From June to July, median sales price rose by 8.5%, more than double the 4.1% increase seen in family income levels, the National Association of REALTORS® reports. But mortgage rates that have fallen to all-time lows are helping to offset some of the rising costs.As of July, all of the national and regional data in NAR’s affordability index was above 100, which means a family with a median income had more than the income required to afford a m
Waterfront homes have been growing in demand since the COVID-19 pandemic began in spring. Sales of lakefront homes have increased more than 40% year over year, Glenn S. Phillips, CEO and lead economic analyst at LakeHomes.com, told realtor.com®.“People saw their friends and family go to the lake and realized that if you are social distancing and home schooling, the lake is a far better place than most primary residences,” Phillips told realt
Just as some housing experts were predicting rates couldn’t get lower, they did. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached a new all-time low, averaging 2.86% this week, according to Freddie Mac. “Mortgage rates have hit another record low due to a late-summer slowdown in the economic recovery,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “These low rates have ignited robust purchase demand activity, which has been growing at double-d
The home shopping spree continues. Typically, the end of August sees a slowdown in the housing market, but this year, real estate has shown no signs of letting up.Mortgage applications to purchase a home increased 3% last week compared to the previous week. But it’s the year-over-year jump of 40% that has surprised economists. Year-over-year comparisons are usually in the single digits.“There continues to be resiliency in the purchase market,
The most affordable housing markets in the U.S. tend to be located in the South and Midwest, according to a new analysis from RefiGuide.org, a home refinance resource. For example, Youngstown, Ohio, topped the list as the most affordable place in the country, where the median household income in one year is more than the typical purchase price of a home.On the other end of the spectrum, however, California tends to have the least affordable housi
Many Americans are saving more and spending less during the pandemic. Forty-six percent of more than 5,000 U.S. adults said they are “more of a saver now” than before the pandemic, according to a recent survey conducted by CNBC + Acorns Invest in You.Certainly, millions of Americans are still unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have seen their finances take a major hit. For those still employed, however, they may be feel able to build
Every year since 2010, fewer than 10% of units have been deemed affordable to renter households that earn 50% of the median renter income, according to a new report released from Freddie Mac.The “Rental Affordability Reexamined” study found that despite some claims otherwise, affordability levels in the rental sector have not improved in recent years.Freddie Mac researchers isolated renter income to capture the availability of affordable hous
Young prospective home buyers in their 20s and 30s who were once reluctant to purchase are now driving the housing market recovery during the pandemic, The Wall Street Journal reports.Even prior to the pandemic, millennial buyers were starting to increase in number, accounting for more than half of all new-home loans early last year. They have consistently stayed above that level in the first months of this year, too, realtor.com® data
Just 1.6% of homes in the U.S.—or 1.5 million residential properties—are vacant. Of those, 7,960 are considered “zombie foreclosures,” or those still in limbo in the foreclosure process, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q3 2020 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report.The number of properties in the foreclosure process has dropped 16% in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, but the number of abandoned zombie for
Mortgage rates remain near all-time lows, and many economists believe they will stay for the remainder of this year and well into next year.“This year has been anything but normal and as the uncertainty lingers, mortgage rates remain” low, says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “These rates continue to incentivize potential buyers and the home buying season, which shifted from spring to summer, will likely continue into the fall.
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