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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

After months of anticipation, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday by half a percentage point. That will have an impact on the housing market — but it’s unlikely to make a huge difference for those struggling to afford a home. Mortgage rates might not actually drop much further right now Mortgage rates have been pretty […]

Mortgage interest is the fee you pay for borrowing money to buy a home. It’s calculated as a percentage of the loan amount and is paid over the life of the mortgage. This interest rate can be fixed or adjustable and is added to your monthly payments throughout the loan term.  For example, with a […]

While the Federal Reserve doesn’t directly set mortgage rates, it influences them by making changes to the federal funds rate, the interest rate that banks charge each other for short-term loans. The Fed’s decisions alter the price of credit, which has a domino effect on mortgage rates and the broader housing market.  “When the Fed […]

Monthly housing payments have dropped to their lowest level in four months, but homebuyers and sellers aren’t yet reacting. In addition to pending home sales falling, new listings posted their smallest increase in three months.  The median U.S. monthly housing payment was $2,667 during the four weeks ending July 28, its lowest level since March. […]

Millions of renter households in 2022 would have been able to buy a house that year, according to Zillow, which is based on estimates from the American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2022, 39% of the 134 million families residing in the U.S. did not own the home they lived in, according […]

There is a mismatch between the prices of homes being built, and the prices home buyers expect to pay, according to recent surveys from NAHB and the U.S. Census Bureau. While 38% of buyers expect to pay less than $250,000 for their next home nationwide (and 19% expect to pay less than $150,000), only 5% […]