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40 | M R EP O RT O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST ORIGINATION Rising Interest Rates Driving Late-Season Homebuying Push In an unseasonable move, home prices and the rate at which they sell both ticked upwards in October, bucking trends that usually see a cooling during this time of year. I n an unseasonable move, home prices and the rate at which they sell both ticked upwards in October, bucking trends that usually see a cooling during this time of year. According to a new report from Redfin, the October me- dian home sale price increased to $357,007 which was a 1.5% increase from last month and a 13% increase from last year. The asking price of newly listed home also increased by 12% year over year to $357,381. When compared to pre-pandemic num- bers the asking price of a newly- listed home has increased by an astounding 27% since 2019. Mortgage rates, while on the rise over the last few weeks, fell to 3.09% for the week ending November 4, prompting buyers and refinancers to take advantage of the low rates before they climb again. "Rising mortgage rates have lit a fire under many homebuy- ers," Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said. "Fear of missing out (FOMO) is always a powerful force in this supply- constrained housing market, but especially so today for buyers who weren't able to snag a home last year before mortgage pay- ments shot up by 15%. With this renewed FOMO, the housing market is heating up from the slight lull a few months ago." The report, which was au- thored by Redfin Economist Tim Ellis, also found: • Pending home sales were up 5% year over year, and up 51% compared to the same period in 2019. • New listings of homes for sale were down 7% from a year earlier, but up 8% from 2019. • Active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) fell 22% from 2020 and were down 40% from 2019. • 45% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market, above the 41% rate of a year earlier and the 30% rate in 2019. Since the four- week period ending September 19, the share of homes under contract within two weeks is up 1.6 percentage points. During the same time in 2019, the share fell 1.2 points. • 33% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within one week of hitting the market, up from 29% during the same period a year earlier and 19% in 2019. Since the four- week period ending September 12, the share of homes under contract within a week is up 2.6 percentage points. During the same time in 2019, the share fell 1.2 points. • Homes that sold were on the market for a median of 23 days, a full week longer than the all-time low of 16 days seen in late June and July, down from 31 days a year earlier and 45 days in 2019. • 45% of homes sold above list price, up from 35% a year ear- lier and 22% in 2019. • On average, 4.7% of homes for sale each week had a price drop, up 1.1 percentage points from the same time in 2020, up 0.1 point from 2019. • The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their asking prices, was flat at 100.6%. In other words, the av- erage home sold for 0.6% above its asking price. • From January 1 to October 31, home tours were up 0.2%, com- pared to a 9% increase over the same period last year, but higher than the -2% change in 2019, according to home tour technol- ogy company ShowingTime. • Mortgage purchase applications decreased 2% week over week (seasonally adjusted) during the week ending October 29.