Homeowners were in a rush to take advantage of lower mortgage rates, as weekly refinance applications surged 26%, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. Refinance volume is now nearly 224% higher than a year ago.Mortgage rates are falling due to fears of an outbreak of the new coronavirus in the U.S. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3.57% last week from 3.73% a week earlier, the MBA reports. A year ago, rates avera
Last year, home flipping reached its highest rate since 2006, according to ATTOM Data Solution’s 2019 U.S. Home Flipping Report, released Thursday. Butt despite the increase, profit margins have dropped, the report shows.In 2019, 245,864 single-family homes and condos in the U.S were flipped—that represents 6.2% of all home sales during the year. Those home flips generated a gross profit, on average, of $62,900 nationwide, representing the di
The apartment sector is expected to have a banner year, with new supply reaching a three-decade high across the country’s 150 largest apartment markets, according to a new report from RealPage, a property management software firm. For this year, the company is predicting 371,000 new units will enter the multifamily market.Larger markets like Los Angeles are expected to see a surge in new units, and researchers say many smaller markets are expec
Trailer parks have emerged as one of the top-performing real estate investments in the decade since the housing crash, The Wall Street Journal reports. Shares of stocks for major operators of mobile home parks, such as Sun Communities Inc., have climbed 4,137% since March 2009. “They’ve been rocket ships,” John Pawlowski, an analyst at real estate research firm Green Street Advisors, told the Journal. “It’s baffling how g
Americans’ credit scores are improving, particularly among millennials. The average FICO score in the U.S. surged to a record of 703 in 2019, Experian reported in a new analysis. The share of Americans who had FICO scores above 700 increased to 59%, the highest on record. “Millennials ages 24 to 39 now outnumber baby boomers and are finally hitting their credit stride,” according to the Experian report. “Their economic emergence is r
New neighbors are more common in certain areas of the country, particularly in the north Dallas suburbs.Frisco, Texas, is the fastest-growing city in the U.S., and the Dallas suburb also has the least tenured homeowners, according to a new analysis by 55Places.com. Nearly half—or 43%—of homeowners in Frisco have moved into their homes within the last decade. The neighboring city of McKinney, Texas, ranks number three on the list with 42% of i
Home values vary considerably across the country, and that means aspiring buyers will need more—or less—money depending on where they’re putting down roots. For example, the median home value in San Francisco is nearly $1.2 million, compared to $170,000 in Philadelphia.Researchers with SmartAsset, a personal finance website, sought to find out how much consumers need in order to afford home payments in different areas of the country. They a
Borrowing costs continue to head lower, enticing home shoppers and refinancers to lock-in.“Given the recent volatility of the ten-year Treasury yield, it’s not surprising that mortgage rates again have dropped,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “These low rates combined with high consumer confidence continue to drive home sales upward, a trend that is likely to endure as we enter spring.”Freddie Mac reported the followi
Sales of newly built single-family homes saw a large jump in January, as warm weather in many parts of the U.S. prompted an early start to the homebuying season, says Jing Fu, director of forecasting and analysis at the National Association of Home Builders.New-home sales rose 7.9% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 764,000 units, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Sales are 18.6% higher than a year ago, and are at t
Total debt for Americans over the age of 70 has jumped 543% over the last two decades. Mortgages are a big part of that debt, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.Americans in their 60s also saw debt significantly increase in that time, rising 471%, the report shows.Other age groups have also seen debt increases over that period, but the report authors note they haven’t been as pronounced as that seen by seniors.
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