If you're trying to figure out whether or not you can afford something, you typically only have to consider its price. Buying a home, however, is a bit more complicated. When you buy a house, there are variables to consider beyond the list price. You have to take things like insurance and taxes into consideration as well. That's why, despite the fact that home prices have been rising lately, buying is still a good deal in many markets. How is that possible? Well, it's mostly due to mortgage rates. According to a … [Read more...]

Last year was a surprisingly good year for the housing market. Despite the coronavirus and its economic impact, residential real estate was hot. Buyer demand was high and homes for sale sold quickly. Still, there were plenty of people who delayed their plans to buy or sell a home because of the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. Whether or not they return to the market this year will play a big role in determining what conditions look like for prospective home buyers and sellers. According to one new survey, it … [Read more...]

When a home seller accepts an offer and a contract to buy is signed, that home's sale is considered pending until it closes weeks later. Because of the gap between contract signings and closings, pending sales can be a good indicator of future home sales. That's why the National Association of Realtors tracks them each month. In January, their Pending Home Sales Index hit an all-time high for the month, despite dropping almost 3 percent from December. Contract signings are now up 13 percent from last year at the … [Read more...]

Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose more than expected in January, according to new numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sales were up 4.3 percent from December's pace, which is significantly better than the 2.1 percent improvement economists expected. The combination of a lower-than-normal number of homes for sale and a higher-than-normal level of buyer demand has new-home sales booming this winter. In fact, they are 19.3 percent higher than … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates increased last week from the week before. Rates were up for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and 15-year fixed-rate loans. As a result, demand for mortgage applications fell from the previous week. Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, says the housing market remains strong. “The housing … [Read more...]

The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices has collected home price data for the past 30 years and is considered among the leading measures of U.S. home values. Their most recent release, which covers data through the end of 2020, shows last year's home-price performance was one of the best in index history. Craig J. Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P, says prices have been accelerating since June of last year. “As COVID-related restrictions began to grip the economy … [Read more...]

High buyer demand and low for-sale inventory have made for a hot housing market. Homes are selling quickly and buyers are having to compete for available listings. But, according to the most recent outlook from Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group, the market is expected to cool off at some point this year. When that happens is still a little uncertain, however. “While housing is still expected to moderate in the new year from its unsustainably high pace in the second half of 2020, the ESR Group did … [Read more...]

The typical home for sale was on the market for just 21 days in January, according to the National Association of Realtors. That's down from 43 days one year earlier. It's yet another sign that fewer homes for sale has caused the homes that are for sale to sell quickly. So quickly, in fact, that 71 percent of the homes that sold in January were on the market for less than a month. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, says home-buyer demand has started the year off strong . “Home sales continue to ascend in the … [Read more...]

Home builders know the housing market. Their business depends on it. That's why the National Association of Home Builders keeps a monthly measure of how confident they are in the market for newly built single-family homes. If builders are optimistic, chances are the market is doing well. In February, the index – which scores builders' responses on a scale where any number above 50 indicates more builders view conditions as good than poor – was up one point to 84, just below its all-time high. Robert Dietz, the … [Read more...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates increased last week from one week earlier. Rates were up for both 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances and 15-year fixed-rate loans. Loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration fell slightly while jumbo loans were unchanged. Despite rising in recent weeks, mortgage rates remain historically low. However, the uptick has caused application demand to fall. In fact, it was down 5.1 percent … [Read more...]