Last year, the big housing market story was the lack of homes for sale. With inventory down in most markets, home buyers had a lot of competition for the houses that were available. But, since then, the number of homes for sale has been climbing. And, according to a recent survey of potential home buyers, competition is no longer as big of a concern for hopeful home shoppers. In fact, there was a 10 percent drop in the number of respondents who expected to face competition when looking for a house to buy. That's … [Read more...]

Debt is an issue for many Americans. From student loans to credit card balances, there are a lot of things we're trying to pay off. But while the financial struggles of millennials are well known, there isn't as much attention paid to the debts of older Americans. After all, they aren't trying to save for a down payment and buy their first home while also paying off student loans and keeping up with rising rent, right? Well, though some of that may be true, having too much debt or poor credit will affect your plans … [Read more...]

If you're doing it right, the first step in your home-buying process will be talking with your lender. Your mortgage lender is the one who will be able to tell you whether or not you'll be able to buy and how much you'll be able to spend. In short, you won't get very far without first going over your numbers and figuring out what you'd be approved to borrow should you find a house you want to purchase. Some of that calculation will be determined by your financial situation, debts, income, etc. Another part will be … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates were mostly down last week. In fact, rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages all fell. The declines helped push demand for loans to buy homes up 4 percent from the week before. Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, said the gains are an encouraging sign. “Purchase … [Read more...]

For many Americans, coming up with a down payment to buy a house is the only barrier keeping them from pursuing homeownership. In fact, according to one recent survey, 40 percent of respondents said affording a down payment was the biggest thing that kept them from buying. That more than doubles the next most cited reason, which was believing rent was more affordable. But though saving enough money for a down payment was an obstacle for a large percentage of potential home buyers, it wasn't necessarily an … [Read more...]

Among all the indicators that can be used to gauge the health of the housing market, few are as good as new home construction. After all, home builders wouldn't be building homes if they didn't think there were interested buyers. So, when new home construction is rising, there's probably a good reason. And, if that's the case, then the January numbers recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development are encouraging. That's because they show a 25.1 percent … [Read more...]

You can't always pick and choose when it's time to move. Maybe you found a job in another city or you have a growing family and need more space. Whatever the case, buying a home isn't something you necessarily do only when the deals are too good to pass up. Sometimes you just have to pack it up and find a new place regardless of what's happening in the market. But, if you're someone who has to make a move in the near future, you'll be happy to hear that buying conditions are improving. In fact, home buyers' … [Read more...]

There are so many individual factors that can sway someone's decision to buy or sell a house that it can be difficult to assess perceptions of the real estate market. But Fannie Mae's monthly Home Purchase Sentiment Index aims to do just that. By asking Americans about their confidence in the economy, their personal finances, home prices, mortgage rates, etc., the index hopes to give an overview of peoples' feelings about buying or selling a house. According to the results of their February survey, Americans are … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates were fairly steady last week from the week before. Rates saw slight increases across all loan categories including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and 15-year fixed-rate loans. Mike Fratantoni, MBA's senior vice president and chief economist, says conditions are stabilizing and conventional purchase loans are up. “Slightly higher … [Read more...]

New home sales data from the end of last year was delayed because of the government shutdown. But, the now released numbers contain an unexpected surprise. That's because sales of newly built single-family homes rose nearly 4 percent in December from the month before. The gains put 2018 totals 1.5 percent above the year before. It was also a seven-month high. Economists polled before the release predicted a sharp drop in sales, which makes the improvement even more surprising. However, though rising sales are an … [Read more...]