Paying rent each month can make it difficult to save money for a down payment. But, according to new research, renters who hope to one day buy a home may be finding it a little bit easier. That's because, though rent is up about 3 percent from last year, it isn't increasing quite as rapidly as it was before. And there may be evidence that the slowdown is helping aspiring home buyers save money to buy a house – especially millennials, who make up half of all renters. For one, the number of renters is falling. In … [Read more...]

The real estate market is typically slower in the fall and winter. So, it's not that surprising to see homes for sale are staying on the market longer than they were a few months ago. But according to the National Association of Realtors' most recent existing home sales report, not only was the typical listing on the market for 42 days in November, home price increases are beginning to moderate as well. In other words, the market's slowed down and it's good news for potential home buyers. The report shows buyers … [Read more...]

The end of the year is typically the time when experts and prognosticators make predictions for the year ahead. And while it's not easy to see into the future, year-end forecasts can give us an idea of which scenarios are likely to play out. Take Fannie Mae's most recent forecast from their Economic and Strategic Research Group. Its experts say economic growth will begin to slow in 2019 but the real estate market may actually be well positioned. And that could be good news for home buyers. Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae's … [Read more...]

In some ways, builders are good predictors of where the housing market is headed. Since their business is dependent on knowing whether or not consumers are interested in buying homes, they are among the first to see changes in buyer traffic and interest. Because of this, the National Association of Home Builders tracks builder confidence as part of their monthly Housing Market Index. In December, the index fell to 56 on a scale where any number above 50 indicates more builders view conditions as good than poor. … [Read more...]

There's a fairly common misconception among prospective home buyers that they'll need a 20 percent down payment before they can buy a house. This, of course, isn't true. It's recommended since it'll help you avoid paying mortgage insurance, reduce your monthly payment, and get you a lower mortgage rate. But, depending on the terms of your loan, how much money you put down is flexible. So what do most home buyers put down and how do they get it? Well, according to one recent report, just 43 percent of buyers … [Read more...]

Traditionally, homeownership has been seen as part of settling down. Getting married and starting a family went hand-in-hand with buying a home and planting roots in a community. But though they're still common motivating factors, marriage and children aren't the only reasons someone might want to become a homeowner. And so there are an increasing number of single home buyers active in the housing market. Among them, women are outpacing men. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors' most recent … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates fell last week 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. The decline was the largest single-week drop since last year. Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, said trade worries drove rates down. “Mortgage rates fell across the board last … [Read more...]

If you compare the number of people who want to buy homes to the number of homes available to buy, you can get a pretty good sense of where the housing market is headed. For example, a new analysis from Freddie Mac shows that there were 90 million Americans between the ages of 15 and 34 in 2016. That's 6 million more than the number of people between ages 35 and 54. That means, there are a lot of younger Americans who are at, or are quickly approaching, the age of the typical first-time home buyer. This points to … [Read more...]

When mortgage rates started to trend upward earlier this year, a lot of the focus turned to how it would affect first-time home buyers. Because they have their own unique set of challenges, first-time buyers were expected to be hit harder by increasing rates. However, new numbers from Ellie Mae's Millennial Tracker show that changing affordability factors haven't deterred young Americans from pursuing their dream of buying a home. They have adjusted their price range, though. In fact, the numbers show that the … [Read more...]

For a while now, there's been a balance between the feeling that buying a home is becoming less affordable and the perception that the economy is getting stronger. Americans are concerned about rising home prices and mortgage rates but, at the same time, they're also seeing more job opportunities and higher wages. How this might affect a decision about making a move is fairly obvious. In short, your feelings about whether or not it's a good time for you to buy a house are likely tied to your feelings about your job … [Read more...]