Mortgage rates surged to 6.44% for a 30-year fixed loan in the week ending Oct. 17—the highest in roughly two months. In the face of these elevated rates, the number of applications for home purchases went down this week. However, they still remained above the previous year’s pace, which indicates some improvement in homebuyer demand. […]

Getty Images Sales of previously owned homes dropped to a 14-year low last month despite lower mortgage rates, as uncertainty over the presidential election casts a shadow on the market. Total existing-home sales dropped 1% from August, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.84 million in September, the National Association of Realtors® reported on

Getty New-home sales rose last month to a 16-month high, as builders filled in the gaps of a weak market for existing homes. Sales of new single-family houses rose 4.1% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 738,000, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Thursday. September’s figure was up 6.3% from

Realtor.com; Getty Images (1) Mortgage rates climbed from 6.44% last week to 6.54% for a 30-year fixed home loan for the week ending Oct. 24, according to Freddie Mac. “The continued strength in the economy drove mortgage rates higher once again this week,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Over the

Mortgage rates climbed to 6.54% for a 30-year fixed loan in the week ending Oct. 24—which is the highest it’s been in roughly two months. Mortgage applications for home purchases continued to decline in the face of higher rates. Yet, they remained above last year’s pace for the fifth straight week, which indicates persistent improvement

Getty Images The numbers: Home prices in the 20 biggest U.S. metros set yet another record high in August, but have decelerated significantly under the weight of high mortgage rates. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city house price index rose 0.4% in August compared to the previous month. Home prices in the 20 major U.S. metro markets were

Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images I’d like to stick up for something that hasn’t received its fair share of attention: the 30-year fixed- rate mortgage. Nine out of 10 American homebuyers opt for this type of loan, but it remains a rarity in much of the world and is often underappreciated in the U.S. Mortgage rates remain

Realtor.com; Getty Images (1) Mortgage rates increased from 6.54% last week to 6.72% for a 30-year fixed home loan for the week ending Oct. 31, according to Freddie Mac. “Mortgage rates reached their highest level since the beginning of August,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Although uncertainty will remain, it

Spencer Platt/Chip Somodevilla/John Moore/Getty Images The vice presidential debate on Tuesday night offered voters some of the most robust discussion of housing policy yet in this election cycle, as Sen. J.D. Vance and Gov. Tim Walz sparred over the causes and solutions of the housing crisis. The debate was notable for its relative civility and

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images The numbers: Pending-home sales ticked up in August as a big drop in mortgage rates prompted some home buyers to act. Contract signings in the U.S. rose 0.6% in August from the previous month, according to the monthly index released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Pending home