The housing market landscape is vastly different than it was several months ago as potential home buyers and sellers continue to hesitate amid affordability challenges and mortgage rate swings exacerbating the housing cost roller coaster for buyers. Home values slipped for the second consecutive month as mortgage costs continue to sideline buyers, according to Zillow’s latest […]
Author Archives: Rosemary Bondoc
Confused about the housing market? Here’s what’s happening now – and what could happen next
The slowdown in the otherwise red-hot housing boom has been stunningly swift. The U.S. housing market surged during the pandemic as homebound people sought new places to live, boosted by record-low interest rates. Now, real estate agents who once reported lines of buyers outside open houses and bidding wars on the back deck say homes […]
Mortgage demand drops further as interest rates shoot back to June high
In June the average rate on the 30-year fixed shot over 6% briefly, and that was enough to turn the once-hot housing market on its heels. Rates pulled back in July and August, but the damage was already done. Now rates are heading past 6% yet again, causing already beleaguered mortgage demand to fall even […]
4 Positives about today’s housing market
Real estate and mortgage professionals must know a lot about what affects the real estate market — both locally and nationally. The stark reality is that true professionals in this space never stop learning. They also use historical information to guide their understanding of current and future marketing conditions and hence, the application of sound strategies. Here […]
10 Most Affordable Lake Towns
Lakefront homes may offer home buyers a chance to buy a waterfront property at a more affordable price than a vacation home on the ocean. Some of the least expensive lake towns may not be as well-known, but they offer house hunters a chance to live on the water and still enjoy the activities and views […]
Demand for lowest-priced homes strongest as market shifts
As the housing market shifts, demand for lowest-priced homes is strongest, according to an analysis from Zillow, released on Tuesday. Throughout most of the pandemic, homebuyers shopping in the middle and top-price tiers faced the most competition as inventory was more limited than the lower priced tier. However, as home prices have continued to increase and mortgage rates have risen, resulting in […]
Homebuilders are done until mortgage rates fall
Why construction on single-family houses is on hold Tuesday’s housing starts report clearly shows that homebuilders are going to be done with single-family construction until mortgage rates fall. Housing completion data is still struggling to get some traction, but in the coming months, builders should be able to get more housing completions done while housing permits and starts for […]
Why Some Housing Markets Seem To Be Cooling Down While Others Heat Up
Burned by a hot housing market, some frustrated home buyers may have hoped that sky-high listing prices are finally coming down to earth. Well, they are – sort of. It just depends on where you live. To better understand the housing affordability situation, Fortune magazine reached out to Moody’s Analytics to get access to its latest proprietary […]
3 Possible Solutions To Housing Booms And Busts
Changes in demand caused by the pandemic were, of course, a big part of the house price boom but two years of falling mortgage rates was the main reason house prices skyrocketed in 2020 and 2021. Rates fell from 4.9% in November 2018 to 2.7% in January 2021, the lowest rate ever on 30-year fixed-rate […]