With an epic snowstorm hitting large areas of the U.S. recently, I expected housing data to take a hit after the solid start we had already seen in 2026, but it remained mostly positive, which surprised me. The big key to that, of course, is that mortgage rates, even with all the crazy headlines recently, […]
Housing demand is still positive even with epic snowstorm Read More »
Lower mortgage rates are driving increased housing demand in 2026, as shown by another positive week in our Housing Market Tracker data. Both weekly pending home sales and purchase application data posted gains last week — both week over week and year over year. My work over the years indicates that housing demand strengthens when
Lower mortgage rates boosting demand early in 2026 Read More »
Housing 2026 is off and going, and so far this year, with mortgage rates near 6% and mortgage spreads near normal levels, 2026 looks to be the first year of actual growth in existing home sales in years. Last week we had solid data in purchase apps and our weekly pending sales data — with
Housing demand is off to a solid start in 2026 Read More »
Purchase application data had its first positive year in many years in 2025, meaning we had more positive than negative week-to-week data, and most of the year was positive year over year in almost every weekly print. However, existing home sales will likely be only slightly higher in 2025 than in 2024. So how could
Why 2025’s strong purchase application data didn’t boost home sales Read More »
Mortgage applications decreased 5.0% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Dec. 19, 2025. On an unadjusted basis, the index decreased 6% compared with the previous week. The refinance index decreased 6% from the previous week and was 110% higher than
Mortgage applications fall 5% despite rate decline Read More »
This is the final Housing Market Tracker article for 2025 and we’re going to tackle why the inventory growth rate has been cut in half this year. At one point, we had over 30% year-over-year growth, and that number is now down to 13.54%. Why is this the last tracker of the year? I don’t
Why did the growth rate of housing inventory drop by half this year? Read More »
Mortgage applications decreased 3.8% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Dec. 12. On an unadjusted basis, the index decreased 5% compared with the previous week. The refinance index decreased 4% from the previous week and was 86% higher than the
Mortgage demand drops, but refi share reaches highest level since September Read More »
As mortgage rates stay near 6%, our weekly housing demand data lines have improved so much that we are at multiyear highs in total pending sales and purchase application data combined. This shouldn’t be a shock for our readers because whenever mortgage rates break below 6.64% and head down toward 6%, housing data noticeably improves
Weekly housing demand reaches multiyear high Read More »
As mortgage purchase applications approach a three-year high, it’s vital to recognize the significant role played by mortgage spreads. Without the improvement in mortgage spreads starting in 2024, we would not have gotten mortgage rates below 6.64%, which spurred the last 18 weeks of positive data. The following analysis examines this data in detail. Mortgage
December housing demand near 3-year high as spreads improve Read More »
The month of December typically has the lowest weekly seasonal demand for housing, but it’s a big key to how the spring of 2026 will perform — if you know what housing data lines to focus on. Traditionally, I wouldn’t care so much about December housing data; however, post-COVID, the forward-looking seasonal demand data has
December housing data provides early signals for 2026 market Read More »