Market Recap: Steady Mortgage Rates, Existing Home Sales Surge, and GDP Gains

Blog posted On December 23, 2016

Mortgage rates did not change much this week, dropping a few hundredths of a percentage point according to Mortgage News Daily.  Existing home sales posted sizable gains, the third quarter GDP was revised up, and new home sales improved as well. 

This month, existing home sales increased at a pace of 5.61 Million, up 0.7% from October’s numbers and hitting a 9-year high.  This marked a 15.4% increase on a year-over-year basis, partly caused by slowed sales last November due to the implementation of TRID regulations. 

The third quarter GDP was revised up to 3.5% gain.  This rate of increase exceeds economists’ expectations and is also greater than the second quarter.  Third quarter growth was driven by exports and consumer confidence. 

New home sales increased 5.2% from October to November at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000.  Overall, new home sales for most of 2016 (January-November) are up 12.7% compared to the same period in 2015. 

With three rate hikes forecast for 2017, mortgage rates are expected to continue rising.  The slight drop this week indicates that the increase will be gradual.   Positive housing numbers in 2016 will build momentum for a strong 2017. 

Sources: Mortgage News Daily, Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch