Mortgage rates dipped to their lowest averages of the year this week, Freddie Mac repots. “As we predicted, the 30-year mortgage rate fell 7 basis points this week in a delayed reaction to last week’s sharp drop in Treasury yields,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The survey rate stands at 3.95 percent today, a new low for the year.”Freddie Mac reported the following national averages with mortgage rates for the we
Despite rising home prices, it’s still cheaper to own a home than to rent, reports CNBC. But the toughest part for those who want to buy is actually finding a home.Inventory levels in April dropped 9 percent compared to a year ago, and listings spent an average of 29 days on the market before selling—the shortest timeframe since the National Association of REALTORS® began tracking such data in 2011.“One thing we added this month to our REA
Homes with solar panels tend to sell for higher prices than comparable homes with conventional energy, studies show. One study, released two years ago by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, found that solar homes sell for a 15 percent premium. But selling these homes can require extra preparation on the part of real estate agents.The biggest issue is how the panels were financed. If the owner simply bought the panels, there shouldn’t be any
Fannie Mae is cracking down on selling foreclosed homes to firms that it says engage in abusive forms of seller financing, which could include rent-to-own leases or longer term installment contracts known as contract for deed, The New York Times reports.In its first action on the new policy, Fannie Mae said it would no longer sell properties to Vision Property Management, which operates in more than a dozen states and is one of the largest firms
Investment companies are betting big that the rental boom will continue, which is why they’re still snatching up properties even as foreclosures dry up.Following the financial crisis, investors purchased foreclosures on the cheap and then rented these single-family homes out for profit. It’s a move that worked for several years, but now there are fewer foreclosures to buy, home prices are on the rise, and there’s fewer homes overall on th
In the first quarter of 2017, nearly one in five home buyers focused their online searches on properties outside of their current metro area, according to an analysis by Redfin of nearly 1 million users searching for homes across 75 metro areas.There are not enough “budget-friendly housing” options to make consumers want to stay loyal to their current cities, says Nela Richardson, Redfin’s chief economist. “For many, the only path to hom
One week after facing a class-action lawsuit over its home-price tool, Zillow is looking to improve it with a contest. The real estate website is offering a $1 million award to the “person or team” who can improve its Zestimate, an online tool meant to help people estimate the value of their property. Zillow officials say the contest has been in the works for more than a year and was not motivated by the lawsuit.Last week, Zillow faced a clas
Buying a home can be stressful on couples. Sixty-percent of millennial and Gen X couples say they disagreed occasionally, frequently, or “a lot” when buying a house with their partner or spouse, according to a new survey released by LendingHome. They surveyed 514 adults ages 25 to 45 who were in a relationship (engaged, married, or domestic partnerships) and purchasing a home within the past year.Couples who have been together a longer time t
In pockets of the country where affordable housing is particularly low, residents also have trouble getting proper health treatment—suggesting a link between housing stability and better health outcomes. A new study of 9,500 residents in Miami with HIV/AIDs, which was conducted by a task force called Getting to Zero, shows that 30 percent of those who were homeless or in temporary housing had higher viral loads.Miami-Dade recently ranked number
Low inventory pushed existing-home sales down in April and sped up the median number of days a home sat on the market to a new low of 29 days, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday. That is the shortest timeframe since NAR began tracking such data in May 2011. The previous record was 32 days, which was reached last May.Though homes are selling faster, inventory woes persist. Total existing-home sales—which are completed tran
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