Mortgage Rates Fall Again, but Buyers Keep Pulling Back

WHO:

Fast Company - Realtor.com reported the housing-market figures; its chief economist Danielle Hale said buyers were stepping back while sellers were listing less often, without a broad rise in delistings or price cuts.

Fast Company - Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel said demand was showing the loss of buyers’ purchasing power first; he described the seller-side pattern as “more of a pause than an exodus.”

CNBC - Mike Fratantoni, Mortgage Bankers Association senior vice president and chief economist, said mortgage rates reached their lowest level since September 2026 after the Federal Reserve held off on additional rate hikes at its October meeting.

CNBC - The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) supplied the seasonally adjusted mortgage application index.

WHAT:

Fast Company - Realtor.com reported that homes under contract fell 10.5% year over year, the largest decline since late 2023.

Fast Company - New listings fell 7.5% compared with October 2025 and 16% compared with October 2019.

Fast Company - 4.4% of active listings were withdrawn; the share was slightly lower than in October 2025. One in five listings had a price cut, compared with 3% in 2019.

Fast Company - The national median list price declined 2.2% to $415,000, its 12th consecutive monthly decline.

Fast Company - The 30-year mortgage average was about 7.33%. Rates reached 7.24% on October 29, down from 7.40% in mid-October; they were 107 basis points above a year earlier and 53 basis points above early September.

CNBC - Total mortgage application volume dropped 1.2% week to week despite falling rates. The average contract rate for a 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgage of $832,750 or less fell to 7.3% from 7.37%; points declined to 0.75 from 0.76, including the origination fee, for a 20% down payment.

CNBC - Refinance demand rose 0.1% week to week but was 60% lower than in the comparable week a year earlier. Mortgage rates had fallen for three consecutive weeks but remained about one percentage point above the year-earlier level.

Bloomberg Markets - U.S. mortgage rates fell for a third straight week but remained above 7%; purchase activity declined.

WHERE:

CNBC - The article’s photograph showed a neighborhood of single-family homes in Thousand Oaks, California.

WHY:

Fast Company - High mortgage rates reduced buyers’ purchasing power and contributed to weaker demand; homeowners with mortgage rates of 4% or lower, from purchases between 2020 and mid-2022, were reluctant to sell.

CNBC - Higher rates gave borrowers little incentive to refinance.

Bloomberg Markets - Borrowing costs remained prohibitively high for many prospective buyers.

HOW:

Fast Company - Realtor.com said the market was cooling on both sides: buyers were pulling back, while sellers were listing less often without a broad increase in withdrawals.

CNBC - The MBA measured application volume using its seasonally adjusted index.

(UPDATED November 4, 2026 19:09 UTC)

U.S. home sales slowed, with pending contracts down 10.5% from a year earlier. New listings also fell, while sellers largely paused rather than withdrew homes. Mortgage rates eased for three weeks but stayed above 7%, and applications declined.