Mortgage activity holds steady amid rate fluctuations

Plus: NAR hasn’t lost many members

Hi, and welcome back to Mortgage Nuggets. Today’s newsletter is 525 words, a 2-minute read. Let’s dive in…

Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of Nov 12, 2024. © MND Daily Rate Index.

1. Mortgage activity holds steady amid rate fluctuations

Mortgage applications rose 0.5% last week, breaking a seven-week decline, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Purchase and refinance indexes were relatively flat week-over-week, as rates for various loan products fluctuated. Joel Kan, the MBA's vice president and deputy chief economist, explained rate increases on higher Treasury yields in response to President-elect Donald Trump's election victory last week.

The Federal Reserve's 25-basis-point rate cut was already anticipated and did little to move the markets.

2. Charted: Concessions buyers successfully negotiated with sellers

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3. More Nuggets

📈 NAR forecasts a 9% increase in home sales for 2025 and 13% for 2026. (NAR)

🗞️ Anthony Hitt to step down as CEO of Engel & Völkers Americas. (Inman)

🆕 Better introduces VA refi loan with no appraisal or closing costs. (HousingWire)

📰 The future of MLS? It's Zillow, says Compass CEO. (RealEstateNews)

📉 Rocket posts a $481 million net loss in Q3. (DetroitNews)

4. NAR hasn’t lost many members

The National Association of Realtors announced yesterday that its membership has held steady, despite challenges in the industry and predictions that many agents would leave the organization.

As of Oct. 31, NAR membership is at 1,526,631, which is on track to be the fourth-highest all-time level; NAR reported this on the final day of its annual meeting.

“What we’re seeing is that our members are resilient. They’re small business owners, and they understand the ups and downs of the business.”

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun

5. Fannie Mae releases updates on leasehold estates, manufactured homes and fraud prevention

The Selling Guide has been updated to include changes to the following:

  • Updates to leasehold provisions: modernizing special property eligibility and underwriting considerations for leasehold estates.

  • Project review for manufactured homes, including those on leasehold estates: revising project review requirements related to properties secured by manufactured homes.

  • Appraisal market areas: updating requirements related to the Market Area analysis of the appraisal report and adding standardized definitions relevant to appraisal market areas to the Glossary.

  • Preventing, detecting, and reporting mortgage fraud: clarifying that sellers and servicers are responsible for preventing, detecting, and reporting mortgage fraud.

☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Friday!

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