The sales pace of existing homes surged 6.7% in January after falling in December, as buyers got off the fence and went shopping ahead of rising interest rates, the National Association of Realtors reported.

Single-family housing starts fell 5.6% from December’s revised estimate to 1,116,000, while multifamily starts slid 2.1% to 510,000, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said.

New listings, closings and showings all hovered in roughly the same territory where they’ve been during the first month-and-a-half of 2022.

January foreclosure filings were the highest since the start of the pandemic, according to a new report. 

Sales volume increased 52.2% year over year among properties priced at $1 million or more.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration increased to 3.93% from 3.86%, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. 

New listings dropped 17.9% — from 2,944 to 2,417 — for the week ending Feb. 7, compared to the same week last year.  

Across the country, 10% of ZIP codes with the largest share of children had an average home value growth of 21.3% from October 2020 to October 2021.

Home-price growth could slow by the end of 2022, despite the housing market breaking records in January.

Home-price growth is expected to average about 5% this year, far below the record-breaking pace set in 2021, RCLCO reported. 

The new year kicked off with the hottest January on record, despite having the first pending sales decline since June of 2020, according to a recent Redfin report.  Last month, 45% of homes found a buyer within two weeks

The Houston Association of REALTORS’ weekly activity snapshot showed a decline in market activity both year over year and from week to week.

Home values grew 19.6% last year, an all-time high in Zillow’s data, which goes back more than 20 years.

In 2021, home sale profits rose in more than 90% of the country’s housing markets and reached the highest level since 2008. 

Builders started to make headway against supply-chain issues that have hampered construction of homes in the face of high demand. 

Rising prices and rates are driving up mortgage payments which are pushing up demand for rentals.