Weekly Housing Market Update: Climbing Home Sales Are a Bright Spot as Mortgage Rates Tick Up

Mortgage rates might be ticking up, but there is a bright spot on the horizon as existing-home sales climb.

In October, existing-home sales climbed to 3.96 million and grew on a year-over-year basis for the first time since July 2021. The median price of homes sold climbed and inventory also grew, keeping the market in roughly balanced territory.

At a regional level, Realtor.com® data shows that the inventory recovery has been strongest in the South and West. This is exactly where home sales grew the most in the past year, and prices notched the smallest gains.

But to really drive an improvement in inventory, we need to see more homebuilding. Fortunately, we saw an uptick in homebuilder optimism, which bodes well for the months ahead.

Construction in October was more mixed, with little change in permits in the month, but they are down for the year, driven by a decline in high-density multifamily permits. There were similar trends in housing starts on a year-to-date basis.

This week, mortgage rates climbed to 6.84%, and I expect them to be a headwind for home sales in early 2025.

Although mortgage applications for home purchases rose 2% in the week, they were down 1% below the year-ago level—their first yearly decline in nine weeks. The previous eight weeks of yearly gains had been the first such improvement since May 2021, and foreshadowed the existing-home sales slump.

From an inventory perspective, weekly housing data from Realtor.com shows that homes for sale continued to climb and momentum improved for new sellers, while listing prices slipped somewhat. Notably, time on the market was 10 days longer than a year ago, the biggest slowdown since July 2023.

And finally, in a recent postelection survey, Realtor.com found that the majority of homebuyers didn’t see the outcome of the election changing their plans. It found roughly 1 in 5 Republicans saying they are now more likely to buy a home as a result of the election, while 24% of Democrats say they are now less likely to buy a home in the next 12 months.