Housing News Archive

Fri, June 27, 3:36 PM

Pending Home Sales Data Scores Some Points, But Not Enough to Change The Game - Fri, June 27, 3:36 PM

The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)—which tracks contract signings on existing homes—has remained rangebound for more than two years, constrained by affordabilit...

Fri, June 27, 3:06 PM

New Home Sales Drop to Lower End of Range After Hitting The Highs Last Month - Fri, June 27, 3:06 PM

New Home Sales fell sharply in May according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD. After a brief surge in April, the seasonally adjusted annual pace dropped to 623,000—down 13...

Fri, June 27, 2:48 PM

Mortgage Applications Buoyed by FHA Refis - Fri, June 27, 2:48 PM

Mortgage application activity moved slightly higher last week despite a modest uptick in rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey. The Composite Index rose 1.1% ...

Fri, June 27, 2:34 PM

Existing Home Sales Tick Up Slightly, but Remain Near 6-Month Lows - Fri, June 27, 2:34 PM

Two months ago, existing home sales reached the highest levels in a year according to the National Association of Realtors. Last month’s report showed a noticeable dip to 5‑month lows. The latest...

Tue, June 24, 7:00 PM

Home Prices Fell More Than Expected in April - Tue, June 24, 7:00 PM

Both the FHFA and Case‑Shiller home price indices were released today. While the data collection time frame is from April, they each suggest a similar shift is underway when adjusting for seasona...

Fri, June 20, 6:08 PM

Housing Starts Slide in May, But Single-Family Holds Steady - Fri, June 20, 6:08 PM

The latest Residential Construction report from the Census Bureau showed a noticeable drop in overall housing starts in May, though single-family activity managed a small gain. Building permits a...

Fri, June 20, 5:32 PM

Mortgage Applications Slip Despite Lower Rates - Fri, June 20, 5:32 PM

Mortgage application activity declined modestly last week despite a drop in rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey. The Composite Index fell 2.6% on a seasonal...

Fri, June 20, 5:23 PM

Homebuilder Sentiment Just a Bit Gloomier - Fri, June 20, 5:23 PM

Builder sentiment declined for the second straight month according to the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo's latest Housing Market Index (HMI). The headline index dropp...

Fri, June 13, 4:49 PM

Purchase Demand Near 2 Year Highs; Refis Bounce Back - Fri, June 13, 4:49 PM

After a Memorial Day-induced lull, mortgage application activity rebounded sharply last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey. Both purchase and refinance dema...

Fri, June 6, 6:22 PM

Application Demand Ebbs For Both Purchases and Refis - Fri, June 6, 6:22 PM

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey showed a pullback in mortgage applications, with rates dipping slightly after a three-week climb. The week’s numbers were also affected by t...

Fri, May 30, 10:03 PM

Pending Home Sales Slip, But the Broader Story Remains the Same - Fri, May 30, 10:03 PM

The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)—which tracks contract signings on existing homes—has spent more than two years stuck in a rut, held back by affordability con...

Fri, May 30, 9:43 PM

Purchase and Refi Demand Diverge Again - Fri, May 30, 9:43 PM

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) weekly application survey continues to track closely with the more granular daily rate data from MND. Both showed mortgage rates climbing to new multi-m...

Fri, May 30, 8:59 PM

Home Prices Falling or Growing Less Quickly? - Fri, May 30, 8:59 PM

Both FHFA and Case Shiller released home price data this week with some mixed messages for the housing market. The first thing to remember about the major home price indices is that they run abou...

Fri, May 23, 7:07 PM

New Home Sales at 3 Year High, Maybe... - Fri, May 23, 7:07 PM

The Census Bureau reported New Home Sales for April today, and at face value, the news is good. Economists expected an annual pace of 692k, but were instead treated to a surprisingly high 7...

Fri, May 23, 6:17 PM

No Major Change For Existing Home Sales - Fri, May 23, 6:17 PM

Two months ago, existing home sales came in at the highest levels in a year according the the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Last month's report showed a fairly sharp decline to 5 month ...

Fri, May 23, 5:39 PM

Mortgage Demand Impacted by Rising Rates - Fri, May 23, 5:39 PM

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) weekly application survey has been doing a good job of tracking with the more granular daily rate data from MND. Both are in agreement that rates were on ...

Fri, May 16, 8:11 PM

Housing Starts Buoyed By Multi-Family Sector - Fri, May 16, 8:11 PM

The Census Bureau is out with monthly construction numbers for April showing an uptick in construction activity offset by slightly lower permitting. While there are several other metrics in...

