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Lower Mortgage Rates Boost Refinancing While Purchase Activity Slows – Eye On Housing

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Mortgage application activity increased month-over-month as the 30-year fixed mortgage rates reached a three-year low. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, a measure of total mortgage application volume, increased 1.5% from January on a seasonally adjusted basis and was 56.3% higher than a year earlier.  The data also indicated a rising adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share, increasing from 5.7% of mortgages to 8.3% over the past year.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed mortgage rates declined a further seven basis points (bps) to 6.14%, tracking the decline in the 10-year treasury yield. Compared with February 2025, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 73 bps lower. The decline in mortgage rates supported the continued strength in refinancing activity, which increased 11.3%. On the other hand, purchase applications decreased 12.3% as tight existing-home inventory and winter storms dampened home-buying activity. Relative to February 2025, refinance and purchase activities are up 121.1% and 9.0%, respectively.

By loan type, applications for adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) increased 18.0% month-over-month while fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) held steady. On a year-over-year basis, FRM applications were up 51.8%, while ARM applications more than doubled, rising 129.9%. As of February 2026, ARMs accounted for an average of 8.3% of total applications on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, up 1.2 percentage points from January and 2.6 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

Loan sizes across all loan types increased in February with the total market increasing by 3.2% to $414,800. Average purchase loan sizes increased 2.5% to $446,300, while the refinance loan size increased by 3.7% to $391,800. The average ARM loan size climbed 4.6% to $968,300.



This article was originally published by a eyeonhousing.org . Read the Original article here. .

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In Home Improvement

8 Ideas to Give Your Yard a Boost for Fall

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As fall settles in, our homes and gardens take on a new character — inviting us to enjoy them in fresh ways. A vibrant pot of chrysanthemums can brighten an overlooked part of your porch, while outdoor lighting or a patio heater can make it feel cozy to linger outside on fall evenings. With just a few thoughtful updates, you can extend the beauty and comfort of your outdoor spaces for the season. Read on for simple, high-impact ideas to make the most of your yard.

The Inspired GardenSave Photo
1. Refresh Container Gardens

Container gardens are an easy way to bring color and seasonal interest to your outdoor spaces. Rework summer containers with fall perennials that are just coming into their own, such as chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum spp.,USDA zones 5 to 9; find your zone) coneflowers (Echinacea spp., zones 3 to 9), ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, zones 3 to 8) and ornamental grasses. These hardy selections add color and texture, ensuring containers remain vibrant well into fall.

9 Ways to Refresh Your Summer Container Gardens for Fall

2. Plant a Fruit Tree

For a fall harvest you’ll enjoy for years to come, consider planting an apple, pear, pomegrante or persimmon tree. September and October are the best months to plant fruit trees in mild climates. (Cold-winter climates should wait until late winter or spring.) Soils are still warm, rain is more frequent and trees can settle in over the winter, establishing strong root systems that will fuel growth next spring.

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Andrea Swan – Swan ArchitectureSave Photo
3. Update Entry Lighting

As the days grow shorter, exterior lighting can transform your home’s entry from dark and shadowy to warm and welcoming. Focus on your front entrance, where the impact is greatest. Lighting options include wall-mounted sconces, pendant lights, recessed fixtures, pathway lighting or a layered combination of several sources. If your current lighting setup is effective, fall is a good time to replace bulbs, clean fixtures and ensure everything shines its brightest.

What to Know About Adding Outdoor Lighting

Groff Landscape Design, LLCSave Photo
4. Rethink Outdoor Dining

With a few additions for comfort, your patio or deck can be a welcoming spot for meals and fall gatherings. Layer warm textiles to make seating cozy and inviting, and add soft lighting with string lights or lanterns to create ambiance as dusk falls. Bring in seasonal table settings with gourds, branches and fall colors. If your outdoor table is on an exposed deck or patio, you may want to consider moving it under the covering of a porch or solid-roof shade structure to provide more shelter.

10 Ideas for Styling Your Patio for Outdoor Dining This Fall

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5. Heat Your Deck or Patio

The addition of outdoor heaters can help extend your enjoyment of outdoor spaces as temperatures dip. Freestanding propane-fueled outdoor heaters (as pictured here) can provide an area of warmth 10 to 12 feet in diameter. You’ll need one heater for a small table or seating area and two to cover an eight-person table.

