Market Forecast: Existing Home Sales, Mortgage Apps, and New Home Sales

Blog posted On October 21, 2019

Mortgage rates did not move significantly this week, trending slightly downward according to some sources.  This week will be a big week for housing with both the existing home sales and new home sales reports scheduled for release.  The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) weekly mortgage application survey will come out on Wednesday.

Existing home sales or resales account for about 90% of total real estate transactions.  In August, existing home sales rose to a 17-month high, up 1.3% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.49 million units. 

The weekly mortgage application survey returned mixed results for the week ending 10/11.  New purchase application submissions declined 4.0% but refinance application submissions increased 4.0% for a composite increase of 0.5%. 

New home sales, or the sales of newly constructed homes, make up approximately 10% of total real estate transactions.  In August, new home sales increased 7.1% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 713,000.  July’s figure was revised upward. 

Many home buyers are taking advantage of lower mortgage rates, although lack of available homes for sale continues to be a persistent issue.  All signs point to a busy housing market this fall, which makes mortgage preapproval more important than ever.  Before you start looking at homes, get preapproved for mortgage financing.  Mortgage preapproval shows the seller you are prepared to make an offer and will make the mortgage transaction go faster.  If you have any questions, let me know. 

Sources: CNBC, CNBC, CNBC, Econoday, MarketWatch, Mortgage News Daily