Homebuyers seizing the day as mortgage rates continue to slide

🥳 Happy Friday! It's December, folks. The end of the year approaches. Today's newsletter is 588 words, a 2.5-minute read.

1. Homebuyers seizing the day as mortgage rates continue to slide

Mortgage borrowing ticked upward in the short Thanksgiving week, as subsiding rates helped bring home buyers to market, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The MBA's Market Composite Index, which measures weekly application activity based on surveys of the trade group's members, inched up a seasonally adjusted 0.3% for the period ending Nov. 24.

The slight increase in applications was driven by greater purchase applications, but refinance applications fell over the week (-9%), according to Joel Kan, MBA vice president and deputy chief economist.

2. Mortgage rates drop for the fifth straight week

The average for a 30-year, fixed loan was 7.22%, down from 7.29% last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement yesterday.

• 15-year rate avg 6.56%, down from 6.67% a week earlier

Although the market is still very challenging, buyers trying to break into the market are getting some relief as rates pull back slightly from the highest levels in two decades.

“Market sentiment has significantly shifted over the last month, leading to a continued decline in mortgage rates,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in the statement. “The current trajectory of rates is an encouraging development for potential homebuyers.”

3. Catch up quick

🦠 Notorious ransomware gang AlphV/Black Cat takes credit for cyberattack on Fidelity National Financial. (TheRecord)

🏦 Ginnie Mae revises its definition of high balance loans. (DS News)

📺 A new documentary takes viewers inside the world of mortgage originators. (LO Confidential)

📈 FICO credit score prices and soft-pull costs will shoot up in 2024. (NMN)

Outside Interests: Is this the world’s highest-grossing photograph? (the Gray Lady)

4. Home prices hit record with eight straight months of gains

A national gauge of prices rose 0.7% in September from August, according to seasonally adjusted data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller. This marks the eighth consecutive month of gains for the index, which doesn’t provide a specific dollar figure for homes.

“Although this year’s increase in mortgage rates has surely suppressed the quantity of homes sold, the relative shortage of inventory for sale has been a solid support for prices,” Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement Tuesday.

On a year-over-year basis, prices climbed 3.9% in September, compared with a 2.5% annual increase in August.

5. Charted: Comparison of top lenders production in 2022 Q3, 2023 Q2, and 2023 Q3

Q3 earnings for mortgage lenders have come in. While it looks like most have stopped the bleeding, just how much have they recovered from the same period last year? NMP

COACH’S CORNER

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- Dave Krichmar CEO

6. Top 10 housing markets buyers hope to move into

A new report from Redfin reveals a nationwide decline in the number of homebuyers looking to relocate compared to the previous year. Redfin says it boils down to the fact mortgage rates have jumped up so high so fast.

For those who are making a move, their preferred markets include places like Sacramento, Las Vegas, Orlando, Myrtle Beach, and Portland, Maine.

☀️ See you on Monday!

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