Fri, May 16, 7:52 PM

Builder Confidence Near Post-Pandemic Lows, But Timing is Everything - Fri, May 16, 7:52 PM

The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo released the monthly Housing Market Index (HMI) this week, showing builder confidence falling to the lowest levels since 2023. ...

Fri, May 16, 6:16 PM

Purchase Demand Moves Back Toward 2 Year High; Refis Hold Steady - Fri, May 16, 6:16 PM

Home purchase demand improved improved last week according to the MBA mortgage application survey. The improvement over the previous week was fairly modest, but the index was already the 4th high...

Fri, May 2, 7:00 PM

Home Price Appreciation Remains, But Interesting Trend Emerges - Fri, May 2, 7:00 PM

Both of the major purveyors of home price indices have been in agreement for the better part of a year that the average home is appreciating between 4 and 5 percent per year. The FH...

Fri, May 2, 6:28 PM

Mortgage Applications Contract Slightly, But Remain Above 2 Year Average - Fri, May 2, 6:28 PM

Mortgage rates were in the process of falling by the end of last week, but they made additional headway during the first half of the present week. That means this week's mortgage applicati...

Fri, April 25, 7:54 PM

Existing Home Sales at 5 Month Lows - Fri, April 25, 7:54 PM

As is the case for the monthly data on New Home Sales from the Census Bureau, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Existing Home Sales report does not make for exciting news these days. It'...

Fri, April 25, 7:19 PM

New Home Sales Running Near Highest Pace Since 2022 - Fri, April 25, 7:19 PM

The Census Bureau released March New Home Sales data this week, and it was near the best levels seen since early 2022. Before you get too excited about that, a caveat is in order. Sim...

Fri, April 25, 7:01 PM

Mortgage Applications Dropped Sharply in Response to The Recent Rate Spike - Fri, April 25, 7:01 PM

After the big spike seen 2 weeks ago, mortgage rates remained elevated enough to greatly dampen the demand for refinancing according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) weekly applicati...

Thu, April 17, 8:02 PM

Don't Read Too Much Into Builder Confidence (Yet) - Thu, April 17, 8:02 PM

The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo publish the Housing Market Index (HMI) each month, otherwise known simply as "builder confidence." This month's index came ou...

Thu, April 17, 7:32 PM

Home Construction Remains Volatile Despite Steady Flow of Building Permits - Thu, April 17, 7:32 PM

One would think that the pace of new residential construction largely mirrors the pace of filings for building permits. And while that is generally true in the bigger picture, there can be notice...

Thu, April 17, 6:18 PM

Mortgage Applications Pull Back From 5 Month Highs - Thu, April 17, 6:18 PM

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) mortgage application survey was at the highest combined level since October in last week's data--a move largely driven by the a sharp drop in interest ra...

Fri, April 4, 6:59 PM

Mortgage Applications Ebbed This Week, But Next Week Could Be a Different Story - Fri, April 4, 6:59 PM

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released the latest mortgage application data this week showing a modest 1.6% decrease from the previous week. A slight uptick in purchase application...

Fri, March 28, 9:16 PM

Pending Home Sales Crack Half-Hearted Smile Amid Longer Term Depression - Fri, March 28, 9:16 PM

The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) tracks purchase contract signings that have not yet turned into Existing Home Sales. Things haven't been going well for eithe...

Fri, March 28, 8:19 PM

Purchase Applications Improve; Refinancing Ebbs - Fri, March 28, 8:19 PM

This week's update on refinance application demand accurately reflects the fact that rates came into the week near their recent highs, but managed to fall in line with recent lows several days la...

Fri, March 28, 7:52 PM

New Home Sales Should Come With a Warning - Fri, March 28, 7:52 PM

It's not uncommon for certain medications to come with warnings about avoiding certain activities like driving or operating heavy machinery due to the risk of drowsiness. But medications aren't t...

Fri, March 28, 7:29 PM

Home Price Growth Remains Drama-Free - Fri, March 28, 7:29 PM

There are two dominant home price indices released each month in the U.S. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is responsible for the most all-inclusive tally of home prices via its Ho...

Fri, March 21, 8:04 PM

Highest Existing Home Sales in a Year - Fri, March 21, 8:04 PM

As is the case with a majority of housing and mortgage market data these days, the Existing Home Sales data from NAR is heavily dependent on context. To be sure, the headline is true. You'd have ...

Fri, March 21, 7:49 PM

Refi Demand Remains Elevated, But Off Recent Highs - Fri, March 21, 7:49 PM

The Mortgage Bankers Association conducts a weekly survey on the level of mortgage applications, both for purchases and refinances. Both data series continue to be a tale of two decidedly d...

