Housing markets

Reluctance to eliminate staff with the hope that business will turn around has been a driver of the multiple quarter stretch of industry losses, its latest study of mortgage lenders found.

Contract closings decreased 0.7% from a month earlier to a 4.04 million annualized pace, National Association of Realtors data showed Thursday.

Doug Duncan explains why different players in the market have such contradictory takes on the real estate market right now and how to reconcile their varying outlooks.

Major real estate players are headed to trial next month over challenges to current commission practices, in which the seller covers fees for both themselves and the buyer.

On average since 1970, new home sales volumes decline 7% month-over-month in September and 13% quarter-over-quarter in the final months of the year, according to analysts. 

Housing costs grew to an average of $2,632 during the four weeks ending Sept. 10, according to a Redfin report.

High mortgage rates and the lack of inventory for sale pushed the sector into a downturn twice recently - between May and November last year and in May of 2023 - according to First American

But that share is trending downward. In the fourth quarter, nearly nine out of 10 metro areas had home prices that were considered to be above sustainable levels.

Nearly 60,000 deals to purchase homes fell through in August, according to a report released Friday by Redfin Corp.

Loan applications for single-family constructions jumped for the seventh month in a row, with increasing interest coming from first-time buyers, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

High mortgage rates and little inventory explain why over 60% of homeowners did or will perform a repair project in the next year, a LendingTree survey found.

Affordability is the No. 1 concern of millennials and Gen Zers, and that is also affecting views expressed in Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index.

Despite rate hikes, only 3% fail to profit but local exceptions may continue to increase.

But some of the noise beneath the data suggests a possible transition might be underway, according to analysts.

The National Association of Realtors' index of contract signings to purchase previously owned homes edged up 0.9% to 77.6, the highest in three months, the group reported Wednesday.

But in the Mountain and Pacific regions, values ended the most recent period lower than where they were one year prior.

The rate of increase cooled for the 14th straight month in June, dropping over 10% year over year, according to CoreLogic.

Purchases of new single-family homes increased 4.4% to an annualized 714,000 pace after downward revisions to prior months, government data showed Wednesday.

Contract closings are at a 4.07 million annualized pace, close to the slowest rate since 2010.

The share is the largest on record for a second quarter, according to data from Redfin.