Nov 18
Credit Unions Step in to Fill Lending Void The number of mortgage originations issued from credit unions in the first half of 2014 has climbed 10 percent year-over-year. This has elevated credit unions to having more than 8 percent share of the home loan market—about triple their share prior to the recession—making them a growing …
Nov 17
Mortgage Rates Still Near Yearly Lows The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is hovering around 4 percent. This has been keeping borrowing costs low for refinances and home buyers for the last few weeks, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. Freddie Mac reported the following national averages for mortgage rates for the week …
Nov 14
Home Remodeling Activity Falls as Rents Rise Markets where rents are rising rapidly are seeing less home-improvement activity, translating to rental properties that aren’t being upgraded or properly maintained, suggests a new study. In many ZIP codes where rents have climbed by some of the highest amounts, remodeling and other home-improvement activity are at their …
Nov 13
Stage for Home Buyers’ Return Home buyers are reportedly returning to the market after nearly a year, as mortgage rates mostly stabilize and federal regulators offer up rules that promise to make it easier to get a loan, Reuters reports. Home building giants D.R. Horton Inc. and Toll Brothers Inc. reported this week a sharp …
Nov 12
Financing Barriers Stifle Condo Resurgence Demand for condo units is rising in urban areas nationwide, but mortgage financing continues to squeeze out entry-level buyers, the Los Angeles Times reports. List prices for condos in major markets are rising faster than prices for single-family detached homes in many areas. Condos are surging in popularity as boomers …
Nov 11
Renters Face Affordability Crisis With increased competition for units, rents are shooting up, and the increases are biting renters’ wallets as they find themselves increasingly getting priced out of the market, with wages failing to keep pace. Nationwide rents have risen about 6 percent from a year ago, due to rising demand and still-limited supply, …
Nov 10
Building Reality Into the American Dream It wasn’t quite real until she saw it firsthand. Quenetria “Que” Harris had just dropped her three-year-old son Ja’kyi off at school when she drove up to thank a few of the more than 100 REALTOR® volunteers working to make her new home a reality. “It hit me because …
Nov 07
Home sales down because of: Down Payments or Debt? Debt — like student loans and car payments — can create the biggest barrier to home ownership, more so than saving for a down payment, according to a new analysis by RealtyTrac. RealtyTrac analyzed affordability in 500 counties and found that one of the biggest obstacles …
Nov 06
Home Applications Post First Rise in Weeks Applications for home purchases, a leading indicator of home sales, increased 2.6 percent last week, even with a rise in interest rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjust index of mortgage activity, reflecting the week ending Oct. 31. The rise follows a 5 percent decrease the …
Nov 05
Home Owners Lose Out by Not Refinancing Recent reductions in the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage could net the population of borrowers big savings if they would refinance, according to Black Knight Financial Services’ latest Mortgage Monitor Report. “Before the most recent reductions in the average 30-year mortgage interest rate, approximately 6 million borrowers met broad-based ‘refinancibility’ …
Nov 04
First-Time Buyers at Lowest Level in Decades Despite an improving job market and low interest rates, the share of first-time buyers fell to its lowest point in nearly three decades, according to an annual survey released today by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR’s Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers dates back to 1981. The …
Nov 03
Mortgage Rates on Real Estate, Still Below 4% Average fixed-rate mortgages inched up from last week’s lowest rates of the year but are still hovering below historical lows, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Oct. 30: 30-year …
