Three metrics that measure competition in the U.S. housing market each dropped to the lowest September level in six years last month. Share of homes selling above list price: 25.3% of homes that sold went for more than their final list price, down from 28.5% a year earlier. Average sale-to-list-price ratio: This metric came in at 98.6%, […]

In short, no. You probably shouldn’t wait to buy a home until mortgage rates drop more drastically. Mortgage rates are just one part of the affordability equation. You also have to consider home prices, a factor of housing supply and demand. The current housing market is in a crunch. To put it simply, buyers outnumber […]

After a period of sustained high interest rates, the real estate market has been defined by a “lock-in” effect, where homeowners with low-rate mortgages have been hesitant to sell, leading to limited inventory and high prices. However, with the Federal Reserve widely anticipated to lower its benchmark interest rate this fall, the housing landscape could […]

Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group has lowered its forecast for US existing single-family home sales in 2025 to 4.14 million units, down from the 4.24 million units projected in the previous month’s outlook. The revision was published in the group’s June 2025 Economic and Housing Outlook. The updated forecast reflects revised expectations […]

For the past several years, home sellers have been in the driver’s seat, able to command high prices for homes, often selling quickly and with multiple offers.  Times appear to be changing. According to data recently released by Redfin, nationally there are currently 500,000 more home sellers than homebuyers.  While somewhat surprisingly, this has yet […]

New home sales jumped in March despite still-high mortgage rates and the beginning of a decline in consumer confidence stemming from tariff fallout that is slowing the existing home market. The number of new single-family homes sold in March reached 724,000 on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, a figure that’s 7.4% higher than February’s and […]

Starter homes are getting even smaller. Inflation is hard-felt by typical Americans, even if it seems to be mostly under control on paper. It’s hit the housing market too, only in the form of shrinkflation. Homes are getting smaller—and more costly. In fact, they’re hitting levels we haven’t seen since 2009 and 2010, after the Great Recession. […]

Potential homebuyers are responding to lower mortgage rates and a higher supply of homes for sale. That fueled mortgage demand last week, as consumers looking to refinance pulled back. Total mortgage application volume rose 2.8% compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. An additional adjustment was made for […]

If you own a home, congratulations: You likely gained six figures in equity since 2019. “A typical homeowner accumulated $147,000 in housing wealth in the last five years,” said National Association of Realtors® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in the latest quarterly report. That’s a profit of $29,400 per year—nearly half of the average U.S. salary. But even with the rapid price appreciation over […]