Housing Affordability

Pending sales posted their smallest year-over-year decline in three months as mortgage rates ticked down. Early indicators of homebuyer demand, including tour requests and mortgage applications, are increasing from their low point.  Pending home sales fell 26% year over year during the four weeks ending January 22, the smallest drop in more than three months. […]

An increase in home searches and tours at the end of 2022 is starting to translate into purchases as mortgage rates fall. Mortgage applications are up 25% and the slowdown in pending sales is easing.   The median U.S. home-sale price increased 0.9% from a year earlier to $350,250 during the four weeks ending January 15,

The typical home is taking longer to sell than any period since April 2020 and pending sales are at a record low, but online home searches and tour requests are ticking up. Those early signs of demand could translate into sales–especially as mortgage rates fall from their peak and inflation cools.  Homes are selling at

The homes that are selling are going for about the same price as a year earlier, with nationwide prices up just 0.5% year over year–smaller than the 0.7% increase at the onset of the pandemic when the market reached a near standstill. Measures of early-stage homebuyer activity are mixed, with requests for tours and agent