Mortgage Rates Today: Builders Cutting Prices on New Homes

Episode Summary

Is America short on homes, or short on affordable ones? In this Wednesday Punch List, Eric G walks through this week’s mortgage rates, existing, pending, and new home sales, builder price cuts, the remodeling market, Portland job losses, and the latest product safety recalls from the CPSC.

What We Cover

Mortgage Rates

• Freddie Mac’s 30-year fixed: 7.24%, down from 7.32% the week before and the lowest of the month
• 15-year fixed: 6.6%
• A year ago, the 30-year was 6.17%
• Mortgage News Daily index: 7.3%, up from 7.2%
• 10-year Treasury yield fell three basis points to 4.92%. Mortgage rates usually follow within a day or two.
• New Freddie Mac numbers come out Thursday

Existing and Pending Home Sales

• Existing home sales rose 1.5% in September to a 3.99 million annual pace, but are down 2.2% from a year ago
• Median existing home price: $417,500 (up 1.3% year over year)
• Inventory: 1.6 million homes, a 4.8-month supply
• Pending home sales fell 7.3%, and the NAR index dropped to 66, the lowest since the index began in 2001

New Construction: “No Housing Shortage”

• New home sales: 676,000 annual pace (down 0.6% from August, down 5.3% from a year ago)
• Median new home price: $400,400
• 8.4-month supply of new homes, which Eric says points to an affordability problem rather than a shortage
• NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell three points to 29, the lowest since June 2012
• Buyer traffic: 18
• 43% of builders cut prices in October and 65% offered incentives
• Buyer tip: If you’re shopping new construction, ask about rate buydowns and upgrades

Remodeling Market

• NAHB Remodeling Market Index: 62 in Q3, up one point
• Current conditions: 70 (flat for a third straight quarter)
• Large projects ($50,000 and up): up two points to 66
• Leads and inquiries: 53. Backlogs: 56
• Eric’s take on the West Coast: remodelers are busier elsewhere, but affordability pressures are costing jobs here

Portland Job Losses and Affordability

• Freightliner, founded in Portland and building trucks for 80 years, closed its operation on Friday, Oct. 31 and is moving to another state
• Eric points to job losses across Washington, Oregon, and California as a drag on West Coast housing prices
• Portland’s plan to close 14 schools, which Eric ties to families leaving and not being able to afford kids

Product Safety Recalls (source: cpsc.gov/recalls)

• Dreo space heaters (fire and burn hazards): 338,800 units in the U.S., about 36,000 in Canada
• NTI and HTP gas boilers (fire, carbon monoxide, and impact hazards): about 4,700 units in the U.S., 2,200 in Canada
• Bodum French press coffee makers with replaceable glass carafes (burn injury risk)
• Haiara power banks sold on Amazon (fire hazard): about 11,000 units
• Whatever Works microwave grills (fire hazard): about 8,700 units
• Ocoopa rechargeable hand warmers: 1.5 million units
• Plus more recalls on dressers without anti-tip hardware, mattresses, and kids’ clothing

Join the Conversation

Join Around The House Nation on Facebook, our friendly closed group, to post what you’re working on and ask your home improvement and design questions. One hour of this weekend’s show will be built around questions from the group. You can also message Eric at aroundthehouseonline.com.

Resources Mentioned

• CPSC recalls: cpsc.gov/recalls
• Around the House: aroundthehouseonline.com
• Facebook group: Around The House Nation

Takeaways:

• I said the election fel