US employers added 227,000 jobs last month, exceeding analyst forecasts in a rebound from October – but the unemployment rate also unexpectedly ticked higher. While the jobs market bounced back compared with the prior month, when hurricanes and labor strikes weighed against hiring, the November figures released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics signaled […]

Potential homebuyers are responding to lower mortgage rates and a higher supply of homes for sale. That fueled mortgage demand last week, as consumers looking to refinance pulled back. Total mortgage application volume rose 2.8% compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. An additional adjustment was made for […]

If you own a home, congratulations: You likely gained six figures in equity since 2019. “A typical homeowner accumulated $147,000 in housing wealth in the last five years,” said National Association of Realtors® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in the latest quarterly report. That’s a profit of $29,400 per year—nearly half of the average U.S. salary. But even with the rapid price appreciation over […]

One of the best ways to build your family’s financial future is through homeownership. The Federal Reserve reports the net worth of a homeowner is actually over 40 times greater than that of a renter. Maybe it’s time to start thinking about buying a home, especially when they’re so affordable in today’s market. Every three […]

The average age of homebuyers is now 56, up from 49 in 2023, according to the National Association of Realtors’ annual state-of-the-market report released Monday. That’s a historic high, up from an average age in the low-to-mid 40s in the early 2010s. The median age of first-time buyers also rose from 35 to 38, while the […]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that there were just 12,000 jobs created in October, which was well below estimates of 113,000. Negative revisions to August and September also shaved 112,000 jobs from those months combined. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, though there’s important rounding information to understand about this, as noted […]

Existing Home Sales, which reflect closings on existing homes, fell for the secondstraight month in September, down 1% from August and 3.5% from a year ago. The3.84-million-unit pace represents a 14-year low as NAR’s Chief Economist, LawrenceYun, noted that “home sales have been essentially stuck at around a four-million-unitpace for the past 12 months.” Regarding […]

Since the Fed cut rates 50 basis points on September 18th, we’ve seen 30-year fixed mortgage rates rise meaningfully. You may be wondering how this can be. The Fed is reducing the Fed Funds Rate, which is not mortgage rates or even a long-term rate. The Fed Funds Rate is a very short-term rate, literally […]

Annual inflation dropped to 2.4% last month as housing costs continued decelerating, an upbeat sign for prospective homebuyers. The September inflation figure from the consumer price index released on Thursday was down from 2.5% the prior month, giving Federal Reserve policymakers a positive signal for further rate cuts. For homebuyers, the lower inflation figure should […]

On average, 40% of builders’ single-family home sales so far in 2024 have been made to first-time home buyers, according to the most recent NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index survey (HMI).  That share has doubled since 2016, when only 19% of builders’ sales went to first-time buyers. Our limited time-series on this topic in the […]