Housing markets

Both purchases and refinances dipped as rates failed to help borrowers, but government lending picked up a rising share of loan volume, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The changes that affect how buyer broker commissions are paid go into effect on Aug. 17, but there's much uncertainty about carrying them out, said Ryan Tomasello of KBW.

Despite the surge of inventory, the number of available homes is still below pre-pandemic levels, while price movements show wide regional variations, ICE Mortgage Technology said.

An index of contract signings from the National Association of Realtors dropped 7.7% to 72.3, the lowest reading since the early months of the pandemic.

With home prices also climbing up faster than expected for the time of the year, median new loan payments headed higher by more than 2%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

An uptick in interest rates kept borrowers on the sidelines, as both purchases and refinances dropped, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Over 54% of borrowers with a mortgage say they only got one mortgage offer, a LendingTree survey said.

Prices in a measure of 20 cities increased 7.4% from a year earlier, larger than the 7.3% annual gain in February, an S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index shows.

Fannie Mae economists suggest home sales will remain resilient amid anticipated dips in both home loan volume and consumer spending.

Contract closings decreased 1.9% from a month ago to a 4.14 million annualized rate, according to National Association of Realtors data released Wednesday.