Mortgage rates

Orlando's red-hot real estate market may be cooling off.

The Buffalo Niagara housing market still is sizzling, although there are some signs it's not quite as hot as it was during the summer.

Ordinarily, declining property sales will cool the costs for housing. But existing-home sales have been underperforming their potential for 40 straight months and property values are still on the rise, according to First American Financial Corp.

October's rise in the supply of homes for sale could signal the housing market getting closer to equal footing for buyers and sellers, according to Remax.

Next year is unlikely to offer relief from higher rates or housing supply shortages, according to the consensus forecast from 24 of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's member firms.

Fannie Mae made a slight increase to its origination forecast, expecting housing affordability to improve in 2019 as mortgage rates remain flat and home price appreciation moderates.

Putting down 20% of the sales price has been the industry standard when buying a house, but less than half of consumers do that much, according to Zillow.

For the seventh month in a row, the number of homes sold in the Charlotte region decreased compared to last year.

Mortgage applications to purchase newly constructed homes continues to decline, driven by affordability concerns among potential buyers, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Mortgage rates dropped significantly due to economic fears driving the markets following several weeks of little or no movement, according to Freddie Mac.