Lawmakers on Capitol Hill announced Thursday that they've reached a deal to lift the national debt ceiling through December while continuing to work on a longer-term budget solution. The deal comes a day after Charlie Oppler, president of the National Association of REALTORS®, met with President Joe Biden and other business leaders at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the issue.Biden called the meeting to pressure Congress to act before Oc
Builders are up against short supplies of a variety of materials needed to build homes, such as wood paneling, ceiling joists, and pipes. They’re searching for substitutes to keep construction schedules on time, but the process is also adding to their costs.Supply shortages have become a common story in the homebuilding industry over the past year. More than 90% of builders say they have faced a shortage of appliances, framing lumber, plywood,
Priced out of the single-family market, more buyers are now turning their attention toward often a more affordable alternative—condominiums and townhouses. Over the past year, sales have rapidly been on the rise, whether for a permanent residence or even as a second home.Twice as many condos sold in May than a year earlier, according to realtor.com® data. However, that is being measured against a 46% drop in condo sales in May 2020 compared to
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.01% this week, posting a sharp rise after spending nearly four months below 3%. Economists expect mortgage rates to continue to increase modestly over the next few months.“Mortgage rates rose across all loan types this week as the 10-year Treasury yield reached its highest point since June,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Many factors led to this increase, including the Fed
Home buyers are demanding more space: bigger homes and more rooms. So, where can they find a locale with affordable mansions?Realtor.com®’s research team set out to identify the areas with massive mansions—5,000-plus square feet—for less than $1 million. That isn’t exactly an easy feat: The national median list price for homes of 5,000-plus square feet was $1.58 million in August. The prices of larger homes climbed 17% over the past year
Home prices surging has been squeezing housing affordability. Seventy-five percent of the U.S. counties recently analyzed had less affordable median-priced single-family homes in the third quarter compared to their historical averages, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm.Home prices are rising faster than wages in most of the country. Record low mortgage rates have helped home buyers offset some of these high
Most Americans want to own a home at some point in their life, and they say they’re willing to make sacrifices to achieve it. For some, that means forgoing alcohol or vacations for a year to save. But others say they’re willing to give up having kids in order to have their dream home. About 60% of recent survey respondents say they’d prefer their dream home over 40% who said they’d prefer kids first, according to a new survey from Cinch H
Mortgage rates barely budged this week, but that likely soon will change after the Federal Reserve’s bond tapering announcement this week.The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.88% for the week ending Sept. 23, Freddie Mac reports.Rates are largely predicted to rise on the heels of the Fed’s decision to reduce its bond purchases before the end of the year. The National Association of REALTORS® is forecasting that 30-year fixed-rate
Some home buyers have decided to put their search on hold as asking prices continue to increase. Existing-home sales—which reflects completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops—dropped 2% on a seasonally adjusted annual rate from July to August. Sales are down 1.5% compared to a year ago, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday. All four major regions of the U.S. posted declines in existing-h
A new analysis from Freddie Mac alleges appraisal values are more likely to fall below the contracted sales price in Black and Latino neighborhoods than in predominantly White areas. The research is based on an evaluation of 12 million appraisals for purchase transactions on single-family homes that were submitted to Freddie Mac from 2015 to 2020.Nearly 13% of properties in Black census tracts received appraisal values lower than the contract pri
This website includes images sourced from third party websites including Adobe, Getty Images, and as otherwise noted.
