Mortgage rates took the day to do just a little bit more of what they’ve been doing in fairly grand fashion for the past week: MOVE LOWER! When the good times started in earnest, rates were already in line with their lowest levels in more than a year. As of today, they’re another quarter or […]
BY JANN SWANSON Mortgage rates pulled back slightly during the week ended November 16, but that did little to move mortgage applications higher. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Market Composite Index, a measure of overall application volume, continued to trend down, dipping 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the week ended […]
BY JANN SWANSON Recent research from Trulia shows home price reductions are increasing. The share of homes for sale that have had at least one price cut since being listed is the highest since 2014. This, the company says, is more evidence that the market may finally be tilting in homebuyers favor, but the benefits […]
BY JANN SWANSON The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports a drop in applications for the purchase of newly constructed homes last month. Those applications fell by 3.9 percent compared to August although they remained 8.2 percent higher than they were the previous September. The change does not reflect any seasonal adjustment. The information comes from […]
BY JANN SWANSON It appears that, while Americans are generally upbeat about the economy, housing, and their own financial fortunes, they have a little difficulty maintaining those sentiments. Fannie Mae said today that its Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) reversed direction again in September, falling 0.3 point to 87.7. The downturn did not erase the […]
BY JANN SWANSON Two Zillow subsidiaries are estimating it will cost the average U.S. homebuyer $40,000 to get in the door of their new home. Depending on where the home is located, according to a new analysis from RealEstate.com and Thumbtack, the number could be $26,641 (in Cleveland) or $202,834 (San Jose.) That headline number […]
Sure, the stock market has risen for over eight years. But the run which started in October off 2016 is quite extraordinary, to say the least. Usually when bull markets get older, they fluctuate and run out of steam, but this one seems to have gotten quite a second wind. The question is — where […]
The stock market shined this past week with another show of resiliency. The ability to bounce back after two huge natural disasters hit was quite impressive — even as the Korean situation continued to fester. By the end of the week, stocks had healthy gains. Meanwhile, long-term rates moved up as the stock market rallied. […]
According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), first-time homebuyers accounted for only 27% of all home sales in December 2013—the lowest level since the NAR started tracking such statistics in 2008. Factors that may be contributing to diminishing numbers include high student loans, poor credit scores, low employment, and the rise in home prices […]
According to The National Association of Realtors® (NAR), existing home sales increased by 1.0% in December 2013 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.87 million, up from 4.82 million in November. However, last month’s figure is down by 0.6%, below the 4.90 million unit pace from December 2012. Last month’s numbers represented all-time lows […]