Newsfeed: Mortgage demand falls again even as rates sink further
Lower mortgage rates are pulling some current homeowners back to the refinance market, but not enough to offset the drop in demand from homebuyers.
Lower mortgage rates are pulling some current homeowners back to the refinance market, but not enough to offset the drop in demand from homebuyers.
Home sales declined for the ninth straight month in October, as higher interest rates and surging inflation kept buyers on the sidelines. Sales of previously owned homes dropped 5.9% from September to October, according to the National Association of Realtors. That is the slowest pace since December 2011, with the exception of a very brief drop at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
After tumbling for the first time since 2012 in July, Case-Shiller’s 20-City Composite Home Price index was expected to drop even faster in August (the latest data available) as mortgage rates soared, crushing affordability.
Home sales and listings in September both slumped the most on record with the exception of the early months of the pandemic as rapidly rising mortgage rates prompted both buyers and sellers to stay put, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.
It appears delusion and hope can only last so long – even when one’s salary depends on it – as US homebuilder confidence crashed to COVID lockdown lows in October after refusing to see what everyone else was seeing more months.. and what homebuyers were clearly feeling as prices soared along with mortgage rates and devastated affordability for most Americans. Against expectations of a small drop from 46 in September to 43 in October, the headline confidence index crashed to 38 – its lowest since the nadir of COVID-lockdown panic (that was worse than the weakest forecast of all economists surveyed)…
Rising mortgage rates have sidelined many would-be homebuyers, but for institutional investors, it has become an opportunity as home builders try to unload properties.
Major Home-Ownership Costs Require 30 Percent of Average National Wage in Third Quarter of 2022; But Portion of Wages Needed for Home Ownership Dips as Home Prices Decrease Quarterly, to $340,000; Historic Affordability Remains Worse Than Average Almost Everywhere Across Nation
As mortgage rates go up and the housing market softens, more people are canceling home purchases. In August, over 15 percent of home purchase agreements were canceled—the second month in a row, according to real estate brokerage Redfin. Compared to a year ago, cancellations are up 3 percent.
Mortgage rates jumped more than a quarter point this week and remain at the highest level in 14 years, offering no relief to sidelined homebuyers.
Just months ago, the housing market remained in overdrive: surging home prices, historically low interest rates and unrelenting demand. However, data now suggests to some experts that the market is in a “housing recession.”