There are those who always try to portray the glass as being half full when it comes to the housing market. Then there are those who love a full glass, but who also call it like they see it. Right now, each camp has something to agree on: the glass is more full than it was last month. Before proceeding, a disclaimer is in order.  Outright measurements of housing market health are still not that great.  We know that and have been discussing it for the better part of a year as sales slid and rates spiked.  That part is old news. The new news is that there are a few signs of change.  If things were to continue to change as they have in the past few weeks, people would really be talking about a bounce in the housing market. In separate articles, I discussed the potential bounces in both new and pending home sales.  The latter included a reference to the recent drop in rates as the reason for the bounces. As we’ve discussed at length in the past few weeks, rates are indeed much improved from 3-4 months ago.  But the level of improvement is perhaps not even the most welcome change.  Rather, it’s the STABILITY.  With a range of just over half a percent for more than 3 months, rates haven’t seen a narrower, more stable range since late 2021.  Interestingly enough, this combination of lower and more stable rates PERFECTLY coincides with a noticeable shift in purchase mortgage applications.  This week saw purchase apps tick up to the highest levels since August.
Source: Mortgage News Daily