Fri, March 21, 7:25 PM

Builders Broke More Ground Than Expected in February - Fri, March 21, 7:25 PM

The Census Bureau released its New Residential Construction report this week, frequently referred to by its principal component "housing starts" (a term for the start of the first phase of new ho...

Fri, March 21, 7:03 PM

Builder Confidence Hits 7 Month Low in March - Fri, March 21, 7:03 PM

The National Association of Homebuilders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (aka "builder confidence") hasn't been in a purgatory of sorts, ever since the big interest rate spike in the 2nd half of...

Fri, March 7, 7:25 PM

Big Bounce in Refi Demand Thanks to Lower Rates - Fri, March 7, 7:25 PM

As we noted last week, the timing of the improvements in mortgage rates meant that the previous survey of mortgage applications from the MBA was unable to capture what would likely prove to be ...

Fri, February 28, 8:16 PM

Why Didn't Refi Demand Spike This Week? - Fri, February 28, 8:16 PM

As is the case almost every week of the year, the Mortgage Bankers Association released its weekly mortgage app survey this week, showing the changes in purchase and refinance applications. We ...

Fri, February 28, 7:57 PM

New Home Sales Drop 10.5%. Should You Care? - Fri, February 28, 7:57 PM

The Census Bureau released new home sales data for January this week, and the annual pace was a seemingly significant 10.5% lower than last month's pace. But before you devote even one extr...

Fri, February 28, 7:36 PM

Home Price Growth is Probably The Last Thing to Worry About These Days - Fri, February 28, 7:36 PM

The massive spike and subsequent correction in home price appreciation (mid-2020 through early 2023) generated lots of opinions and concerns about the fate of the housing market. Early on, the fe...

Thu, February 27, 8:05 PM

Pending Home Sales Hit Lowest Level Since Records Began in 2001 - Thu, February 27, 8:05 PM

The National Association of Realtors released its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) today, which measures home purchase contracts that have been signed, but not yet closed. The index typically corr...

Fri, February 21, 7:59 PM

Refi Apps Still Near Best Levels Since October, Despite Larger Decline This Week - Fri, February 21, 7:59 PM

Per the latest release from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), both refinance and purchase indices decreased this week. In terms of the change from the previous week, it was the biggest drop...

Fri, February 21, 7:30 PM

Building Permits Staying Fairly Calm as Housing Starts Whipsaw - Fri, February 21, 7:30 PM

The Census Bureau released its New Residential Construction report this week, frequently referred to by its principal component "housing starts" (a term for the start of the first phase of new ho...

Fri, February 21, 7:01 PM

Builder Confidence Dropped, But Not Enough to Jump to Conclusions - Fri, February 21, 7:01 PM

The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) along with Wells Fargo released the monthly builder confidence index this week, and it came out much weaker than expected. With tariff and immigrat...

Fri, February 14, 7:47 PM

Refi Demand at 3 Month High Thanks to Lower Rates - Fri, February 14, 7:47 PM

In this week's update on mortgage applications from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), purchases continued a modest retreat but refinance demand improved for the 2nd week in a row. This was ...

Wed, February 5, 8:35 PM

Refinance Applications Tick Back Up as Rates Play Ball - Wed, February 5, 8:35 PM

There are two main styles of measurement when it comes to keeping track of mortgage rates : daily and weekly. Sometimes, the differences in methodologies mean that two reputable sources ca...

Thu, January 30, 8:24 PM

Pending Home Sales Pull Back From Best Levels Since April 2023 - Thu, January 30, 8:24 PM

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) for December this morning. Pending sales measures the number signed purchase contracts for existing h...

Tue, January 28, 8:22 PM

Home Price Appreciation Ran Just Above Expectations in November - Tue, January 28, 8:22 PM

Both S&P Case-Shiller and the FHFA released national home price indices this morning. In both cases, November's prices were slightly higher than expected. For the Case Shiller data, t...

Fri, January 24, 8:16 PM

Existing Home Sales Inch Up to Highest Levels Since February - Fri, January 24, 8:16 PM

It's no mystery that 2024 hasn't been a stellar year for home sales and many other housing metrics. Today's release of December's Existing Home Sales from the National Association of Realtors (NA...

Fri, January 24, 7:52 PM

Highest Purchase Applications in a Year? Technically, Yes - Fri, January 24, 7:52 PM

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) weekly mortgage application survey showed a modest decrease in refinance applications and an even more modest increase in purchase applications. At these ...