Purchase

The biggest drop in mortgage rates in history has Southern California house hunters making an autumnal rush to buy, with freshly opened escrows up 14% in a year.

Portland-area home sales jumped in September compared with a year ago, bringing a jolt to the housing market during the waning months of a slow year.

Home sales and the median sales price in Central Texas hit all-time highs for any September on record, the Austin Board of Realtors said.

Single-family mortgage production this year is expected to be 3% higher than anticipated last month, according to Fannie Mae, which revised its estimates based partly on a stronger housing outlook.

Mortgage applications to purchase new homes dropped 8% in September from August, as ongoing uncertainty over interest rate movements and economy likely kept buyers out of the market, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Spooked that the newly renovated house you're about to buy in Charlotte may be haunted?

Homebuilder sentiment climbed to the highest level since February of last year as cheaper borrowing costs and a still-sturdy job market lifted measures of prospective buyer traffic, sales and the demand outlook.

Mortgage applications increased 0.5% from one week earlier, although interest rate instability affected consumers' ability to get the best price for their loan, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Single-family homes sold briskly last month in the Colorado Springs area, while prices rose again — good news for sellers, but an increasingly tough time for entry-level buyers trying to find an affordable house.

Hawaii island's housing market turned in mixed results in September but the results were worse on Kauai where sales and prices fell for both single-family homes and condominiums.