Having dropped to a 28-year low last week, the volume of applications to secure a purchase mortgage loan for a home in the U.S. has since ticked down another 3 percent in the absolute, representing a 6 percent drop on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
As such, purchase mortgage activity is now down 44 percent on a year-over-year basis and dropping, which shouldn’t catch any plugged-in readers, other than the most obstinate, by surprise.
Closer to home, pending home sales in San Francisco are now down over 40 percent on a year-over-year basis, representing the fewest homes in contract on a seasonally adjusted basis in over six years while inventory is on the rise.
And this is leading to a situation where the number of real estate agents, measured by NAR membership, is falling for first time in over decade. Seems like it’d be a good time to career transition out of being a home salesperson; with the strength of the job market being The Fed’s justification for continuing to tighten monetary policy, former agents won’t have a problem getting into a new line of work.