Mortgage rates have fallen to record lows, and low APRs are helping potential home buyers and refinancers net even more savings to their monthly payments. The average annual percentage rate offered to borrowers looking to purchase a home dropped by 17% over the past year, from April 2019 compared to April 2020.The APR reflects the true cost of borrowing by including the interest rate, points, and fees charged by a lender. As such, it is high
At 87 million images and counting, interior design pictures are a popular trend on Instagram. Angie’s List recently studied which interior styles are featured most often across different regions.Overall, the most popular design style in the U.S. is "coastal living." Eighteen states use the #coastalliving hashtag more than any other to describe an interior of a home. Not surprisingly, the states that tend to share this style the most tend to be
New listings are down nearly 45% in April compared to March as the COVID-19 pandemic pushed housing inventory to a new April low, realtor.com® reported Tuesday.The housing market—already starved for new listings prior to the pandemic—now faces an even tighter supply. The Northeast saw the largest drop in new listings, down 59.4% in April, realtor.com® reports. The Midwest saw a 49.5% drop, while the West posted a 44.1% decrease and the Sout
Financial institutions have been tightening up on lending in recent weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and home equity lines of credit have become the most recent target. JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are the latest bank giants to announce that they will no longer be accepting applications for new HELOCs.“The decision to temporarily suspend the origination of new HELOCs reflects careful consideration of current market conditions and uncertain
Mortgage rates reached a new record low this week, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage falling to its lowest average ever since Freddie Mac began tracking such data in 1971. “The size and depth of the secondary mortgage market is helping to keep rates at record lows,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “These low rates are driving higher refinance activity and have modestly helped improve purchase demand from their extremely
The Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to keep its benchmark interest rate near zero due to the COVID-19 pandemic, showing little interest in reversing course anytime soon. The Fed’s benchmark rate does not directly impact mortgage rates for home buyers, but it can influence them.The Fed’s Federal Open Markets Committee voted to keep the range of its benchmark interest rate between 0% to 0.25%. It had called two emergency meetings during the cus
It was a good time to be a homeowner in the first quarter of this year. Home sellers nationwide saw home price gains average $67,100 on a typical sale, up from $59,000 a year prior, according to a report released Thursday from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate research firm.The $67,100 home seller profit represented an average of a 33.7% return on investment compared to the original purchase price, the report shows.The median price for single-f
Consumers want to hear more about how homes can help the environment and also save them money. Sixty-one percent of REALTORS® surveyed say residential consumers were “very” or “somewhat” interested in sustainability. REALTORS® report finding it valuable to promote energy efficiency features in their listings.Sustainability conversations with clients may best be centered around utility and operation costs, indoor air quality, efficient u
Mortgage applications for home purchases, a gauge of future home buying, saw a 12% uptick last week, reversing a month of plummeting activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported. Housing experts say it could mark a sign that home buyers are returning.Refinancing demand fell last week, which caused the overall volume to decline by 3.3% for the week, according to the MBA’s seasonally adjusted index. The overall
In the first quarter of this year, the homeownership rate reached its highest level since the third quarter of 2013. The percentage of people who own a home in the U.S. increased to 65.3%, a 1.1% uptick over the year prior, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday.Homeownership has been on the upswing since 2016. While the pandemic that increased its presence in the U.S. in March and April may impact that movement going forward, many economists ar
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