For generations, young Americans have included homeownership among their goals for the future. Its appeal has endured over the decades and through numerous bubbles, crashes, and recessions. Now, according to a new survey from the National Association of Realtors' consumer website, there's another generation of young Americans making plans to buy in the near future. The recently released survey of 18-to-25 year olds found that nearly three-quarters of respondents said they'd prefer to buy rather than rent over the … [Read more...]

The lack of previously owned homes for sale is an opportunity for home builders. There are, after all, plenty of buyers. So, in a market with low inventory, a builder could be reasonably confident that the homes they built would be purchased, and quickly. So why then do recently released numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development show new home sales falling? Well, part of the problem is the rising price of building materials. Costs have skyrocketed over the past year and … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, demand for mortgage applications rose 2.1 percent last week from the week before. Refinance activity was up 3 percent and the Purchase Index rose 1 percent. Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, says demand for loans to buy homes has been increasing lately. “Purchase application have regained an upward trend over the past few weeks,” Kan said. “Activity was slightly higher for the third straight … [Read more...]

Sales of previously owned homes fell less than one percent in May, according to new numbers from the National Association of Realtors. The month-over-month decline, though slight, was the fourth consecutive monthly decrease for existing-home sales. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, says the issues currently holding sales back are expected to improve in the months ahead. “Lack of inventory continues to be the overwhelming factor holding back home sales, but falling affordability is simply squeezing some … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates fell last week to their lowest level since early May. Rates were down week-over-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 drop led to an increase in demand for mortgage applications, which rose 4.2 percent from the week before. The improvement was driven by a 6 … [Read more...]

When there are more buyers than available homes for sale, home prices rise. That's why prices spiked last year and have continued increasing into 2021. An already lower-than-normal number of homes for sale fell even lower after the coronavirus hit last March. The resulting inventory crunch, combined with elevated demand from buyers, has been driving prices upward ever since. But, while low inventory isn't great for buyers, it's good news for home builders, since building new homes is the quickest way to balance the … [Read more...]

Before you can shop for a house to buy, you have to make sure you'll be able to get a loan. After all, there's no point in falling in love with a home only to discover it's out of your price range – or worse, you aren't able to get approved for a mortgage. That's why meeting with your lender is the first step of the home buying process. It's how you know what you can spend on a house and what the terms of your loan will be. But the standards that are used to determine whether and how much you're able to borrow … [Read more...]

Having a second home is a dream for a lot of people. Who doesn't want somewhere beautiful they can escape to when they need a break or want to flee bad weather? But while we dream about it, owning a second home is expensive and, if you don't have the ability to use it often enough, might not be worth the cost. Last year, the coronavirus changed that equation for a lot of Americans. The increasing number of us who were able to work remotely could suddenly justify the extra expense, since we could spend more time in … [Read more...]