Existing home sales ticked up in September

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1. GSE repurchase activity jumped 19.5% in Q2

The GSEs repurchased 1,401 loans totaling $465.2 million in unpaid principal in Q2 2026, up 19.5% from Q1.

Fannie Mae accounted for 58.2% of repurchase UPB and was notably more aggressive than Freddie — 83.2% of Fannie’s resolved demands resulted in repurchase versus just 53.1% at Freddie.

• Rocket Mortgage led by repurchase share at 9.7%, followed by UWM at 5.4% and Lakeview at 2.4%, roughly proportional to their origination volume from the same period.

Loans originated in Q3 and Q4 2025 made up 46.5% of total repurchase activity — meaning loans that are roughly 6 to 12 months old are driving most of the buyback volume.

2. Existing home sales ticked up in September

Sales rose 1.5% from August to a 3.99 million annual pace, but remain 2.2% below last year and August and September together marked the two slowest months of 2026.

The median price hit $417,500, up 1.3% year over year — the 39th straight month of annual gains — while inventory rose to 1.60 million homes, or 4.8 months of supply.

The real signal is in agent sentiment. Just 8% of NAR survey respondents expect buyer traffic to increase over the next three months, down from 13% last month and the weakest reading since fall 2023 when rates were approaching 8%.

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3. More Nuggets

🚨 Could your lead-gen and referral practices face FTC scrutiny? Senators want a closer look. (HousingWire)

⚖️ Compass files antitrust suit against CRMLS over listing rules. (Bloomberg)

🏦 TransUnion, Bankrate expand borrower-matching partnership. (BankRate)

📉 MBA pushes lower credit fees, FHA insurance premiums. (NMP)

4. Pending home sales hit a near 12-yr low as rates top 7%

Pending home sales fell 4% in September from August, the biggest monthly drop in more than three years, pushing contract signings to their lowest level since 2014 outside the pandemic, according to Redfin.

Sales fell in all 50 major metros tracked for the first time since September 2023. Supply of homes for sale climbed to its highest level since March 2020.

Nearly one in five sellers cut asking prices last month, and 14.5% of purchase agreements fell through — the highest share in Redfin’s records. The 30-year fixed rate jumped from 6.66% in late August to 7.4% by October 8, driving demand to levels last seen during the aftermath of the foreclosure crisis.

5. The most expensive luxury markets in the country

Luxury homes are getting a little more affordable. In September, the national entry point for a luxury home (the top 10% of listings) slipped to $1.199 million.

That’s down 3.6% from a year ago and marks the 30th straight month of annual declines. The threshold now sits at its lowest level since January 2023, about 14% below its May 2023 peak of roughly $1.40 million.

Here are the country’s most expensive luxury markets with their starting list prices:

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