Mortgage Payments Decrease and New Home Listings Increase, Offering Relief for Housing Market

According to Yahoo News, relief may be on the horizon for the stagnant housing market. Home buying is becoming slightly more affordable, and there are now more homes available for purchase. Mortgage rates have fallen, reducing payments from their peak last month, and new home listings experienced their largest year-over-year increase in November since summer 2021, according to a Redfin report released Thursday. "Mortgage rates are dropping due to easing inflation and investors betting the Fed will cut interest rates sooner than expected," said Redfin economics research lead Chen Zhao, in the release. "Declining rates, along with a sizable year-over-year increase in new listings, are leading to more favorable conditions for some buyers." Mortgage payments have decreased for the fifth consecutive week, from $2,739 in October to $2,575 in the first four weeks of November. New listings increased by 6%, the largest increase in over two years, indicating a potential easing of the housing market's supply crunch. Buyers are taking notice, with mortgage-purchase applications up 5% week over week. The decline in mortgage payments is due to a decrease in mortgage rates, which have been gradually lowering from their 8% peak in October. As of Wednesday, the daily average for the 30-year mortgage rate was 7.13%, its lowest level since September. However, the market still has a long way to go before conditions truly loosen. While the drop in mortgage payments removes $164 from last month's peak, it is still 13% higher than November last year. Additionally, home prices increased by 4%, with the total number of homes for sale down 7% since last year.