China has started erecting temporary housing units after an earthquake destroyed 14,000 homes

US Housing Market , Sees Temporary Surge , as Mortgages Inch Lower. 'Newsweek' reports that the United States housing market saw a surge in activity amid declining mortgage rates. At the same time, housing prices have reached their highest point since October of 2022. Last week, Redfin released a report indicating a steep increase in pending home sales and housing prices in November. According to Mortgage News Daily, this coincides with the drop in mortgage rates, which have ebbed back to 6.64%. In November, the median price of U.S. homes rose to $408,732, a 3.7% increase from 2022. The Redfin report also indicated that pending home sales had risen 2% month over month, reaching the highest level in a year. . A year ago, sellers had trouble understanding why they weren't getting $20,000 over the list price like their neighbor did during the pandemic homebuying boom, Shay Stein, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Las Vegas, via 'Newsweek'. Now, they understand that to sell their home, they need to price it fairly and in some cases offer the buyer concessions like money toward closing costs or mortgage-rate buydowns, Shay Stein, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Las Vegas, via 'Newsweek'. 'Newsweek' reports that despite increased activity, the Redfin report also found that 16.9% of home- purchase agreements in November were canceled. That cancellation rate was the highest its been since 2017