Like any market, the housing market has ups-and-downs. There are years when conditions favor buyers and then there are years when sellers have all the negotiating power. Unfortunately, when you need to make a move, you don't always have the luxury of waiting until market conditions are perfect for you. The good news, though, is that, for today's home buyer, conditions are trending in the right direction. In fact, according to a new report, nearly three-quarters of the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas are now … [Read more...]

Some home features are necessities and others are luxuries. For example, kitchens are a must. You're not going to find many homes for sale that don't have a kitchen. On the other hand, garages aren't. Not all homes come with a garage. But while they might not be an absolute must, garages – depending on where you live – may be a luxury buyers are willing to pay more for. But just how much do buyers value garages? Well, according to one recent analysis, homes with garages sell for nearly $25,000 more than homes … [Read more...]

Determining when it's a good time to for you to buy a house means thinking about things like market conditions, your life goals, job security, and personal finances. That's why Fannie Mae's monthly Home Purchase Sentiment Index surveys Americans about those things in an effort to gauge perceptions of the current housing market. And, according to the most recent results, Americans are becoming more enthusiastic. In fact, there was a 13 percent month-over-month increase in the number of respondents who said now is a … [Read more...]

Buying a house is a major financial transaction. So, it makes sense that you'd want to take your time and not rush into anything. Unfortunately, though, buying a house also requires you to act fast, especially in a competitive market. If you spend too much time deliberating, you may lose the house to a buyer who's quicker than you and makes an offer while you're still thinking it over. In other words, the home buying process can sometimes make you feel like you have to rush. This is particularly true for buyers who … [Read more...]

There are a lot of numbers to keep in mind when considering how much house you can afford. For starters, there's the home's price, your potential down payment, current mortgage rates, and the monthly payment. From just those numbers alone, you can get an idea of what is within your reach and what will bust your budget. Fortunately for today's home buyers, new data shows that, if you're a potential buyer currently calculating what you might be able to buy, you're likely to find affordability conditions are more … [Read more...]

Americans consistently rank proximity to family among the factors they consider when choosing a home to buy. After all, it's only natural that we want to live near the people we love. But, according to one new survey, though we want to live close to our family, we don't want to be too close. In fact, the vast majority of respondents said that there should be some driving distance between where they live and where their parents do. More specifically, participants said they'd prefer somewhere between 15 and 45 … [Read more...]

The number of signed contracts to buy homes fell 1.5 percent in April, according to new numbers from the National Association of Realtors. The decline follows a nearly 4 percent increase in March. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, says home sales numbers have yet to reflect favorable trends, such as lower mortgage rates and growing consumer confidence. That may soon change. “Though the latest monthly figure shows a mild decline in contract signings, mortgage applications and consumer confidence have been … [Read more...]

At the end of last year, the housing market looked like it might stall. Higher home prices and rising mortgage rates were making affordability conditions more challenging for buyers, especially first-time buyers and those looking for a suitable starter home. Since then, though, things have taken a turn for the better. The number of homes available to buyers has risen, which has caused prices to moderate somewhat. Additionally, mortgage rates have come back down and don't look like they're going to rise … [Read more...]

Newly released numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development show new home sales fell nearly 7 percent in April. But the month-over-month results only tell part of the story. That's because some of the reason sales were down from the month before is that the March estimate was revised much higher than originally reported. And, after the revision, the data showed new home sales reached their highest level since 2007 in March. Additionally, even after coming down from that … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, average rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances fell again last week. Rates for jumbo loans, loans backed by the FHA, and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages remained mostly flat from the week before. Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, said the average 30-year fixed-rate is now at its lowest point in more than a year. “Mortgage rates fell for the fourth straight week, with … [Read more...]