Mortgage rates slide for second-straight week, October new home sales rise

Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss the latest data on the state of the housing market.

Video transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Welcome back. It's been a busy day for housing data. The Mortgage Bankers Association reporting demand bounced back last week as rates edged lower. Applications rising 2.2% from a week ago. And according to the MBA's data, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 6.67%. That's a two-month low. Now, separately, numbers from Freddie Mac show the average 30-year fixed fell to 6.58%.

Now the declines are partly a result of growing recession fears, cooling inflation, and Fed officials saying it may be time to slow down rate hikes. And we also got the October reading on new home sales, which unexpectedly rose 7 and 1/2%. Dave.

DAVE BRIGGS: Really interesting there, Rachelle. I guess the question is, what does this do to the housing market? Certainly, it's good news for a housing market that's been struggling. But I think it's going to continue to freeze both sides, as we've seen for about the last year, because, look, if you see rates coming down, you're probably not going to make a move unless you absolutely have to because you think those rates might continue to come down. What do you think will be the impact?

RACHELLE AKUFFO: I mean, obviously, we're seeing prices continuing to come down in the housing market. But a lot of people still aren't ready to pull the trigger yet. There's still a lot of uncertainty. We know that the Fed may become less aggressive, but nothing is set in stone yet. So I think a lot of people who have built up equity in their homes and aren't ready to move and risk having a higher mortgage rate are probably staying put for now.

DAVE BRIGGS: Yeah, I think the good news is we're not going to go to 8. At least, apparently, we're going to get to 6 before we get to 8, which is a bit of a pleasant surprise.