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February is still winter but, according to new numbers from the National Association of Realtors, it may’ve been the start of this year’s spring sales season. That’s because the NAR found sales of previously owned homes up 4.2 percent in February from the month before. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says buyers are starting to enter the market. “Home buyers are slowly entering the market,” Yun said. “Mortgage rates have not changed much, but more inventory and choices are releasing pent-up housing demand.” Regionally, the West saw the biggest improvement, with a 13.3 percent month-over-month gain. The South was next with a 4.4 percent sales increase. In the Northeast and Midwest – where inventory still lags – buyers were not as active. The NAR also found prices up 3.8 percent year-over-year, with the median existing-home price for all housing types now at $398,400. (source)

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates increased last week from one week earlier. Rates were up across all loan categories including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, 15-year fixed-rate loans, and 5/1 ARMs. But while the rate bump did slow refinance activity, demand for loans to buy homes actually increased from the week before. In fact, purchase application demand was up 1 percent week-over-week. Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, says it’s now at a six-week high. “Purchase application volume inched up to its highest level in six weeks, led by a 3 percent increase in FHA purchase applications,” Fratantoni said. “Overall, purchase application volume is up 6 percent compared to last year at this time. Growing inventories of homes on the market and steadier mortgage rates are supporting home buying activity thus far this spring.” The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. (source)

The pace of new home construction surged in February, according to new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Single-family housing starts rose 11.4 percent from January’s rate, while the number of new homes that completed construction during the month was 7.1 percent higher than the month before. The news is an encouraging sign for the housing market amid higher home prices, elevated mortgage rates, and economic uncertainty. New home construction is often cited as the answer to the current market’s challenges, since it remains the fastest way to add additional housing supply in the areas where home buyers most want to buy. That helps slow prices and competition, which helps buyers. Put another way, the areas currently seeing the most new home construction are also the ones where buying conditions are seeing the most improvement. (source)

The National Association of Home Builder’s monthly Housing Market Index measures how confident builders are in the market for newly built homes. When the index scores above 50, it means more builders view market conditions as good than poor. In March, the index fell three points to 39. Robert Dietz, NAHB’s chief economist, says uncertainty is behind the decline. “Construction firms are facing added cost pressures from tariffs,” Dietz said. “Data from the HMI March survey reveals that builders estimate a typical cost effect from recent tariff actions at $9,200 per home. Uncertainty on policy is also having a negative impact on home buyers and development decisions.” Despite the uncertainty, though, the component measuring builders’ expectations for the next six months held steady in March at 47. The share of builders that reported using sales incentives was also unchanged from February, as was the average price reduction, which held firm at 5 percent. (source)

The number of homes available for sale hit a historic low a few years ago. Inventory was already lower than normal when the pandemic-era buying boom drove it even lower. That resulted in rising prices and growing home buyer frustration. Fortunately, though, things have improved since then. New home construction ramped up and – particularly in the South and West – has helped home buyers, providing more homes to choose from and smaller price increases. But according to one new analysis, the market still has a long way to go. In fact, the numbers – released by the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website – show the market still short nearly 4 million homes. That’s the third-largest gap since 2012 and one that it would take years to close at the current rate of new home construction. Danielle Hale, the website’s chief economist, says builders made some strides but there’s still work to do. “While builders made strides last year, the scale of the historic housing shortage, paired with strong pent-up demand, meant that new supply couldn’t fully close the nearly 4 million-home gap,” Hale said. (source)

Everyone with a home to sell hopes to get the most money they can for it. That’s why sellers usually make repairs, remove clutter, clean, and get the house ready before listing it. But while prepping the house is important, so is choosing the best time to put it on the market. And, according to one new analysis from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, that time is approaching. In fact, based on last year’s trends, homeowners who list their homes between April 13 and April 19 could potentially make an extra $27,000 on their sale. Danielle Hale, the website’s chief economist, says spring is always a good time to sell. “Spring is typically a good time to list your home …,” Hale said. “Very predictably, homes listed in the spring tend to be priced higher and sell faster than the average week throughout the year.” It’s true. Historically, homes actively for sale in mid-April sell about nine days faster than the average week. (source)

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates fell last week from one week earlier. Rates were down across all loan categories, including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, 15-year fixed-rate loans, and 5/1 ARMs. Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, said it was the sixth straight week rates declined. “Mortgage rates declined for the sixth consecutive week, with the 30-year fixed rate dropping to … the lowest level since October 2024,” Kan said. “As a result, applications increased over the week and were up 31 percent from one year ago.” The MBA’s Market Composite Index – which measures both purchase and refinance demand – saw an 11.2 percent increase week-over-week, with demand for loans to buy homes up 7 percent from the week before. The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. (source)

There are a nearly limitless number of reasons you might be thinking about making a move this year. Among that long list, though, age is probably the biggest factor motivating your move. After all, the younger you are, the more likely you are to be changing jobs, getting married, and starting a family – all things that rank high on the list of reasons someone would be looking to buy a home. When you’re older, you’re more likely to have already settled in somewhere and less likely to have a reason to move. Perhaps that explains a new survey of Americans that found the youngest respondents the most likely to say they’re looking to buy. According to the results, 67 percent of Gen Z respondents said they plan to purchase a home this year, compared to 51 percent of Millennials and 49 percent of Gen X participants. On the other end of the spectrum, Baby Boomers were the least likely to say they’re planning to buy at 22 percent. Overall, the survey found 47 respondents are planning to buy this year, with 41 percent saying they believe conditions are favorable for buyers this year. (source)

While you’ve undoubtedly heard talk about “hot” real-estate markets, you may not know what that exactly means. After all, is a market hot because it’s in a desirable location, because its conditions are ripe for buyers, or because competition is high and it’s good for sellers? Well, according to Danielle Hale, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, hotness is a measure of supply versus demand. “Looking at markets by hotness tells us the strength of demand versus supply in each area relative to others and which markets heavily favor sellers,” Hale said. In other words, a hot market is one where homes sell quickly, list prices are climbing, and price reductions are falling. Hot markets generally see homes selling in fewer than the 66-day national average and garner between two and four times the number of viewers as homes in markets elsewhere. These days, the hottest markets are found in the Northeast and Midwest, where affordable prices and fewer available listings have raised the temperature heading into the spring season. (source)

For most of last year, there was an assumption that mortgage rates were about to fall. And they did, briefly. In late summer, average rates started to decrease and ended their slide in mid-September about a point lower than they were. But unfortunately for prospective home buyers and refi-ready homeowners, lower rates only lasted a week or two before they began climbing back up. Now, according to the latest results from Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index, Americans have begun to look past an expected rate drop. In fact, the number of respondents who said they expect rates to fall over the next year slipped 5 percent from the month before, while the share who say rates will stay the same is up 3 percent. Mark Palim, Fannie Mae’s senior vice president and chief economist, says Americans are acclimating to elevated rates but it has affected home buying sentiment. “In February, the HPSI saw its first year-over-year decline in nearly two years, which was mostly due to a shrinking share of consumers expressing optimism about the direction of mortgage rates,” Palim said. (source)