New home loan applications down as sales tilt upward
While mortgage applications for new single-family home purchases were down in October, actual sales appear to have increased, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Monday.
Applications fell 2.6% from one year earlier and 1% from September, the MBA said in a statement, noting that the application data is not seasonally adjusted. On the other hand, there were a seasonally adjusted 771,000 single-family homes sold in October, up from 680,000 in September, the MBA said.
The sales numbers are not the same as the official figures that the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development normally provide. Given delays related to the federal government shutdown, it’s unclear when these agencies will publish data on sales from September and October. They previously reported that sales jumped to 800,000 in August, which surprised some analysts.
The mortgage application data is useful as an early estimate of new home sales, the MBA said.
A quarter of applications were for adjustable-rate mortgages, up from 16% a year ago, Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, said in the statement. He said the use of these loans contributed to the rise in sales and a slightly higher average loan size.
Heating homes will cost more this winter
Industry experts say it will cost an average of $976 for people to heat their homes this winter, a nearly 8% increase from a year ago.
The estimate is from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, which represents state officials who administer low-income heating assistance programs. It’s bad news given that many people are already behind on their electric or gas bills, according to a report Monday by the left-leaning think tank The Century Foundation and advocacy group Protect Borrowers.
The average overdue balance on utility bills climbed from $597 in 2022 to $789 this year, the foundation said in the report, noting that this issue is especially acute in parts of the South and Appalachia.
“The sharp spike in monthly utility bills and overdue balances serves as a warning sign that a growing number of households cannot keep up with basic necessities and are falling into debt as a result,” according to the report.
Average monthly energy costs across the U.S. rose from $196 in March 2022 to $265 in June 2025, the report said. Nearly a quarter of that increase came in the first six months of this year.
The foundation blamed a wave of utility company mergers for contributing to less competition and higher bills for consumers.
Multiple Listing Services get more decision-making power
The National Association of Realtors is updating the way Multiple Listing Services operate across the country.
On Monday, as the trade association wrapped up its annual conference for industry professionals in Houston, Texas, leadership approved 18 recommendations to the MLS Handbook. MLSs are local online platforms that real estate agents use to share listings.
The recommendations take effect in January. Under the new guidelines, local organizations have more decision-making power, a shift from the previous nationally enforced rules. For example, local MLSs will now determine whether NAR membership is required to access their platforms — a shift that could reshape how agents engage with the association and publicize for-sale properties.
“These updates to the MLS Handbook strengthen and modernize NAR’s policies and reflect our efforts to align MLS policies with how real estate professionals do business today,” Kevin Sears, the immediate past president of the NAR, said in a statement Monday.
The association also introduced a three-year strategic plan at the conference “to strengthen member value and modernize the association.” The plan includes commitments such as helping members thrive in their business, advocating for property ownership and cultivating trust in the group’s brand. It takes effect Jan. 1.
Construction spending increased in August
A report on construction spending in August, delayed more than a month by the federal government shutdown, showed that spending on housing helped drive an overall increase in activity.
Private residential construction rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8% from July’s revised estimate to $915 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau said Monday. By contrast, nonresidential spending declined 0.3%. Overall, including public construction, spending was up 0.2% from July to $2.17 trillion. Since August 2024, overall spending has dropped 1.6%.
Bernard Yaros, lead economist at Oxford Economics, said in a statement that while the August data is “stale at this point,” it’s helpful for understanding the trend in the larger housing market, which includes both existing homes and new ones.
“Residential investment is still on track to decline in [the third quarter], but to a much lesser extent than [previously] assumed. The improvement has less to do with the details of August construction spending and more so with growing activity in the resale market,” Yaros said.