Meanwhile in a Reuters story also on FoxBusiness.com:

Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes in October rose more than expected to their highest level in a year, data showed on Wednesday, pointing to a stabilizing housing market after a three-year slump.

The Commerce Department said sales jumped 6.2 percent to a 430,000 annual pace, the highest since September last year, from an upwardly revised 405,000 in September.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected new home sales to climb to a 410,000 annual pace from September’s previously reported 402,000. The rise in sales pushed the supply of new homes on the market last month down to 239,000 units, the lowest since May 1971.

Posted in: Housing Market
Tags: commerce department, Housing Market, new home sales, single family

From FoxBusiness.com:

Why aren’t uber-low interest rates bringing more buyers into housing?

Generally mortgage rates and home buying move inversely. The lower rates are, the more buyers step into the housing market.

Even with today’s slightly better than expected read on new home sales, the trend has been poor. As the graph shows, rates and mortgage applications are both falling. The coupon on certain Fannie Mae notes fell below 4% yesterday as the Fed and institutional buyers keep buying the debt (albeit for different reasons). This implies mortgage rates should keep falling even from already historically low levels. But even low rates may not help a housing market suffering through a 17+% real unemployment and underemployment rate in America.

Posted in: Housing Market
Tags: fannie mae, Home Buying, Housing Market, low interest rates, mortgage applications, mortgage rates, new home sales