Elevated mortgage rates continue to exert significant pressure on the housing market. Over the past several months, existing home sales have essentially moved sideways, preserving the lackluster trend that began in 2023. In addition to financing costs, prohibitive home prices and scarce supply remain discouraging to interested buyers. Encouragingly, recent progress has been made on the affordability front. Mortgage rates have dropped by 45 bps since mid-July, most recently hitting 6.3% in the first week of October. The drop looks owed to September FOMC's 25 bps fed funds rate cut solidifying expectations for ... (full story)