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6. Layer Cozy Throws and Textiles

If you’re not investing in outdoor heaters this season, bring out blankets and quilts for warmth. Tuck them into a basket near the door or drape them over chairs for family members and guests to enjoy. To further increase coziness in your outdoor seating area, consider adding a textured outdoor rug to define the space and create warmth underfoot.

New to home remodeling? Learn the basics

ROCHE+ROCHE Landscape ArchitectureSave Photo
7. Keep the Fun Going Outdoors

The end of summer doesn’t mean outdoor fun has to come to a halt. Even as temperatures cool, kids of all ages need space to stay active, explore and burn off energy. Encourage them to get outside by including play and sports equipment in the backyard. Install a swing set, rig up a badminton net or soccer goal and establish a new routine for after school.

Jeremy Allen Garden DesignSave Photo
8. Fill Bare Spots in Garden Beds

Adding a few fall-blooming flowers, ornamental grasses or shrubs with colorful foliage or berries can help add interest for the season. Nurseries should be well stocked this time of year with plenty of seasonal options to choose from.

Don’t have the time for planting? A top dressing of fresh mulch can make garden beds look tidy and insulate bulbs and shallow roots over the winter. Choose a quality bark mulch (avoiding ones with dyes) and spread on garden beds about 2 to 3 inches thick, keeping mulch away from the trunks of trees and large shrubs.

20 Favorite Flowers for the Fall Landscape

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This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .

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In Home Improvement

Earth-Friendly Gardening Could Be the Boost Your Yard Needs

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John Davies LandscapeSave Photo
What Is Regenerative Gardening?

Broadly, regenerative gardening is about leaving the soil and garden environment in a better condition than the one you found it in. It happens when garden owners “contribute to restoring a landscape, big or small, back to health,” landscape designer Melanie Hick says. “We regenerate [landscapes] by helping biodiversity, such as installing sand beds and habitat poles for solitary bees, improving soil and improving planting to support birds.”

“Fertilizers, lime, manures and pesticides can suppress the regenerative powers of [landscapes],” says Guy Barter, chief horticulturist at the Royal Horticultural Society. Instead of using these elements, regenerative gardeners add plants such as cover crops, or “green manure,” which are fast-growing and can be mixed back into the soil; add clover and other legumes to supply nitrogen, a vital plant nutrient; and feed compost made from garden and kitchen waste to the soil organisms and plants.

“Regenerative gardening is about working with natural processes, not against them, taking a holistic approach to garden management to foster a healthy and thriving ecosystem,” landscape designer Harry Holding says. “From soil restoration and habitat provision to water management, it’s about looking at all the systems in the [landscape] and allowing them to link up to create a synergistic whole.”

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This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .

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In Research & Trends

Limited Existing Inventory Provides a Boost for New Home Sales

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A limited amount of existing inventory along with solid demand helped new home sales end the year on an up note, even as buyers continue to grapple with housing affordability challenges.

Sales of newly built, single-family homes in December increased 3.6% to a 698,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from an upwardly revised November number, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The pace of new home sales in December was up 6.7% compared to a year earlier.

New home sales ended 2024 2.5% higher over the 2023 total. NAHB is forecasting a slight gain for sales in 2025 given ongoing solid macroeconomic conditions, particularly for the labor market. Furthermore, builders are cautiously optimistic about the building market given a post-election policy reset that seeks to eliminate unnecessary regulations

A new home sale occurs when a sales contract is signed, or a deposit is accepted. The home can be in any stage of construction: not yet started, under construction or completed. In addition to adjusting for seasonal effects, the December reading of 698,000 units is the number of homes that would sell if this pace continued for the next 12 months.

New single-family home inventory in December continued to rise to a level of 494,000, up 10% compared to a year earlier. This represents an 8.5 months’ supply at the current building pace.

Completed ready-to-occupy inventory is up 46% to a level of 118,000, compared to a year ago.

NAHB estimates the combined new and existing total months’ supply (8.5 months’ supply for new homes while the much larger resale market was at 3.1) fell to just a 4 months’ supply in December, the lowest since April 2024. The market has not been near a 6 months’ supply, which represents a balanced market, since 2012.

The median new home sale price in December was $427,000, up 2.1% from a year ago.

Regionally, on a year-to-year basis for 2024 totals, new home sales were strongest in the Midwest, up 19% in 2024. Sales also rose 1.7% in the Northeast and 2.6% in the West but declined 0.2% in the South.

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This article was originally published by a eyeonhousing.org . Read the Original article here. .

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