November 22, 2024
- The Realtor.com® economics team video update gives you the relevant economic and real estate information you need to know each week every Friday to navigate the housing market as a homebuyer, home seller, or industry professional.
- For the week ending November 22, Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale recaps the latest economic commentary. The slew of housing data offered some bright spots.
- First, existing home sales climbed. At a regional level, Realtor.com data show 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.
- Danielle discusses the latest October construction data, which was more mixed.
- This week, mortgage rates climbed to 6.84% and are likely to be a headwind for home sales in early 2025. Danielle highlights what mortgage application trends tell us about the impact of higher mortgage rates.
- From an inventory perspective, weekly housing data from Realtor.com show that homes for sale continued to climb and momentum improved for new sellers while listing prices slipped somewhat. Notably, time on market was 10 days longer than a year ago, the biggest slowdown since July 2023.
- And finally, in a recent post-election survey, Realtor.com found that while the majority of homebuyers didn’t see the outcome of the election changing their plans. Roughly 1 in 5 Republicans say 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, the survey found.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
- I’m Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com®. And here’s what you need to know about the economy and housing market this week!
- In the slew of housing data out, there were some bright spots. First, existing home sales climbed in October 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 show that the inventory recovery has been strongest in the South and West which is exactly where home sales grew the most in the past year and prices notched the smallest gains.
- To really drive inventory improvement 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 permits little changed in the month but down for the year, driven by a decline in high-density multi-family permits. We saw similar trends in housing starts on a year-to-date basis.
- For the housing market, mortgage rates matter, and this week’s data was not the most housing friendly. Mortgage rates climbed to 6.84% and I expect them to be a headwind for home sales in early 2025.
- In fact, although mortgage applications for home purchases rose 2% in the week, they were down 1% below year ago level–their first yearly decline in 9 weeks. The prior 8 weeks of yearly gains had been the first such improvement since May 2021, and foreshadowed the existing home sales bump.
- From an inventory perspective, weekly housing data from Realtor.com show that homes for sale continued to climb and momentum improved for new sellers while listing prices slipped somewhat. Notably, time on market was 10 days longer than a year ago, the biggest slowdown since July 2023.
- Finally, in a recent post-election survey, Realtor.com found that while the majority of homebuyers didn’t see the outcome of the election changing their plans, there were differences on the margins with 1 in 5 Republicans saying they were more likely to buy a home now and 1 in 4 Democrats saying they were less likely to do so. Men more often said they were now more likely to buy a home than women, and Gen Zers were more likely to say the election would affect their buying decisions, with 45% saying it would make them either more or less likely to buy a home.
- You’ll find all the details, including full reports and our housing data for download, at realtor.com/research. You can also follow us on X (formerly twitter) for real time updates. And instagram for graphics.
Subscribe to our mailing list to receive monthly updates and notifications on the latest data and research.