Following two weeks of declines, mortgage rates edged up, and economists say that consumers should expect further increases over the coming weeks.The Federal Reserve will likely raise its short-term interest rates at its meeting next week. While the Fed’s benchmark rates do not have a direct effect on mortgage rates, they do often influence them and likely will lead to an increase, the National Association of REALTORS® notes on its Economistsâ
Rising home prices have brought rising equity gains for homeowners. In the fourth quarter, the average homeowner nationwide gained about $55,300 in equity over the past year, according to a new analysis released by CoreLogic, its latest quarterly “Homeowner Equity Insights” report.Western state homeowners are continuing to see some of the largest equity gains by dollar value.For example, Hawaii, California, and Washington saw the largest incr
Homeowners across the board are feeling richer from rising home prices, but the wealthiest have enjoyed the largest gain, according to a report from the National Association of REALTORS®.From 2010 to 2020, about 71% of the increase in housing wealth was in high-income households. Low- and middle-income households received a smaller share of housing wealth gains, according to the NAR report. Low-income homeowners comprise a smaller shar
The percentage of homes with mortgages that have late payments or are in foreclosure has dropped to the lowest seen on record in more than two decades, according to CoreLogic’s data dating back to 1999. The nation’s overall delinquency dropped to 3.4% at the end of 2021, with the majority of states posting a year-over-year decrease in delinquencies, according to CoreLogic’s newly released Loan Performance Insights report.Declining unemploym
Surging home prices have prompted buyers to max out their budgets and priced out others. Buyers willing to move, however, can find several markets across the country that still offer affordability, housing experts say. Realtor.com® researchers analyzed housing data and 250 of the largest markets nationwide to identify the most affordable in the nation.They found several Midwest markets offer the best affordability. Also, some of the most in
Mortgage rates fell again this week amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sparking uncertainty across the globe including in U.S. markets. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to a 3.76% average this week, Freddie Mac reports.“Geopolitical tensions caused U.S. Treasury yields to recede this week as investors moved to the safety of bonds, leading to a drop in mortgage rates,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “While inflati
Spring may have sprung early in the housing market. The U.S. median list price set a record high of $392,000 in February, according to realtor.com®’s Monthly Housing Trends Report. Many markets continued to post double-digit annual price gains, led by Las Vegas, Miami, and Tampa, Fla., with annual increases of at least 31% each.“Over the last five years, we have seen home prices break records early in the season as buyers try to get ahead of
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reversed course this week and decreased to an average of 3.89%, Freddie Mac reports. However, with expectations of even higher inflation on the horizon, mortgage rates likely will resume their upward trek over the coming weeks, Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecasting at the National Association of REALTORS®, notes on the association’s blog.Despite this week’s decline, mortgage rates have
Home prices are rapidly rising, but rental prices are as well, and at a faster pace. In more than half of the nation’s largest U.S. metros, Americans likely will find buying a starter home more affordable than renting, according to a newly released report from realtor.com®.Median rental prices rose 19.8% year over year in January. That has outpaced monthly starter homeownership costs, despite a very competitive housing market, researchers say.
Homebuyers appeared in a rush to lock in mortgage rates ahead of further increases and to take advantage of any housing inventory they could find last month. Existing-home sales climbed 6.7% in January compared to the prior month, led by the strongest gains in the Southern region of the U.S., according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ latest existing-home sales report.Sales rose even as housing inventories fell to an all-time low and
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