New home sales remain a bright spot in a housing market that has cooled amid the surge in mortgage rates. Sales of new homes increased by 4.4% in July to 714,000, according to Commerce Department data released on Wednesday. The rebound in new home sales has continued for more than a year with July's ... READ MORE >
mortgage rates
Existing home sales fall near January low as rates surge
Sales of existing homes fell in back-to-back months as multi-decade high mortgage rates continued to suppress demand and supply. The data from the National Association of Realtors certainly added more risks to our call that a housing bottom has passed. Read more of RSM's insights on the real estate ... READ MORE >
Housing starts and permits drop in June as rates surge
Housing starts and permits dropped in June after surging in May amid market volatility because of interest rate increases. New residential starts fell by 8% on the month, while permits for new buildings declined by 3.7%, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday. The drop came as mortgage ... READ MORE >
Housing starts fell last year for the first time since 2009
The housing market continued to show little sign of reaching a bottom in December as housing starts and permits fell again to cap off the first year of decline since 2009. Housing starts dropped by 1.4% on an annualized month-ago basis, while building permits fell by 1.6%. For all of last year, housing ... READ MORE >
Housing starts and permits fall as the correction continues
Housing starts dropped for the third month in a row in November as the housing market continued to be in correction mode, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday. There were 1.4 million residential starts on an annualized basis, falling short of the 1.7 million that we estimate are needed to meet ... READ MORE >
New home sales down 40% this year to lowest level since 2016
The slump in new home sales continued last month, dropping 12.6% to 511,000 annualized, following a 7.1% drop in June, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday. With July's decline, new home sales for the year are off by nearly 40% compared to last year. The decline brought the sales number to the ... READ MORE >
New home sales rise unexpectedly despite higher mortgage rates
New home sales rose unexpectedly in May despite rising mortgage rates and an otherwise cooling housing market. The increase was driven by more supply coming online, pushing prices down for the first time since February. Sales increased by 10.7% on the month to 696,000 new homes annualized, after ... READ MORE >
Home sales dip in February amid rising prices and mortgage rates
Sales of existing homes dipped 7.2% in February after recording a sharp 6.6% rise in January, the National Association of Realtors reported on Friday. Elevated home prices and rising mortgage rates to above 4% for the first time since 2019 drove sales to decline on the month. Sales drops were seen from ... READ MORE >
U.S. new home sales declined in January
New home sales dropped 4.5% in January as high prices and increasing mortgage rates slowed demand, according to data from the Census Bureau on Thursday. The omicron variant and colder-than-usual weather in January also contributed to the decline. As a result, inventory levels increased to 6.1 months of ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Mortgage rates resume their downward march
Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields have drifted lower over the past couple of months, bringing mortgage rates to the lowest levels in nearly six months and well below historical levels. The average rate for a 30-year loan was 2.77% on Aug. 5, the lowest since Feb. 11. The historically low borrowing costs, ... READ MORE >