The number of mortgage applications for home purchases continues to underwhelm, despite rates being at their lowest levels since November. Mortgage applications for purchasing a home dropped 3 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis.The annual gain in purchase applications remains positive (4 percent higher than a year ago), but they're narrowing as the supply of homes for sale falls and makes it tougher for buyers to find and afford a
Proximity to highly regarded colleges comes at a price, according to a new study released by HomeUnion, an online residential real estate investment management firm.Students living within a two-mile radius of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Stanford University face the highest rents in the nation, according to the analysis. Median rents near Stanford were $6,066 per month; UCLA topped $5,158.HomeUnion researchers also compared the
A homeowner has filed a class action lawsuit against mortgage giant Wells Fargo, accusing the lender of charging thousands of customers extra fees to extend their interest rate lock-ins after borrowers’ mortgage applications were delayed.The lawsuit was a filed by a homeowner in San Francisco federal court on Monday. The lawsuit alleges that Wells Fargo employees blamed homeowners for processing delays on the applications and then forced them t
Realtor.com® warns of a few phrases homeowners should never say to the contractor, including:1. “I’m not in a hurry.”Don’t put too much pressure on the contractor. This phrase implies the contractor and crew can take as much time as they’d like with the home project, Victoria Shtainer, a residential expert at Compass New York, told realtor.com®. Time is often money and convenience.2. “We had no idea this would be so expensive.
You can get much more bang for your buck in some locales than others.While salaries may be highest in San Jose and San Francisco, for example, the cost of living is highest there too. But when salaries are adjusted for cost of living, the smaller metros tend to be where residents see their paychecks stretch the furthest.The Indeed Blog recently analyzed salary data between August 2016 and July 2017 as well as local cost of living data to find whe
Home prices continue to rise and more homeowners are tapping into their home equity, making home equity lines of credit and cash-out mortgage refinances popular again.Home equity line originations jumped 8 percent to nearly $46 billion in the second quarter. That is the highest level since 2008, according to data from Equifax, a credit reporting firm. Cash-out mortgage refinances reached $15 billion, a 6 percent increase from a year ago, accor
Fannie Mae is changing the requirement that borrowers pay a higher down payment to qualify for an adjustable-rate mortgage, announcing that it is bringing this type of financing more in line with that of fixed-rate mortgages.Now, borrowers can make as little as a 5 percent down payment on a one-unit primary property using an ARM. Also among the changes is that borrowers need less equity in order to refinance into an ARM; they now need just 5 perc
Borrowers applying for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage this week locked in the lowest rate of the year, as it dropped to its lowest average since November 2016, Freddie Mac reports. Additionally, “the 10-year Treasury yield fell 6 basis points this week amid concerns over lagging inflation,” says Freddie Mac chief economist Sean Becketti.Freddie Mac reported the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Aug. 24: 30-yea
Fifty-one percent of homes sold in July were on the market for less than a month, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ existing-home sales report, released Thursday.Properties typically stayed on the market for 30 days in July, down from 36 days a year ago.“Buyer interest in most of the country has held up strongly this summer and homes are selling fast, but the negative effect of not enough inventory to choose from and its pr
Half of the 20 hottest housing markets in August were located in California. Vallejo, Calif., held on to its top spot in realtor.com®’s “hot list” this month. Realtor.com® ranks the top 20 medium-to-large metro markets where homes are selling the fastest and where buyers are searching the most on realtor.com®.Detroit also made a comeback on realtor.com®’s list this month, entering the top five for the first time since October 2013. Ne
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