor competition.

Individuals, families, and nonprofits now have 30 days—up from 20 days—to exclusively bid on real-estate-owned properties under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s First Look programs. This will allow them to bid on foreclosure properties ahead of when these homes will be available for investor purchase.

The First Look Program, launched in 2009, was created to promote owner occupancy and neighborhood stabilization.

“Extending the amount of time owner-occupants have to bid on an REO property, without competition is especially important for neighborhood preservation while the supply of homes for sale is severely limited,” says Sandra L. Thompson, acting director of FHFA. “By providing greater access to affordable homeownership opportunities, expanding the First Look Program is one step in addressing the gap between the supply and demand of single-family homes.”

More homeowners are listing their homes for sale, which is opening up options for anxious home buyers who have faced fierce competition the last few months over a limited housing stock.

New listings rose 5.1% in the 50 largest metros. The largest increases were in Columbus, Ohio (up 25.6%); Louisville, Ky. (up 22.8%); and Cleveland (up 21.6%), according to realtor.com®s newly released Monthly Housing Report.

Also, as more inventory and new listings arrived on the market in August, the rate of sellers making price adjustments has also begun to approach more normal levels, realtor.com® notes. The share of sellers who made listing price adjustments grew to 17.3% of active inventory, which is the highest share in 21 months and close to more typical levels that were seen between 2016 to 2019, researchers note.

Still, housing remains tight, even if with the additional inventory. U.S. housing inventory was down 25.8% year-over-year in August. That did mark an improvement over last month when inventories were down 33.5% annually.

Meanwhile, new listings were up 4.3% compared to a year ago.

“Low mortgage rates have motivated home buyers to endure this year’s challenging market and now some buyers are starting to see their persistence pay off,” says Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “This month, new sellers added more affordable entry-level homes to the market compared to last year, while others began adjusting listing prices to better compete with an uptick in inventory.”

Housing remains a strong seller’s market as homes continue to sell quickly at record-high prices, Hale says. “But now a home priced well and in good condition may see two to three bids compared to 10 last year,” she notes. “For sellers not seeing as many offers, it may be worth revisiting pricing strategies as buyers continue searching for homes that fit their budgets.”

Americans want more social distance from their neighbors. A new Pew Research Center study finds a shift in home preferences since the pandemic with more consumers saying they want a larger home, even if it means local amenities are further away.

That marks a shift from 2019 when more Americans were desiring smaller houses that were “closer to each other, but schools, stores, and restaurants are within walking distance,” according to the Pew Research study.

Six in 10 U.S. adults surveyed say they would prefer to live in a community with larger homes that had a greater distance to retail stores and schools. That is up 7 percentage points since 2019. On the other hand, 39% of consumers surveyed say they prefer a community with smaller houses that are closer together and near amenities, down 8 points since 2019.

Mortgage rates continue to hover at all-time lows, marking the ninth consecutive week that rates have averaged below 3%.

“The tug-of-war between the economic recovery and rising COVID-19 cases has left mortgage rates moving sideways over the last few weeks,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Overall, rates continue to be low, with a window of opportunity for those who did not refinance under 3%. From a homebuyer perspective, purchase application demand is improving, but the major obstacle to higher home sales remains very low inventory for consumers to purchase.”

Additional housing inventories may be on the horizon, however. The National Association of REALTORS® reported this week that more listings arrived on the market in July, a trend that could continue into the fall months. Housing inventories increased 7.3% in July compared to June.

Low mortgage rates likely will remain a strong pull for potential home buyers. A rush to lock in a low rate may continue to propel the housing market. NAR predicts the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to rise, expecting it to average 3.2% from October through December.

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Aug. 26:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.87%, with an average 0.6 point, up slightly from last week’s 2.86% average. A year ago, 30-year rates averaged 2.91%.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.17%, with an average 0.6 point, rising slightly from last week’s 2.16% average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 2.46%.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.42%, with an average 0.2 point, falling slightly from last week’s 2.43% average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.91%.

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

The housing market took a slight dip in contract signings in July, but that could potentially mark an opening for home buyers who have been shut out by fierce competition over recent months.

The National Association of REALTORS® reported this week that pending home sales dropped by 1.8% in July compared to June, the second consecutive month for declines. Only the West saw contract signings increase last month. But all major regions across the country posted year-over-year declines. Contract signings dropped 8.5% nationwide annually.

