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☆ Homebuyers Have Hope With Lower Mortgage Rates, More Houses Available
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Wild swings in mortgage rates discouraged almost everyone from venturing out into the market. As I wrote earlier this year, a gummed-up housing market — the Ice Age I was talking about — is good for nobody. When mortgage rates hit multidecade lows during the pandemic, millions of people were able to snag or refinance their way into cheaper monthly costs. That'd be within spitting distance of what the experts at John Burns Research and Consulting, a housing-research firm, call the "magic mortgage rate." In other words, trying to predict mortgage rates — and buying or selling a home accordingly — is a fool's errand.

Persons: Green, that's, Skylar Olsen, everyone's, it's, there's, Fannie Mae, John Burns, they'd, Ralph McLaughlin, Olsen, Lawrence Yun, Altos, Mike Simonsen, Chen Zhao, Zhao, We're, Mark Palim, Palim Organizations: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Federal Reserve, John, John Burns Research, Consulting, National Association of Realtors, Altos Research, Builders, Sun Locations: Sun Belt, Midwest

☆ Mississippi and West Virginia have some of the poorest Americans — and the highest home ownership rates
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-09 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

When comparing personal wealth data with homeownership, a curious pattern emerges: Many states with high homeownership rates have lower income levels and vice versa. According to Federal Reserve data, West Virginia’s average personal income of $52,585 per capita is the second-lowest in the US. However, despite its relatively low personal income levels, it has the highest homeownership rate of all 50 states, at 77%, according to US census data. Mississippi—the only state with a lower average personal income than West Virginia—has the third-highest homeownership rate in the country. Even West Virginia, which counts three out of every four housing units in the state as owner-occupied, isn’t insulated, Sansalone said.

Persons: Vera Sansalone, Sansalone, “, ”, ” Sansalone, West Virginia —, Mike Simonsen, Loren Elliott, Simonsen, They’re, ” Simonsen, Laurie Goodman, ” Goodman, Eric Adams, ” Adams, Stephanie Moulton, ” Moulton, “ We’ve Organizations: CNN, Federal Reserve, West Virginia, Research, Housing, Center, Urban Institute, Republicans, New York City, Harvard University’s, for Housing Studies, Ohio State University Locations: West Virginia, Mannington, Boston, Mississippi, West, ” New York , California, Massachusetts, San Francisco , California, New York City, San Francisco, Manhattan, RentCafe, Washington DC, New York, Dallas

☆ Home Sellers' Tough Summer: Get Ready for Lower Prices, Fewer Offers
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Rich baby boomers jumped in with all-cash offers, and sellers scored huge windfalls as weary buyers pushed prices to new heights. After all, people have to move for a wide variety of life reasons; mortgage rates be damned. "The further and further we get from the peak of the market," Peterson told me, "the harder it is to deny what's happened." Mortgage rates haven't fallen — in fact, they've gone up about 0.6 percentage points since the start of the year. "It can always be tricky telling somebody that they were just lucky because it makes you sound envious," Peterson told me.

Persons: Rich, Sellers, Eric Peterson, Peterson, Austin, Freddie, they've, Selma Hepp, Freddie Mac, Mike Simonsen, Redfin, towners, Libby Levinson, Katz, Price, Levinson, John Burns, they'll, Realtor.com, you'd Organizations: Freddie Mac, Reserve, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Altos Research, Sun, John, John Burns Research, Consulting Locations: Austin, Boise , Idaho, Denver

☆ Homebuyers' Biggest Mistake: Waiting for Mortgage Rates to Fall
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Then, as the Federal Reserve began its battle against inflation in 2022, mortgage rates shot up, eventually hitting a 20-year high in October. Over the past decade, there's been a clear correlation between mortgage rates and inventory: When mortgage rates fall, the number of available homes for sale at a given moment shrinks. So, yes, waiting it out until mortgage rates decline sure seems appealing. The Federal Reserve has signaled that it plans to drop borrowing rates this year, which would likely push down mortgage rates. Advertisement"People are focusing on mortgage rates because every week they hear about mortgage rates changing," Doerner of the FHFA told me.

Persons: swiping, there's, Mike Simonsen, Freddie Mac, CoreLogic, —, homebuyers, Redfin, John Burns, Alex Thomas, There's, Will Doerner, Doerner, They're, Simonsen, it's, Jerome Powell Organizations: Federal Reserve, Buyers, Altos Research, Bank of America, John, John Burns Research, Consulting, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Federal, Fed

☆ Home Prices May Be Sky-High, but America Is Not in a Housing Bubble
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The housing market, they claimed, was a bubble destined to burst. I’ve spent the past few years asking experts a simple question: Has the housing market reached bubble territory? AdvertisementFor a time, it seemed like the housing market was doing a speedrun through Simonsen’s checklist. And even if the economy does take a turn, a run-of-the-mill recession probably wouldn’t be enough to topple the housing market. The housing market is far from balanced, but we’re at least heading in that direction.

Persons: doomsayers, I’ve, Redfin, you’ve, you’ll, Mike Simonsen, megalandlords, ”, Ian Shepherdson, Goldman Sachs, Jerome Powell, Powell, Rick Palacios Jr, John Burns, ” doomsayers, might’ve, It’s, it’s, Logan Mohtashami, don’t, US homebuilders, “ It’s, ” Mohtashami, Selma Hepp, Fannie Mae, Palacios, ” Palacios, Mohtashami Organizations: Altos Research, Wall, John, John Burns Research, Consulting, Mortgage Bankers Association, Federal Reserve Bank of New, Federal Housing Finance Agency Locations: Charlotte, North Carolina, Austin, Las Vegas, Miami, Boise , Idaho, Dallas, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, US

☆ The last, best hope for homebuyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

But there may be one last hope for salvation for these hard-pressed homebuyers: brand-spanking new houses. Many builders are even dangling perks like cheaper loans or other discounts to ease the pain of higher mortgage rates. Homebuilding is typically a cyclical industry, following the ups and downs of the broader housing market. Of course, people will always move for reasons that have nothing to do with mortgage rates. Even if buyers get some relief from new housing construction, builders are still a long way off from bridging the housing shortfall.

Persons: Richard de Chazal, William Blair, de Chazal, Realtor.com, bottoming, John Burns, Black Knight, Mike Simonsen, Simonsen, bode, it's, Sheryl Palmer, Taylor Morrison, Palmer, Cristian deRitis, Jay Parsons, Matthew Walsh, Walsh, Freddie Mac, Lawrence Yun, They're, production's, James Rodriguez Organizations: Federal Reserve, National Association of Realtors, John Burns Research, Consulting, Altos Research, National Association of Homebuilders, Builders, Moody's

☆ Housing Market Ice Age: Fewer Sales, Higher Home Prices, Less Inventory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The result is a housing market that's fundamentally out of whack. The housing market has changed for good — and with the benefit of time-earned wisdom, we can pinpoint the moment it entered a new era. Two big things happened during the initial response to the pandemic that launched the housing market past the point of no return. Both factors have propelled competition in the housing market to new heights and made it challenging for would-be buyers to find their footing. Some aspects of the pandemic-era housing market that once seemed "odd" are increasingly becoming new norms.

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