A quiet Saturday for mortgage news, so the hook is a housing number NAR released on October 13. NAR reported September existing-home sales at a 3.99 million annual rate with 1.60 million homes for sale, up 4.6% from a year ago, which works out to 4.8 months of supply against 4.5 a year earlier. The median price was $417,500, up 1.3% from a year ago. The MBA's weekly survey for the week ending October 9 had purchase applications down 4% for the week and 16% below a year ago, but Mortgage News Daily points out that most of this week's rate drop came after that survey week closed. A buyer you quoted near Monday's high is now looking at more listings than a year ago and a lower number than the one you last sent them.
The rate tie-in is modest and should be said that way. Bankrate's 30-year reads 7.46% this morning, 11 bps under Monday's 7.57% high but still near the top of its 90-day range of 6.61% to 7.57%. On a $400K loan, that is about $2,786 a month in principal and interest, $30 under Monday's level. That is not a refinance story; it is a reason for a buyer who paused to get a current number before they tour, and for a buyer weighing FHA or VA to see a side-by-side, since Bankrate's FHA 30-year reads 7.24% and its VA 30-year 7.20%.
The tactical move is a weekend open-house companion: one short post and one text template built around a single, current payment on a price point in your market, plus an offer to run the buyer's own number before Sunday's showings. HousingWire's piece this week on AI voice agents for real estate leads quotes CINC's Jeff Walker saying the priority is recognizing lead intent across a 12-month sales cycle and acting at the right moment; the same logic applies to your own database. Tag every buyer contact who asked for a quote in September or October as "rate-paused" so the follow-up lands on the people who were already shopping.
send one text to every buyer you quoted since September 1 with their payment at today's rate and an offer to rerun it before they tour this weekend.