The mortgage application volume for new home purchases in the U.S. was up 19 percent on a year-over-year basis in January and the seasonally adjusted pace of sales, which had dropped 11.5 percent in December, rebounded 16.9 percent, based on loan application data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
That being said, the average loan size for new home purchases, which is correlated with pricing, ticked down a (1) percent last month and was nominally lower than at the same time last year, with inventory levels ticking and over 40 percent higher than prior to the pandemic, and within a few percent of a 15-year high, despite continued misreporting of “supply constraints.”
I thought this was a pretty interesting stat. From A brutal reckoning for real estate agents: Many won’t survive the housing crunch, fifth ‘graph:
Later on in the piece is says “Just as the housing market goes through booms and busts, so do the ranks of real-estate agents.” And of course, S.F.’s economy in general is more prone than most others to booms and busts.