For the past 26-straight months, the time a home for sale spent on the market has gotten longer. Each month, homes for sale sold more slowly compared to the previous year’s pace and hopeful homeowners watched their listings last longer on the market. Until June. According to a new analysis from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, the median home spent 53 days on the market in June – unchanged from the month before, breaking the more than two-year streak. Additionally, time on market is now equal … [Read more...]

When a home buyer makes an offer and the seller accepts, that home’s sale is considered pending until the sale closes weeks later. The National Association of Realtors tracks pending home sales because they’re considered a good future indicator of where next month’s sales data is headed, since most pending sales end up successfully closed. That’s why the NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index for May is an encouraging sign. The index found signed offers up 3.8 percent month-over-month and up nearly 5 percent from last year … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates were mostly flat last week from the week before. Rates saw little movement across all loan categories, including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, 15-year fixed-rate loans, and 5/1 ARMs. Demand for loan applications was also subdued, with refinance activity down 1 percent and purchase demand up 1 percent week-over-week. But despite the … [Read more...]

The housing market is always changing but not always at a fast pace. Home prices, for example, have been on a fairly steady trajectory now for months. In fact, according to the latest S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices – which is among the leading measures of U.S. home prices – national home price trends remain relatively flat, with Midwest and Northeast markets seeing gains and Sun Belt and Western cities seeing slight declines. Nicholas Godec, head of fixed income tradables and commodities at S&P Dow … [Read more...]

The rate of new home construction slowed in May, according to new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Overall, housing starts – including multi-family construction – fell sharply, dropping 15.4 percent month-over-month. Construction of single-family homes, however, was less volatile. In fact, single-family housing starts were down just 1.9 percent, while permits for future construction were slightly higher from the month before. Bill Owens, NAHB’s chairman, says … [Read more...]

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s monthly measure of new-home sales found sales down 7.3 percent month-over-month in May and down 6.8 percent from last year at the same time. The slowdown marks the second consecutive monthly decline in new home sales. It also highlights a different dynamic in the new home market. While new home sales have been falling, existing-home sales recently hit their highest level since December 2025. Part of that is due to affordability. New homes … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates were mostly flat last week from one week earlier. Rates fell slightly for 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances but were unchanged for 15-year fixed-rate loans and loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. Steady rates did little to spark demand, however, as both refinance and purchase activity were also flat from the week before. Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and … [Read more...]

How difficult it is to be approved for a mortgage depends on the availability of mortgage credit. That means a combination of current lending standards and available loan programs play a role in which borrowers get the go ahead and which are denied. The Mortgage Bankers Association keeps a monthly measure of whether credit is loosening or tightening with its Mortgage Credit Availability Index. Any increase in the monthly index indicates credit is loosening, while decreases mean standards have tightened. According … [Read more...]

Home buyers don’t usually spend a lot of time thinking about housing starts and building permits, but the rate of new home construction is a big part of what makes an area affordable or unaffordable. Generally, where there are more available homes, there will be more affordable homes. Where homes are scarce, there will be higher prices. That can be clearly seen on the second annual Affordability & Home Building Report Card from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website. The report card ranks each … [Read more...]

There are fewer adult children living with their parents than there were a few years ago, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website. But while the numbers have retreated a bit from their pandemic-era peak, they haven’t fallen much. In fact, the report found 33 percent of adults under the age of 35 live at home. In 2020, that number hit its all-time high of 33.6 percent. Hannah Jones, senior economist at the website, says affordable housing is the reason behind the trend. … [Read more...]