A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 7.08% this week from 6.94% a week ago, Freddie Mac reported. A year ago, the average mortgage carried a 3.14% rate. 

Mortgage rates continued to weigh on homebuyers in September, following a brief uptick in new-home sales in August.  

At the same time, mortgage applications declined 1.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis on a week-over-week basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. 

Springwoods Village community Harper Woods is nearing a full close out, with only two properties still available for purchase.

Despite the slowdown, however, U.S. housing prices remain significantly higher than they were a year ago. 

“We are excited to expand our footprint in the Cypress community with the development of this luxury community joining our Houston portfolio,” said John Foresi, CEO of Venterra Realty.

The only other time the market saw such change was at the beginning of the pandemic. 

Month over month in September, existing-home sales slid 1.5% to 4.71 million, which is 23.8% lower than the year before. 

Houston developer Canterbury Development has announced plans to break ground on a sixth apartment complex for people ages 55 and up.

Nationwide residential real estate brokerage Douglas Elliman Realty has announced the opening of a second office in Houston.

New home construction missed analyst estimates in September, falling 8.1% month over month to an annual rate 1,439,000 homes, according to government statistics. 

Many luxury home sales were closed in September, the most expensive being a 12,907-square-foot mansion on W. Friar Tuck Lane that sold for $7,990,000.

After 250 days on the market, Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee’s home’s listing price has been cut 27.7% to $20 million.

Mortgage rates rose to 6.9%, the highest they’ve been since April 2002.

First-time homebuyers now make up 45% of current homebuyers, according to Zillow. The numbers represent a rebound from the lows of the pandemic.

The Houston Association of REALTORS® was featured on the game show Jeopardy! this week. The episode, which aired Oct. 11, included a Daily Double that referenced HAR’s decision to eliminate the term “master bedroom” from listings.