Pending Home Sales Slump as Listing Shortages, Holidays Crimp Demand
Pending sales and property viewings in December fell to the lowest level since the start of 2021, a Redfin report showed.
Pending sales and property viewings in December fell to the lowest level since the start of 2021, a Redfin report showed.
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose in 2021’s final week to a level that was nearly half a percentage point higher than a year earlier, MBA said.
Some of the nation's highest-flying markets in 2021 may see the smallest gains this year, the CoreLogic forecast said.
Pending home sales declined 2.2% as buyers competed for a shrinking pool of available properties, according to a report on Wednesday.
Prices for U.S. homes gained 18.4% in October, six times the increase recorded in the year before the pandemic began, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index.
The median U.S. sales price of a new home in November was $416,900, up 18.8% from a year earlier, according to a Commerce Department report.
Mortgage rates fell as investors' worries about the hyper-transmissible Omicron variant outweighed inflation jitters.
An increase in household formation as the U.S. economy emerges from the pandemic will support home sales in 2022, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American.
Sales of existing homes rose 1.9% in November as homebuyers rushed to lock in low interest rates, NAR said in a report.
Some lenders offer mortgages for doctors and dentists that allow higher debts such as student loans.