Purchase

Mortgage applications increased 3.8% from one week earlier as a drop in most loan interest rates brought on an increase in refinance activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Record low mortgage rates and a flurry of buyers on the hunt for home offices and more space helped boost homebuilding on the eve of the presidential election.

With a dearth of inventory, September generated the largest price growth in the housing market since May 2014, according to CoreLogic.

Meanwhile, the delinquency rate is up 89% year-over-year, according to Black Knight.

The government-sponsored enterprise also saw a 22% increase in net worth from the second quarter.

A gauge of pending home sales unexpectedly declined in September for the first time in five months, a sign elevated asking prices and lean supply are tempering the boom in housing despite the record-low interest rates.

Mortgage rates remained relatively flat this week, helping housing to stay as one of the bright spots in the U.S. economy during the current uncertainty, according to Freddie Mac.

Researchers are increasingly focused on the risks related to owner-occupied loans with low balances and low-income properties with a limited number of renters.

For the second month in a row, South Florida residential sales are beating out 2019. They're also driving up prices, bringing the median price for a single-family home in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to $425,000 — the highest ever.

Mortgage application fraud risk dropped drastically from 2019 with the spike in refinances, but the fallout from the coronavirus means next year could come with more risk, according to CoreLogic.