The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.98% this week, the lowest rate in Freddie Mac’s records dating back to 1971.“The drop has led to increased home buyer demand and, these low rates have been capitalized into asset prices in support of the financial markets,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “However, the countervailing force for the economy has been the rise in new virus cases which has caused the economic recover
Empty nests no more: Millions of college students returned home as college campuses closed in the spring during the outbreak of COVID-19. And many of those college students say they’ve enjoyed being back home.On average, students said at first they expected to stay at their family’s home for four months, according to a survey of about 1,200 college students conducted by CollegeFinance. But 41% acknowledged they were unsure how long they’d s
Home buyers may face stricter credit score requirements and larger down payment or higher cash reserve requirements if trying to qualify for a supersized mortgage. Lenders reportedly are growing stricter about granting jumbo mortgages, CNBC reports.Jumbo mortgages, also known as “nonconforming loans,” allow buyers to qualify for higher loans to purchase homes, typically in more expensive areas. In many areas, for 2020, the lending cap is $510
As cities locked down while the COVID-19 outbreak began, many housing markets came to a standstill. But it was a short-lived one. As states and cities have begun to reopen, buyers have reemerged in some markets—in some cases growing their footprint from even a year prior.Clever Real Estate recently examined national housing market trends to pinpoint which metro areas have seen the largest rebounds in buyer demand. The service’s Housing Demand
Entire industries are being forced to reconsider their business models in the COVID-19 world. Unemployment has skyrocketed during the pandemic, but some industries are more likely than others to weather the storm and even grow after the pandemic eases.Keeping a pulse on employment is key in real estate, as new job centers can spawn new demand for housing in an area. But real estate itself is among the top five industries cited by MarketWatch as m
More home buyers are applying for loans, and they’re ready to close. Mortgage applications to purchase a home increased 5% last week and are now 33% higher than a year ago, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.Record low mortgage rates last week prompted a spike in activity. Home buyer demand has proven strong since mid-May as some states started to reopen after sheltering in place to slow the COVID-19 outbreak. Buyers reemerged
Real estate wealth tends to be largely concentrated in the largest cities in the U.S. LendingTree recently analyzed the total value of residential real estate in American cities, culling property value data of more than 155 million U.S. properties.American households own $29.2 trillion of residential real estate—that makes up a big part of the $107 trillion in total household net worth in the U.S., LendingTree notes.New York has the most valuab
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.07% this week, the lowest ever recorded by Freddie Mac since it began tracking such data in 1971. “Mortgage rates continue to slowly drift downward, with a distinct possibility that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage could dip below 3% later this year,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “On the economic front, incoming data suggest the rebound in economic activity has paused in
The lack of housing inventory continues to be buyers’ biggest hurdle. In June, the number of homes for sale plummeted nationwide, prompting realtor.com® to call home sellers the “missing link” to an otherwise strong summer housing market.The nation’s housing inventory decline has accelerated since May, and housing inventory dropped 27.4% year over year in June, according to realtor.com®'s newly released housing report. That translates t
The median home price of single-family homes and condos in the second quarter of this year was more affordable than historical averages in a growing number of counties across the U.S., according to a new study from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm. Researchers determined housing affordability by calculating the amount of income needed to make monthly house payments—including the mortgage, property taxes, and insurance—on a median
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