With the cost of home ownership on the rise, it’s time for the Federal Reserve to reconsider its approach to monetary policy.

The average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage increased to 4.83 percent in October from 4.63 percent in September, according to Freddie Mac. The average commitment rate for all of 2017 was 3.99 percent. First-time buyers were responsible for 31 percent of sales in October, down from last month, and a year ago (32 percent). NAR's 2018 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers revealed that the annual share of first-time buyers was 33 percent.

"Rising interest rates and increasing home prices continue to suppress the rate of first-time homebuyers. Home sales could further decline before stabilizing,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR. “The Federal Reserve should, therefore, re-evaluate its monetary policy of tightening credit, especially in light of softening inflationary pressures, to help ease the financial burden on potential first-time buyers and assure a slump in the market causes no lasting damage to the economy," said Yun.

Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 1.4 percent from September to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.22 million in October. Sales are down 5.1 percent compared with the same time period a year earlier (5.5 million in October 2017).

An increased in the size of the housing inventory, however, has brought more buyers to the market.

"After six consecutive months of decline, buyers are finally stepping back into the housing market," said Yun. "Gains in the Northeast, South and West--a reversal from last month's steep decline or plateau in all regions--helped overall sales activity rise for the first time since March 2018."

The median existing-home price for all housing types in October was $255,400, up 3.8 percent from October 2017 ($246,000). October's price increase marks the 80^th straight month of year-over-year gains. Housing inventory at the end of October decreased from 1.88 million in September to 1.85 million existing homes available for sale, but that represents an increase from 1.80 million a year ago. Unsold inventory is at a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace, down from 4.4 last month and up from 3.9 months a year ago. Properties typically stayed on the market for 33 days in October, up from 32 days in September but down from 34 days a year ago. Forty-six percent of homes sold in October were on the market for less than a month.

"As more inventory enters the market and we head into the winter season, home price growth has begun to slow more meaningfully," said Yun. "This allows for much more manageable, less frenzied buying conditions."

Single-family home sales sit at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million in October, up from 4.58 million in September, and are 5.3 percent below the 4.88 million sales pace from a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $257,900 in October, up 4.3 percent from October 2017.

Existing condominium and co-op sales were recorded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 600,000 units in October, up 5.3 percent from last month but down 3.2 percent from a year ago. The median existing condo price was $236,200 in October, which is down 0.2 percent from a year ago.

October existing-home sales in the Northeast increased 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 690,000, 6.8 percent below a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $280,900, which is up 3.0 percent from October 2017.

In the Midwest, existing-home sales declined 0.8 percent from last month to an annual rate of 1.27 million in October, down 3.1 percent overall from a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $197,000, up 2.4 percent from last year.

Existing-home sales in the South rose 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 2.15 million in October, down 2.3 percent from last year. The median price in the South was $221,600, up 3.8 percent from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the West grew 2.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.11 million in October, 11.2 percent below a year ago. The median price in the West was $382,900, up 1.9 percent from October 2017.

Hosting Thanksgiving can be stressful, expensive and time-consuming for hosts, though most of them think it's worth it.

Hosts will entertain an average of 11 dinner guests, spend an average of $251.11 on the meal, and buy an average of $83.23 worth of housewares like dishes, serving ware and decorations, according to LendingTree's 2018 Thanksgiving Survey. On top of that, the survey found that Americans will take an average of 1.8 days off work to host Thanksgiving, resulting in an average of $587.62 in lost wages.

Although hosting Thanksgiving dinner means extra responsibilities, the survey found only 18 percent of hosts are very stressed about it; meanwhile, nearly half of respondents (46%) showed no signs of being stressed at all. And despite the stress and financial strain, 76 percent say they love to host Thanksgiving dinner.

Among the most significant takeaways are the following:

• With an average of 11 dinner guests, Americans will spend on average of $334 to host Thanksgiving, or about $31 per guest.
• More than one in four hosts (28%) say this Thanksgiving will be a financial strain.
• 42% will take time off of work to prepare; of those taking time off, 56% will give up an average of $588 in pay to do so.
• 28% will charge credit cards or borrow money to pay for Thanksgiving, and over one third don't expect to pay it off right away.
• One in four hosts wish they had more help around the holiday, while one in ten wishes someone else was hosting the dinner altogether. Over one-half say they have stress around the holiday.
• Despite the stress and financial strain, 76% say they love to host Thanksgiving dinner.

There are ways to reduce the expense:

• Make it a potluck dinner.Asking guests to bring a dish could reduce costs and effort for hosts. Or, ask guests to bring beverages, like their favorite wine and spirits, a significant portion of overall dinner expenses.
• Create a realistic budget. It's important to know how much money is available to spend before spending any, especially with additional holiday expenses in the weeks ahead. LendingTree's Thanksgiving survey showed that most Americans aren't budgeting properly this holiday season:
  • only 24% have a strict budget for holiday spending.
  • 55% have a general idea of their budget.
  • 21% had no budget in mind at all.
• Stick to your grocery list. It can be tempting to buy all the treats you see displayed on the shelves, but if there is a clear list of what is needed, unnecessary expenses can be avoided.
• Buy generic and use coupons. Chances are, no one will notice generic-brand cranberry sauce at the store. Even fewer will fault the use of coupons or modifying the menu to take advantage of sales.
• Pay your bills early. Many Thanksgiving hosts (around 28%) plan to use a credit card to pay for dinner-related expenses, with 64 percent planning to pay it off in about a month and another 20 percent within two months. One approach is to pay the bills before doing holiday shopping (or put something toward the bills early on),  to not only alleviate stress, and avoid paying unnecessary interest fees.
• Consolidate your debt after the holidays. While it’s better to avoid going deep into debt in the first place, it's not uncommon to overspend during the holidays. Depending on the financial situation of the person, it may make sense to explore debt consolidation options. This can help pay off debt sooner by potentially reducing interest expense.

Mortgage regulators have proposed that the threshold for residential real estate transactions requiring an appraisal be raised to $400,000.

The Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. developed the proposal. They think the increase, from the $250,000 current level set in 1995, could provide relief from the time and cost associated with completing residential real-estate transactions, and without posing a threat to the safety and soundness of financial institutions.

This proposal responds, in part, to criticisms the current exemption level for residential transactions had not kept pace with price appreciation in the residential real estate market.

In lieu of an appraisal, the proposal would require that residential real estate transactions exempted by the threshold obtain an evaluation consistent with safe and sound banking practices. Evaluations provide an estimate of the market value of real estate but could be less burdensome than appraisals because the agencies’ appraisal regulations do not require evaluations to be prepared by state licensed or certified appraisers.

In addition, evaluations are typically less detailed and costly than appraisals. Evaluations have been required for transactions exempted from the appraisal requirement by the current $250,000 residential threshold since the 1990s.

The agencies received these comments during both the recent Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act review process and the commercial real estate transactions appraisal rule making process. That process resulted in a final rule, issued in April 2018, raising the appraisal threshold for commercial real estate transactions to $500,000, from $250,000.

Also, the proposal also would incorporate the rural residential appraisal exemption in the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act into the list of exempt transactions and require evaluations for these exempt transactions. In addition, the proposal would require institutions to review appraisals for compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.