Don Proctor Freddie Mac’s latest survey put the 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.69 percent, the highest reading in just over a year. Rates have climbed for five straight weeks, and July existing home sales fell 1.7 percent to a 4.06 million annual pace. If you’ve been watching the news, you know this story has gotten plenty … Read more
The July jobs report was bad by most measures. The U.S. economy shed 23,000 jobs when forecasters were expecting a gain of around 83,000. On top of that, May and June numbers were revised down by over 100,000 combined. If you follow economic news at all, you know that’s a significant miss. And mortgage rates … Read more
ATTOM’s mid-year report shows foreclosure filings up 21% year-over-year. Before first-time buyers panic, here’s why this is a pandemic forbearance hangover being cleared, not a sign of a broken housing market.
The 30-year fixed just hit an 11-month high and purchase applications went up anyway. Here’s why pent-up buyer demand and a shift in affordability thinking are driving the market more than rate headlines or inventory.
A record 19.1% of buyers are searching outside their home market. Moving somewhere cheaper can work, but the math is more specific than most people realize. Here’s what to actually compare before you relocate for affordability.
Builders are packaging $15,000–$60,000 in rate buydowns and incentives, giving new construction buyers rates roughly half a point below resale. Here’s what the incentives actually cost, why resale sellers struggle to compete, and how buyers can run the real comparison before signing anything.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now let lenders choose between Classic FICO, VantageScore 4.0, and FICO 10T. Here is what that actually means for borrowers, explained by someone who watched the original FICO thresholds get built from real loan performance data at Bank of America.
Rates moved last week and the Fed had nothing to do with it. The U.S.-Iran conflict repriced mortgage-backed securities in real time. Here is what 37 years in lending tells you to do when geopolitics drives your rate quote.
More than a dozen states are fighting to cut, cap, or eliminate property taxes in what’s being called the biggest backlash since Prop 13. Here’s what’s actually likely to pass, what homeowners can do right now, and what buyers need to know before they rely on any tax estimate.
First-time buyers now make up just 24% of all home purchases – the lowest share since 1981 – and the median age has climbed to 38. But the down payment problem isn’t new, and most buyers have more options than they realize. Here’s what they’re missing.