Last week, we witnessed a Santa Claus rally in mortgage rates alongside improved Boston condo for sale demand. The economy continues to create jobs, with wages growing at an annual rate of 4%. We also see growth in our pending contract data compared to 2022 and 2023. Additionally, the purchase application data delivered another pleasant surprise with positive results.

As I have mentioned for years, coming off the lowest home sales figures ever makes it easier to see positive changes. Let’s get into the holiday spirit with this week’s national housing sales data

Weekly pending sales

The weekly pending contract data from Altos Research offers an insightful look into real-time housing demand. However, like most housing data, this information is quite seasonal. When mortgage rates began to decline in June, there was a traditional lag between purchase applications and sales. But, we observed an improvement in our weekly pending contract data and even today, despite elevated rates, the trend remains better than what we experienced in 2023 and most of 2024.

If mortgage rates could stay between 5.75%-6.25% for a year, housing demand and sales would grow and surprise most people since the bar is so low we all would trip over it.

This is the weekly pending sales for last week over the previous few years:

2024: 315,566
2023: 278,735
2022: 282,313

Purchase application data

The recent purchase application data has surprised a lot of people. For the first time all year, I saw authentic shock on social media when purchase application data had another positive print even with elevated mortgage rates.

Check out these holiday Boston Seaport condos for sale listings;