By KIMBERLEY HAAS The housing market traditionally cools during the holiday season as people focus on family and friends but industry leaders say it is a good time for potential sellers and buyers to weigh their options. After mortgage rates recently surged above 7%, real estate activity and consumer sentiment took a nosedive. Home delistings hit a record high in November as sellers and buyers pulled out of the market, according to journalists Lily Katz and Ben Walzer at Redfin. Markets where home prices skyrocketed during the pandemic are now cooling the fastest. In Sacramento, Calif., an average of 3.6% of active listings were delisted per week during the 12 weeks ending on November 27, up 1.6 percentage points from one year earlier.…
Mortgage interest rates slipped again last week, marking the fourth consecutive week of decline, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.33%, down from 6.49% the week prior. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.10 percent. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell from 5.76% to 5.67%. A year ago, it averaged 2.38%. “Over the last four weeks, mortgage rates have declined three-quarters of a point, the largest decline since 2008,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “While the decline in rates has been large, homebuyer sentiment remains low with no major positive reaction in purchase demand to these lower rates.” Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index broke…
Housing construction fell sharply in October, another miss for the rapidly constricting housing market. Starts for both single- and multi-family units dropped by 4.2% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 1.425 million units, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected housing starts to register a 1.41 million rate after seasonal adjustment. Single-family starts fell by 6.1% from September, and single-family completions were down 8.3%. Building permits dipped 2.4%, an indicator of builders’ pessimism moving into winter, the slowest season for real estate. Permits offer an indication of how many homes will be built in the coming months. Housing is desperately needed, especially single-family units. Some experts say it could take a decade to…
