Home buyers along coastal housing markets are being impacted the most by rising mortgage rates over the past few weeks, according to an analysis by the National Association of REALTORS®.The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage went up from 3.5 percent in November to about 4.12 percent in January.Home buyers in San Francisco County, Calif., have felt the pain of that jump the most, with nearly a $375 increase to their average monthly mortgage paym
Just hours after being sworn in, President Donald Trump moved to suspend a plan to reduce the Federal Housing Administration’s mortgage insurance premiums that was set to go into effect on Jan. 27. The plan had been announced just a few days ago by the outgoing Obama administration and Housing and Urban Development head Julian Castro.The reduction in premiums by 25 basis points, or a quarter percentage point, “has been suspended indefinitely,
Homeowners are finding that as they renovate and walls are removed, they’re uncovering tokens from the home’s past. They’ve found everything from ritual objects placed behind the walls to ward off evil spirits to time capsules with notes enclosed for future owners to find.Michelle Morgan Harrison, an interior designer, recently found a skull buried beneath an old white oak beam while renovating her 1816 New Canaan, Conn., home. She was reli
The White House is getting a makeover as a new president moves in and calls 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. home.When Donald Trump moves into the White House on Jan. 20, his suits will be hanging in the closet, personal photos will be placed throughout, and everything from the rugs, furniture, and wallpaper will be just the way he’s requested, just as presidents before him find upon move-in day."The entire house has to be just the way the incoming famil
For the third consecutive week, fixed-rate mortgages edged down, lowering borrowing costs for buyers and refinancers.Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Jan. 19: 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.09 percent, with an average 0.5 point, dropping from last week’s 4.12 percent. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.81 percent. 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.34 perce
A recent survey from realtor.com® reveals the following:1. Low inventories: There aren’t enough homes for sale and inventory woes are expected to worsen this year. Active inventory in December 2016 on realtor.com® dropped 11 percent compared to a year ago. “As a result, the year has started with the lowest inventory of homes for sale at least since the recession, and possibly in decades,” realtor.com® notes. “Inventory was a challenge
An average of 10 percent of brokerages’ online profiles are inaccurate or outdated, according to an audit by the WAV Group, a real estate consulting firm. And the slower winter months are the perfect time to do a digital clean up.Start by identifying all your business's online profiles, whether they are on your own website, Realtor.com, Facebook, Homes.com, Zillow, etc. Then collect the necessary information to update those profiles. This could
Housing production nationwide edged up 11.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in December due to a surge in multifamily construction, the Commerce Department reported this week. Multifamily production – often viewed as volatile month-to-month – surged 57 percent to 431,000 units in December.Single-family starts, on the other hand, fell 4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 795,000 units. But builder sentiment remains high for
About a quarter of first-time home buyers surveyed by realtor.com® in December said the top delay in buying was a lack of funds for a down payment. However, many first-time buyers don’t necessarily need a 20 percent down payment to move forward on a home purchase.In fact, the average down payment is 11 percent, according to realtor.com®’s research of loan record data from Optimal Blue. On an average purchased house in 2016 at $290,000, that
JPMorgan Chase will pay $55 million in a settlement over claims the bank giant charged thousands of African American and Hispanic borrowers higher interest rates on mortgages than white counterparts.Federal officials say the bank charged Black and Hispanic borrowers, on average, $1,000 more than similar mortgages issued to whites. The mortgages were reportedly issued by third-party independent brokers, but then funded by JPMorgan. Such a practice
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