For the first time since January 2018, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has dropped below 4%.“While economic data points to continued strength, financial sentiment is weakening with the spread between the 10-year and the 3-month Treasury bill narrowing as fears of the impact of the trade war with China grow,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Lower rates should, however, give a boost to the housing market, which has been on
Shopping around for a mortgage can provide savings beyond just the interest rate. Borrowers could save thousands in lender fees as well.Borrowers who collect up to five offers from mortgage lenders could save more than $2,000 on mortgage fees, according to a new study from LendingTree of 300,000 loan offers. These extra fees include the costs for a mortgage application, underwriting, origination, appraisals, and up to 16 other fees that
About a quarter of adults say they’ve moved for the person they loved and to pursue a romantic relationship at some point in their lives, a new survey shows. It’s likely to pay off too, couples report.Men are slightly more likely to relocate than women (27% versus 23%, respectively), and millennials are more willing to make a move for love than other generations, according to a survey of about 1,000 adults from HireAHelper, a moving and reloc
In their search for affordability, home buyers are taking their house hunts further out from the city limits. Exurbs are the outskirts of major metro areas that lie beyond the suburbs. Many offer more land and greater affordability in new-home construction.Single- and multifamily activity in the exurbs makes up only a small share of permit activity across the country, but their quarterly growth rates reached a new high in the first quarter of 201
Online retail giant Amazon was once blamed for driving local shopping malls out of business. Now, it wants to reinvent them into warehouses.“While at a surface level, this appears simply to be about converting shopping malls into warehouses to strengthen Amazon’s supply chain and physically position the retailer closer to customers (both rural and urban) for same or next day delivery, the move has all the hallmarks of Amazon’s DNA,” Sean
Rents for single-family homes jumped 2.9% year over year in March, according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rental Index. The index measures rent changes among single-family rental homes, including condos.Rents for lower-priced homes are increasing at a faster clip than those of higher-priced homes. Low-end rentals are defined as properties with rents 75% or less than the region’s median rents.Rents on lower-priced homes rose 3.5% year over yea
Buyers’ may be having more positive perceptions about the state of available inventory, according to a new survey released by the National Association of Home Builders. Twenty-two percent of adults planning a home purchase said in the first quarter of the year that they expect their home search to get easier in the months ahead. That marks an improvement from the 16% with the same expectation a year earlier, the NAHB reports on its Eye on
Home prices are up nationally, but buyers are finding that values are starting to fall in a handful of areas. One in five metro areas are seeing decreases in home prices compared with half as many a year ago, according to realtor.com®.“In a lot of markets, buyers are hitting an affordability ceiling,” says Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “Prices just can’t keep rising if buyers can’t keep up. They are dropping out, an
Home buyers and sellers can disagree over seemingly frivolous issues, which can sometimes jeopardize a sale. Realtor.com® recently interviewed real estate professionals to find out some of the most common petty issues that can pop up in a transaction.For example, missing cover plates is one that agents said they hear often. “One of the funniest—and most annoying—requests I get is for sellers to replace missing cover plates on light sw
About 885 million mortgage documents dating back to 2003 have been exposed by a data breach within First American Financial Corp., a title insurance provider, the KrebsOnSecurity news site reports.The breach exposed bank account numbers and statements, mortgage and tax records, Social Security numbers, wire transaction receipts, and drivers license images online, the security site reported.“On May 24th, First American learned of a design defect
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