The National Association of REALTORS® has asked the Trump administration to jump-start the Rural Housing Loan Program, which has been unable to process mortgage applications since the partial federal government shutdown began nearly a month ago.After learning that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which operates the loan program through the Rural Housing Service, had decided to temporarily recall employees of the Farm Service Agency to provide
Investors who were planning to move quickly in the new year to take advantage of opportunity-zone tax incentives are putting on the brakes. They’re waiting for the U.S. Treasury Department to finalize guidance on precisely how the tax benefit will work before they proceed, and a timeline for that to happen has been thrown into doubt during the partial government shutdown, The Wall Street Journal reports.Opportunity-zone provision
You can find the most competitive buyers in Denver, Los Angeles, and Portland, Ore., according to a new analysis by LendingTree, an online loan marketplace. Buyers in these cities have higher than average credit and the ability to put down a larger down payment, making them highly competitive in a multiple-offer situation.LendingTree analyzed the 50 largest metro areas and examined competitiveness by the share of buyers shopping for a mortgage be
About 75 percent of non-homeowners believe homeownership is still part of their American dream, according to a new analysis released by the National Association of REALTORS®. However, the biggest barrier for non-owners is that they are currently unable to afford a mortgage, according to the fourth-quarter 2018 Homeownership Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey, based on more than 8,000 consumer responses.During the last quarter of 2
Following a series of interest rate hikes, the Federal Reserve may be ready to hit the pause button—which could be welcome news for mortgage borrowers. Notes from the Fed’s latest meeting show a consensus among board members not to raise the benchmark interest rate at the body’s January meeting or its next meeting in mid-March. However, Fed officials did say they expect economic growth to remain strong enough to still support a rate increas
Though you’re bound by the Code of Ethics not to prognosticate about the safety of any particular location, it’s an issue at the forefront of your buyers’ minds. “When homeowners think about the biggest investment of their life, top of mind is how safe an area would be to live in and raise a family,” Rick Palacios Jr., director of research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, told realtor.com®.You can, instead, send your clients to in
Mortgage rates posted more drops this week, lowering the borrowing costs of potential home shoppers and refinancers. Rates are now at a nine-month low, which helped boost mortgage applications more than 20 percent this week.“Lower mortgage rates combined with continued income growth and lower energy prices are all positive indicators for consumers that should lead to a firming of home sales,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief e
Mortgage rates have been decreasing in recent weeks, but if they reverse course and start to rise again, more potential home buyers may get “priced out,” a new study from the National Association of Home Builders shows. About 1 million households would likely no longer be able to afford buying a median-priced new home if mortgage rates rise from 4.85 percent to 5.1 percent. Last week, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.51 percent
Wages are failing to keep pace with rising home prices, according to a new study from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate research firm. Median home prices increased faster than weekly wages in 601 of the 755 counties—80 percent of the markets that researchers analyzed in the report.The markets that saw home prices outpace wage growth by some of the highest amounts were Los Angeles County, Calif.; Cook County (Chicago), Ill.; Harris County (Hou
Sellers whose homes aren’t in tip-top shape may need to spend extra money or put in a little elbow grease to get their properties in market-ready condition. But what are the most important repair or maintenance tasks that support a higher asking price? “Smaller and less expensive updates in combination with good staging will have a great return,” Susanna Haynie, GRI, a sales associate with Colorado Real Estate Group in Colorado Springs, tol
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