In a fairly light data week, this week’s releases highlighted the mounting challenges facing home buyers, sellers and builders. Both existing and new home sales came in below market expectations in June. Building permits were revised lower, and the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate barely budged at 6.74%, according to Freddie Mac. Together, these prints showcase how poor affordability conditions and heightened economic uncertainty are freezing the housing market and putting pressure on residential construction. The annual pace of existing home sales retrenched 2.7% in June to a 10-month low of 3.93 million. This ... (full story)