Mortgage rates have been coming down, but there has yet to be a spike in homebuying activity\u2014and one leading indicator has even declined.<\/p>\n
Pending home sales, or signed contracts leading up to a sale, fell for the first time in nearly three months, slipping about 1% during the four weeks ending Sept. 21 compared to a year earlier, according to a Redfin report<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n That\u2019s despite the weekly average mortgage rate sliding for nine consecutive weeks, hitting an 11-month low of 6.26% after reaching 6.8% at the start of the summer.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, separate data from the National Association of Realtors on Thursday showed that sales of existing homes<\/a> dipped 0.2% in August from the prior month. While they were up 1.8% from a year ago, the recent trend still points to a stagnant housing market.<\/p>\n To be sure, lower mortgage rates have sparked a surge in at least one corner of the housing market. Redfin pointed out that mortgage applications to\u00a0refinance\u00a0homes jumped 58%<\/a>\u00a0in the second week of September from the prior week. <\/p>\n But mortgage-purchase applications edged up just 3%, and the anemic sales data are dashing hopes that cheaper borrowing costs will quickly jump start the housing market.<\/p>\n Redfin highlighted four factors weighing on housing demand: still-elevated home prices, would-be buyers waiting for mortgage rates to go below 6%, muted supply of new listings<\/a>, and economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n Those waiting for mortgage rates to fall further may have already missed their chance, as borrowing costs have started to tick higher again.<\/p>\n According to Mortgage News Daily<\/a>, top-tier 30-year fixed rates were in the high 6.3% range on Friday, flat from the previous Friday but up from 6.1% range in the first half of last week.<\/p>\n