Americans are feeling upbeat about the housing market. More than half of Americans—or 63%—say now is a good time to buy a home, and 74% of sellers say now is a good time to sell, according to the fourth-quarter findings from the Homeownership Opportunities and Market Experience survey, conducted by the National Association of REALTORS®.Low mortgage rates and a belief that the economy is improving may be helping to ignite some momen
Wildfire-prone areas in California are seeing home sales slow as insurers retreat from high-risk regions, The Wall Street Journal reports.Insurers paid more than $24 billion for California wildfire losses in 2017 and 2018. Now, they’re looking to cover their losses and are reportedly raising prices or declining to renew policies in some parts of the state.Potential buyers are backing out of purchases or lowering their offers after rea
The cost per square foot of a home can vary drastically from place to place. On average, Americans pay $123, but in some cities, the price can top $1,000.“In general, price per square foot is higher in markets where there’s high demand but land is scarce due to underlying geographic constraints,” Robert Dietz, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, told realtor.com®. “Prices are also higher in markets with steeper
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s new loan limits for 2020 have gone into effect; Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are operated by the FHFA, began backing larger loans last week when the new year started. The cap on Fannie and Freddie loans has increased to $510,400 from 2019’s $484,350 limit.This is the fourth consecutive year that the FHFA has raised conforming loan limits, which can stretch even higher in areas with expensive median ho
Home shoppers are being greeted with much lower mortgage rates to kick off 2020 than they were a year ago. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.72% this week, compared to 4.51% at the beginning of 2019.Improving economic data has led to a stability in mortgage rates over the last few weeks. Thirty-year rates have generally hovered around an average of 3.7% for the past two months.What a difference a year makes: “The stability is welcome n
Home buyers gained negotiating power in many markets during the second quarter of the year, finding greater room to haggle on list price. Just 15% of homes in the largest metro areas during this time sold for the seller’s original asking price, according to CoreLogic data, a sign that sellers should be willing to field lower offers.Sixty-one percent of homes sold in the second quarter were discounted, up from 57% a year ago, according to the da
In some markets, buyers are finding major deals on homes that have lingered on the market, but still, property values in those areas are performing well, according to a new analysis by realtor.com®.Realtor.com®’s data team identified these “hidden gem” markets by factoring in days on the market, median home prices below the national median of $310,000, and low unemployment rates, among other items. The site limited its rankings to on
Pending home sales rose 1.2% in November after slipping the prior month, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ latest housing report, which was released Monday. Year-over-year contract signings were up 7.4% nationally, according to the report.November’s Pending Home Sales Index reached 108.5; an index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001. The West region of the country reported the highe
The average annual salary for a full-time worker in the U.S. reached a record high in November, soaring to $69,181, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports. That marks a 3.4% increase from a year ago.Higher salaries, along with low mortgage rates, may help give the housing market a boost. The economy is performing strongly, with more than 2 million jobs created in the past year, Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of R
The interest rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.9% for 2019, the fourth lowest annual average since 1971, according to Freddie Mac. For 2020, Freddie’s outlook mirrors that of the real estate industry’s top economists, who discussed their predictions at the National Association of REALTORS®’ first-ever Real Estate Forecast Summit earlier this month: Low mortgage rates and an improving economy will help drive
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