According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates decreased to start the new year. Rates were down across most loan categories, including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and 15-year fixed-rate loans. Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and chief economist, says rates are now lower than they’ve been in more than a year. “Mortgage rates started the new year with a decline to … the lowest … [Read more...]

Home buyers have a lot to consider but, when it comes to their biggest concerns about buying a house, money always tops the list. In fact, it’s the main factor behind almost all the concerns named by respondents of a recently conducted survey. The survey – which asked participants for their biggest worries about purchasing a home – found most of the top concerns were financial in nature – starting with the 30 percent who named “not being able to find an affordable home” as their top issue. Other concerns included … [Read more...]

Not long ago, home prices were seeing double-digit, year-over-year gains. Home buyers were active and, due to a lower-than-normal number of homes available for sale, bidding wars had prices surging higher. Since then, things have changed. In fact, according to the latest numbers from the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index, home prices were only 1.4 percent higher than year-before levels through the end of October. Nicholas Godec, CFA, CAIA, CIPM, head of fixed income tradables & commodities at S&P Dow … [Read more...]

After a contract to buy is signed, a home’s sale is considered pending until it closes weeks later. Because most pending sales successfully close, they’re considered a good forward-looking indicator of future home sales numbers. In other words, next month’s existing-home sales totals should follow this month’s pending sales numbers. That’s why the National Association of Realtors tracks them each month with its Pending Home Sales Report. In November, the data shows pending sales up 3.3 percent from the month before … [Read more...]

Saving to buy a house requires sacrifice. It always has. Prospective home buyers have always had to cut unnecessary spending and stick to a budget until they could come up with enough for a down payment. That hasn’t changed. The amount of time it takes to come up with enough to purchase a median-priced house has, though. In fact, according to a new analysis from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, it now takes the typical buyer seven years to save up enough money to buy a house. That’s a … [Read more...]

New data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Purchase Applications Payment Index shows mortgage payments are becoming more affordable. The index, which measures the median mortgage payment applied for by prospective borrowers, found payments fell to $2,034 in November from $2,039 the month before. Edward Seiler, MBA’s associate vice president of housing economics and executive director of the Research Institute for Housing America, says the improvement marked six-straight months of gains. “Affordability … [Read more...]

What constitutes luxury depends a lot on the person. Some people can live on less while others prefer opulence. When it comes to houses, though, you can put a number to it based on the homes available for sale. That’s what the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website did. It defined luxury as the top 10 percent of listings by price and found that, nationally, an entry-level luxury home starts at $1,199,977. In 2016, the luxury market started at just under $800,000. But while that’s a significant increase, … [Read more...]

Sales of previously owned homes increased in November for the third consecutive month, according to new numbers from the National Association of Realtors. Month-over-month sales were up in the Northeast and South, flat in the West, and down in the Midwest for an overall 0.5 percent gain from October’s level. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says the improvement was largely due to lower mortgage rates. “Existing-home sales increased for the third-straight month due to lower mortgage rates this autumn,” Yun said. … [Read more...]

The housing market had a hot fall. Unseasonably warm weather and lower mortgage rates combined to keep the season active. But while favorable conditions kept the market buzzing into November, it slowed down significantly by the end of the month. For example, new listings fell 30 percent month-over-month in November. Price cuts also fell, after being offered on a near-record number of listings in October. Even affordability calmed, with mortgage payments as a share of median income down to its lowest level since … [Read more...]

When people talk about a buyer’s or seller’s market, they’re talking about supply and demand. When there’s more demand than homes for sale, sellers have the power and will likely get a higher price for their home. When there aren’t a lot of buyers but there’s excess supply, the buyers that are looking will be in better position to negotiate a deal. In recent history, home sellers have held all the control, as inventory lagged below normal for years. Since 2022, though, inventory has been gradually climbing back and … [Read more...]