United States Real Estate Investor

Key Takeaways The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.11% as of November 12, 2026, down from 7.18% last week, a fourth straight weekly decline and the lowest level in seven weeks. The 15-year fixed fell almost twice as fast, down 12 basis points to 6.45% from 6.57%, which widened the gap between the two loans to 66 basis points. On a $300,000 loan, this week's 30-year rate costs about $59 a month less than the 7.40% peak of mid-October, but about $173 a month more than a year ago. Realtor.com warns a reversal could come as soon as next week after a hotter-than-expected inflation report, so this window may be short. Mortgage rates eased for a fourth week in a row. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released November 12 , put the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 7.11%, down 7 basis points from 7.18% last week. That is the lowest reading in seven weeks. It is still 87 basis points above the 6.24% average of a year ago, an author's subtraction of Freddie Mac's t...

Key Takeaways The median monthly mortgage payment fell to $2,755 in the four weeks ending November 8, 2026, its lowest level in six weeks, down from $2,820 a month earlier. Home-sale prices fell for a fourth straight week, to a median of $388,613, down 0.9% year over year, while the median asking price rose 0.9% to $400,636. Pending sales held essentially flat from a week earlier at 275,980, but stayed at the lowest level in Redfin records dating back to 2021, down 15.54% year over year. The payment low was built on a 7.18% weekly average rate, and daily rates have already ticked back up after a hot inflation report, so the saving is perishable. The cheapest monthly payment in six weeks showed up in a market where almost nobody is buying. Redfin's housing market update for the four weeks ending November 8 , released November 12, put the median monthly mortgage payment at $2,755, seasonally adjusted. That payment is $65 a month below the $2,820 level from a month earlier, an author...

Key Takeaways Existing-home sales fell 5.5% in October 2026 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.75 million, down 8.8% from a year ago and the lowest since August 2010. Inventory rose to 1.59 million homes, a 5.1-month supply, while the median price held at $416,700, up 0.4% for a 40th straight year-over-year increase. Investors and second-home buyers took 20% of sales, up from 16% a year ago, even as first-time buyers slipped to 29%. Distressed sales stayed at just 2% of transactions, so this is a volume collapse driven by rates, not a distress wave. Existing-home sales fell harder than expected in October. The National Association of REALTORS® Existing-Home Sales report for October 2026 , released November 12, put sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.75 million. That is down 5.5% from September and down 8.8% from October 2025. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 3.85 million rate, so the actual print missed consensus and set a new low for this cycle. NAR Chief...

Key Takeaways Sellers outnumbered buyers by 70.5% in October 2026, the widest gap in Redfin records dating back to 2013 and a record for a sixth straight month. Buyers fell to a record low of 895,752, down 2% in one month, while sellers rose 0.9% to 1,526,984, the most since March 2020. Just 3 of the 50 most populous metros were seller's markets, all in the Northeast, and 41 were buyer's markets, led by Miami at 195.8% more sellers than buyers. The gap widened because buyers retreated, not because sellers flooded the market, and even the 3 seller's markets got weaker in October. Homebuyers had more negotiating power in October than at any point in Redfin's records. The brokerage's October buyers-versus-sellers report , released November 12, counted an estimated 70.5% more home sellers than buyers nationwide. That is the biggest gap in records dating back to 2013. It is also the sixth record-breaking month in a row, up from 65.6% in September. The Gap Widened Because...

Key Takeaways Consumer credit rose $27.84 billion in September 2026, more than double the $11.5 billion increase economists expected, according to the Federal Reserve's G.19 report released November 6. Revolving credit, mostly credit cards, swung from a 4.4% annualized decline in August to a 14.5% annualized surge in September, and supplied more than half of the month's total increase. The average APR on credit card accounts assessed interest reached 22.36%, so the fastest-growing debt in the report is also the most expensive mainstream borrowing in it. The G.19 report excludes loans secured by real estate, which makes it a clean early-warning gauge of how stretched homebuyers and tenants are before they ever reach a mortgage application. American households did not just borrow more in September. They borrowed in the most expensive way available to them, and they did it suddenly. The Federal Reserve released its G.19 Consumer Credit report on November 6, 2026, covering Septembe...

Key Takeaways Same-store effective asking rents rose 1.7% year over year in October, the biggest annual increase since May 2023, according to RealPage Market Analytics. Rents actually fell 0.7% during October itself, the first monthly rent cut in the United States in calendar 2026, so the annual milestone came mostly from weak rent performance a year ago falling out of the calculation. U.S. apartment occupancy eased to 95% in October, down 20 basis points from September but still 10 basis points ahead of October 2025. The split by market is extreme: San Francisco rents rose 14.7% over the year while San Antonio fell 2.6%, the deepest cut among the 50 largest apartment markets. Two rent numbers landed for October, and they point in opposite directions. Which one a landlord prices from makes a real difference. RealPage Market Analytics published its October 2026 data update on November 6 and updated it on November 11. It covers same-store effective asking rents, occupancy, and the supply...