article thumbnail

Buyers are getting cold feet as mortgage rates exceed 7%: Redfin

Housing Wire

Buyers facing high mortgage rates are pulling out of their home-purchase agreements at the highest rate in nearly a year. Rates last month surged to 7.23%—the highest since 2001 – sending the typical homebuyer’s monthly payment up significantly from last year. That rate is up from 14.3% The median U.S.

Buyers 390
article thumbnail

Home prices are still rising, but relief for buyers is coming

Housing Wire

But relief for buyers could be coming in the next 12 months. gain by this time next year, as ongoing affordability challenges deter potential buyers — as well as an uptick in new for sale listings. An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, the first year examined. Home prices increased 2.3%

Buyers 498
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

How auction buyer data foreshadows housing market shifts

Housing Wire

Retail housing market data from June showing early signs of a real estate slowdown was foreshadowed three months earlier in buyer behavior at foreclosure auctions. The downshift in buyer behavior at the foreclosure auction came two months before the downshift showed up in retail housing market data. That was up from 40% a year ago.

article thumbnail

Pending home sales fall to their lowest level in two decades

Housing Wire

Pending home sales in October fell to their lowest level since 2001. It dropped on an annual basis for the sixth consecutive month NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun is optimistic that declining mortgage rates will help qualify more home buyers in the months ahead, but limited housing inventory will remain the sticking point.

article thumbnail

Pending home sales recede in January: NAR

Housing Wire

For comparison, the index is benchmarked at a reading of 100 based on 2001 contract activity. ” Lower mortgage rates buoyed buyer demand in early 2024, but rates started to inch back up toward 7% in February. NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) decreased to 74.3 in January, down from 77.3 in December.

Contracts 371
article thumbnail

Pending home sales rebound in March

Housing Wire

The trade group reported that pending home sales – that is homes where a buyer signed a contract, but the sale has not closed – rose 1.9 % index points to 111.3 relates to a baseline of 100 that the NAR put together in 2001. “By An index based on 2001 figures shows historic shifts in population. What is this index? population.”.

Contracts 414
article thumbnail

Pending home sales fell 7.1% in August

Housing Wire

An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001. Mortgage rates have been rising above 7% since August, which has diminished the pool of home buyers,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist said. Buyers are hitting affordability ceilings, causing some of them to sit out the market.