Record low mortgage rates are drawing a new wave of first-time home buyers to the market, Freddie Mac reports. “In August, activity among first-time home buyers rose 19% from July to the highest monthly level ever for Freddie Mac,” says the mortgage giant’s Chief Economist Sam Khater, adding that the rebound “has come at a critical time for the economy.”Since the beginning of the year, mortgage rates have dropped more than 80 basis poin
Home shoppers may have an even tougher time finding a home to purchase in the weeks and months to come, as home prices continue to climb and even fewer new listings arrive on the market.Home price growth has reached a two-year high, while natural disasters brought the number of homes for sale even lower, according to realtor.com®’s Weekly Housing Report, reflecting the week ending Sept. 12. Still-strong buyer demand but lack of supply prompted
The Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged and near zero. It will likely stay in place for more than a year to help the economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.The Fed’s benchmark rate is what banks charge one another for short-term borrowing. It is not the rate consumers pay, and it doesn’t often directly influence mortgage rates, although it does often have an impact.The committee on Wednesday also
Empty nest no more? The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted millions of young adults to move back in with their parents since the spring. The majority of 18-to-29-year-olds now live with their parents, surpassing the previous peak during the Great Depression, the Pew Research Center reports.In July, 52% of 18-to-29-year-olds lived with one or both of their parents, up from 47% in February, according to the analysis. That places the number of young adu
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage continues to hit new all-time lows practically on a monthly basis. That has dramatically increased the pool of homeowners who could benefit from refinancing and lowering their monthly mortgage payment. In fact, 75% of homeowners—or 19.3 million—could benefit from refinancing, according to data from Black Knight, a software and analytics firm for the mortgage and lending industry. That's the largest number of po
Americans have been in search of more living space since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and they’re willing to move in order to find it.RENTCafe, a national apartment listing service, recently analyzed 900 suburban markets across the country to find the most spacious apartments in buildings with more than 50 units.Johns Creek, a suburb of Atlanta, has the largest apartments in the country, averaging 1,225 square feet, researchers found. The data
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
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
The real estate industry is closely watching the remote work trend as it could have a big influence on clients' future homebuying decisions. More Americans have been working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but some areas of the country may offer more prime remote work conditions.Forsyth County, Ga., topped a new study on the best places to work from home, released Tuesday by the National Association of REALTORS®.NAR assigned
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