Mortgage Demand Surges to 5-Week High on Lower Interest Rates Mortgage demand saw a 2.8% increase last week, marking the second consecutive week of gains, as homeowners and potential buyers responded to slightly lower mortgage rates. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages remained unchanged at 7.61% after a notable drop the previous…

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Record High Median Income for New Homebuyers According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the median household income for homebuyers has surged to a record high amid rising home prices and elevated mortgage rates. The NAR’s 2023 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reveals that households purchasing homes between July 2022 and June 2023…

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Low Mortgage Rates Spark a Modest Uptick in Demand Last week, mortgage rates experienced their most significant one-week drop in over a year, leading to a notable uptick in mortgage demand and a 2.5% increase in total mortgage application volume, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s adjusted index. The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate…

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Missouri Jury Convicts Realtors and Brokerages of Commission Inflation Conspiracy A Kansas City jury has found the National Association of Realtors, HomeServices of America, and Keller Williams guilty of colluding to inflate commission rates through NAR’s Clear Cooperation Rule. The defendants have been ordered to pay $1.78 billion in damages, which could potentially reach $5.36…

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The media keeps criticizing the housing market, and they won’t stop. They find any bad news about housing and report it and make it sound worse by adding adjectives like “crash” and “soaring.” Unfortunately, it’s hard to trust the media for the truth about anything these days. Interest rates are elevated from where they were,…

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US Housing Industry Concerned About Fed’s Monetary Policies A housing coalition, including major industry organizations like the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), has expressed growing concerns to the Federal Reserve regarding the unsettling impact of the Fed’s monetary policies on the housing…

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Market Update and Optimism: In this current market, there are extraordinary challenges to housing. And we know that the media will latch on to everything and anything they possibly can come up with that is negative. We know that significant headwinds face the housing market due to elevated interest rates, high home prices, and continued…

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August 2023: New Home Sales In August 2023, new home sales in the United States reached an estimated annual rate of 675,000, showing an 8.7% decrease from the revised rate in July, which was 739,000. However, this rate was still 5.8% higher compared to August 2022, which had an estimated rate of 638,000. The median…

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MBA Survey: September 20 – Mortgage Application Rise Mortgage applications went up by 5.4% in the week ending September 15, 2023, even though the 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached its highest point in four weeks at 7.31%. This increase is due to a surge in both refinance and purchase applications. The average loan size for…

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July Sees Home Price Rebound, Slower Appreciation Due to low inventory, the year-over-year home price increase accelerated in July, increasing by 2.5% nationally after two months of a 1.6% rise. With prices wrapping up July 5% higher than their most recent low point in February, this represented the sixth consecutive month of annual price increases.…

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