Weekly Housing Headlines

New home purchase activity was up 3% on an annual basis in November; mortgage applications decreased 3.8% from one week earlier; U.S. pending home sales fell 5.8% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending December 14, the biggest decline since the start of 2025; refinance applications fell 4% for the week and were 86% higher than one year ago; and homebuyer affordability improved slightly in November.

November New Home Purchase Mortgage Applications Increased 3.1 Percent
Mortgage Bankers Association - 12/16/2025
MBA’s Builder Application Survey data show that new home purchase activity was up 3 percent on an annual basis in November, and down 7 percent from the prior month.

Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey
Mortgage Bankers Association - 12/17/2025
Mortgage applications decreased 3.8 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 12, 2025.

Redfin Reports Pending Home Sales Fall 6%, the Biggest Drop in Nearly a Year
Redfin - 12/18/2025
U.S. pending home sales fell 5.8% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending December 14, the biggest decline since the start of 2025.

Mortgage rates move higher after the Fed rate cut, causing loan demand to drop
CNBC - 12/17/2025
The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, 806,500 or less, increased to 6.38% from 6.33%. Refinance applications fell 4% for the week and were 86% higher than one year ago.

Mortgage Application Payments Decreased in November
Mortgage Bankers Association - 12/18/2025
Homebuyer affordability improved slightly in November, with the national median payment applied for by purchase applicants decreasing to $2,034 from $2,039 in October.

The U.S. Housing Market Will Get A Bit More Affordable In 2026
Financial Advisor - 12/17/2025
Bloomberg asked nine market analysts to predict how the housing market will look next year. They forecast a median price increase of 1.5%, less than this year and much less than the expected growth in employee wages.

U.S. housing affordability to improve 'for the first time in years,' says economist
Mortgage Professional America - 12/16/2025
National home prices are expected to remain largely flat in 2026, marking the start of what Compass chief economist Mike Simonsen described as a “next era” of the housing market in an interview on CNBC’s Fast Money.

Plenty of hopeful homebuyers and sellers fear a 2026 housing crash
Mortgage Professional America - 12/12/2025
Home buyers and sellers heading into 2026 appear torn between fear of a crash and hope for a gentle reset of the housing market, according to new survey data from Clever Offers.

Equity Loans Don’t Match Borrower Needs
National Mortgage Professional - 12/12/2025
A new Hometap survey finds that homeowners view traditional home equity products as inflexible, outdated and poorly aligned with their financial needs, driving rising demand for more adaptable financing alternatives.

U.S. Homeownership Rate Ticks Up, but Boomers and Millennials Lose Ground
Realtor.com - 12/12/2025
Between July and September, 65.3% of Americans owned homes, up from 65% in Q2 but down from 65.6% compared to a year ago, according to the latest Housing Vacancy Survey released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.