“The market may be starting to cool slightly, but at the moment there is not enough supply to match the demand from would-be buyers,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “That said, inventory is slowly increasing, and home shoppers should begin to see more options in the coming months.”

Homes listed for sale are still generating lots of interest from potential home buyers. “But the multiple, frenzied offers—sometimes double-digit bids on one property—have dissipated in most regions,” Yun said.

However, “even in a somewhat calmer market, a number of potential buyers are still choosing to waive appraisals and inspections,” Yun added. More than a quarter—27%—of buyers waived an appraisal and inspection in making an offer on a home recently. Buyers are looking to accelerate the home purchase process by doing so, Yun said.

Apartment construction has been ramping up this year. More than 330,000 new rental units are to arrive on the market in 2021, continuing a four-year high in multifamily construction, according to RentCafe’s latest Apartment Construction Report.

“The pandemic shifts and resurgence of the residential rental market bring new residential supply into focus,” said Doug Ressler, manager of business intelligence at Yardi Matrix. “Lack of entry-level housing supply and rising home prices will show the multifamily rental market demand increasing as new renters enter the market and millennials extend their rental commitments.”

For the fourth consecutive year, the Dallas–Fort Worth metro is expected to deliver the most new units. More than 21,000 new units are in the pipeline and are expected to be available on the market there by the end of the year. The New York metro follows in the number two spot, with more than 19,000 new units expected to arrive this year, while Phoenix is third.

Aspiring first-time home buyers may not want to give up on that competitive house hunt: In many markets, they could save money by owning.

Buying a starter home is more affordable than renting in nearly half of the largest U.S. metros, according to a new study released by realtor.com®.

The U.S. median rental price has climbed nearly 10% year over year to $1,607. That is 15.5% higher than the monthly payments for a starter home, the lower-priced tier of homes for sale in a market. Low mortgage rates are helping to offset recent jumps in home prices.

“Rents hit new highs in 40 of the 50 largest U.S. metros this July and grew at an almost double-digit pace—the fastest yearly rate we’ve seen in the last 18 months,” said Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “Sky-high rents and historically low interest rates have made the monthly cost to buy a starter home lower than renting one in nearly half the markets across the U.S.”

Still, first-time buyers will want to weigh the full costs of homeownership. “But if the monthly costs have been holding you back, data suggests it’s worth exploring in many markets,” Hale said. “Although it’s still hard to find entry-level homes, we are seeing more smaller homes coming on the market.”

Many of July’s highest rent gains were in secondary markets where rental demand has quickly climbed during the pandemic. Remote work has allowed workers to leave big cities and work from anywhere. That has also helped keep a lid on monthly starter home costs in some of the largest metros. The costs of starter homes, on average, were 15.5%—or $216—lower than rents in nearly half of the 50 largest U.S. metros, the realtor.com® study said.

In the top 10 metros that favored first-time homebuying over renting in July, monthly starter home payments were, on average, 24.3% lower than rents.

Doug Yearley, CEO of the luxury home builder Toll Brothers, told CNBC that the recent drop in lumber prices is prompting some significant savings on the cost to build a home—but home buyers shouldn’t expect to see those savings. While lumber prices are falling, other material costs to build are surging.

Lumber prices reached a record high of more than $1,700 per thousand board feet in May. On Wednesday, it averaged about $500. Yearley says that has translated to about $40,000 in savings in building a home.

But steel mill product prices increased 10.8% in July following a 6.2% increase in June, the National Association of Home Builders reports. Tariffs on steel imports have been blamed for adding to building costs. Also, prices for gypsum products, which are used for drywall, rose 2.5% in July and are up nearly 16% in 2021. Copper has also been in short supply, builders report.

“The tailwind of lumber coming down is very comforting,” Yearley told CNBC’s Jim Cramer. “It’s going to help us. It’s going to drive some margin. But I think it’s going to offset some of the other cost increases that we’re feeling.”

Yearley says it’s taking longer to build homes with recent supply chain and labor issues. “It took about two weeks longer in our third quarter to deliver a home,” Yearley says. “We expect that to continue for a couple more quarters as we manage through it.”

The median sales price of a new home in July was $390,500, an 18.4% increase compared to a year earlier, the Commerce Department reported this week.

“New residential construction remains strong, but building material pricing and availability are likely to remain significant headwinds,” Charlie Dougherty, an economist at Wells Fargo, told NBC News earlier this month.

In some cases, pricing homes has become problematic for builders as they face constantly rising material costs. Read more: Flooded With New Orders, Builders Limit Sales.