Builders Are Cutting Prices and Stacking Incentives. The 8.5 Months of Supply Number Is the One You Should Actually Care About.

New-home sales data shows 8.5 months of supply, 38% of builders cutting prices, and a median price down 5.8% year over year. Before you take a builder’s incentive package at face value, here is what the numbers actually mean and how to negotiate in this market.

Mortgage Rates Hit a Two-Year High Six Weeks Running. ARMs Are Back. Here’s the Part Nobody Is Explaining.

Six straight weeks. Freddie Mac’s October 1 survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.28%, the highest weekly average since November 2023 and the largest single-week jump since October 2022. Mortgage News Daily’s real-time tracking touched 7.58% on September 29. The MBA’s weekly numbers showed purchase applications down 14% from a year ago and refinance applications … Read more

Mortgage Rates Are Back Near a One-Year High. Don’t Let the Headlines Make Your Decision for You.

Freddie Mac’s latest survey put the 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.69 percent, the highest reading in just over a year. Rates have climbed for five straight weeks, and July existing home sales fell 1.7 percent to a 4.06 million annual pace. If you’ve been watching the news, you know this story has gotten plenty … Read more

A Bad Jobs Report Just Dropped Your Mortgage Rate. Here’s Why That’s Not a Coincidence.

The July jobs report was bad by most measures. The U.S. economy shed 23,000 jobs when forecasters were expecting a gain of around 83,000. On top of that, May and June numbers were revised down by over 100,000 combined. If you follow economic news at all, you know that’s a significant miss. And mortgage rates … Read more