Existing-home sales are up and down—falling most recently in April, according to NAR data—as tight inventory and mortgage rates create uncertainty. Existing-home sales fell last month as the spring real estate market remains fluid and sensitive to the ongoing inventory shortage and changing mortgage rates. Existing-home sales, which include completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condos and co-ops, dropped 3.4% month over m
Home buyers flock to new builds in an effort to find more options amid persistently low inventory. More buyers are deciding to build a new home because they can’t find an existing property in the current low-inventory environment, and the increased demand is prompting home construction to ramp up. The new-home market is experiencing a strong turnaround after a sluggish fall and winter, and builders are feeling more optimistic as new homes make
Annual single-family rent growth decelerated to a rate of 4.3% during March, according to CoreLogic. Despite the slowing trend, rental prices are still largely going up on a monthly basis Prices for single-family rentals (SFRs) marked nearly a year of decelerating growth during March, a new analysis found.Annual single-family rent growth decelerated to a rate of 4.3 percent during March, according to the latest CoreLogic Single-Fam
Total consumer debt hit a fresh new high in the first quarter of 2023, pushing past $17 trillion even amid a sharp pullback in home borrowing.The total for borrowing across all categories hit $17.05 trillion, an increase of nearly $150 billion, or 0.9% during the January-to-March period, the New York Federal Reserve reported Monday. That took total indebtedness up about $2.9 trillion from the pre-Covid period ended in 2019.That increase came even
“A recent sideways trend in mortgage rates is a welcome departure from the record increases of last year,” says Freddie Mac’s chief economist. The average for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell slightly to 6.35% this week, Freddie Mac reported Thursday, helping buyers save more on borrowing costs. “This week’s decrease continues a recent sideways trend in mortgage rates, which is a welcome departure from the record increases of last y
Homebuyer applications for purchase mortgages rose 5% last week, but a strong jobs report and ongoing bank instability are pushing mortgage rates back up Homebuyer demand for purchase loans jumped last week as mortgage rates eased on hopes that the Federal Reserve is done raising rates.But mortgage rates have been climbing again this week after a strong April jobs report cast doubts on expectations that the Federal Reserve could begin r
A 'drought' of new listings is driving up prices, reversing the sluggishness of late 2022, and forcing buyers to compete fiercely for homes, according to a new analysis from Zillow A year after mortgage rates began their precipitous climb and slowed the housing market way down, a “drought” of new listings is now driving prices back up and has ultimately brought back a seller’s market.That’s according to a new report fr
Portfolios at U.S. life insurers tilted more toward mortgage investments, and away from bonds, in 2022, according to new data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Capital Markets Bureau.Life insurers ended the year with $5.3 trillion in cash and invested assets, up 2.9% from the total at the end of 2021.Life insurers’ mortgage assets increased 8.5%, to $695 billion. The share of life insurers’ assets inve
However, 31% of metros saw prices fall—some as much as 10%—amid a slowdown in sales in the first quarter, new NAR data shows. But those declines could be short-lived.In most areas of the country, home prices are still rising as buyers face higher mortgage rates, which fluctuated between 6.1% and 6.7% in the first quarter of this year, according to new National Association of REALTORS® data. The average monthly mortgage payment on a typical e
The jobs report revealed stronger-than-expected payrolls growth and a drop in the unemployment rate.The April jobs report topped economists' expectations by a wide margin and the unemployment rate ticked down to remain at 50-year lows, complicating the Federal Reserve's mission to rein in inflation.Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 253,000 in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics(opens in new tab) said Friday, well ahead of
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