Tag: Mortgage Rates
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How Long Will This Economic Slump Last? Zillow Asks, and Rewrites Its 2026 Housing Forecast
Zillow® has changed its mind. Just a few months ago, the company was expecting a 4.3% rise in sales of currently existing homes through this year. But storm clouds have gathered. Suddenly, the price of fuel is sky-high. The inflation that appeared to be manageable now looks different. And Zillow’s worried that all this could…
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How Will War-Inflated Oil Prices Impact Home Sales and Mortgage Rates?
Spoiler: Mortgage rates at the 6% level may be looking awfully good a few months from now. The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran could “derail the crucial spring housing market as oil prices soar,” Realtor.com said as oil prices spiked above $100 a barrel. The website, owned by the National Association of REALTORS®, has bluntly stated:…
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Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair: What This Means for the Deed Market
Donald Trump has decided: Kevin Warsh should take the key position on the Federal Reserve’s governing board. It’s no secret that Trump wants lower interest rates. Will Warsh deliver? And will this stimulate deed transfers in a market that’s been frustrating hopeful sellers and buyers alike? Let’s check into this now.
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A New Century’s American Dream: Holding a Deed, or Retiring Early?
The world has changed. Work is increasingly automated, and jobs aren’t guaranteed. Property values are high. Could early retirement be taking homeownership’s place at the core of the American Dream? In previous generations, secure careers underpinned the dream of holding a deed. Financial independence was not as urgent when a career and retirement were predictable.…
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Real Estate “Reset” in 2026? Redfin Thinks So; Here’s the Logic
In an article published this month, titled “Welcome to The Great Housing Reset,” Chen Zhao and Daryl Fairweather of Redfin write, “Next year will mark the beginning of a long, slow recovery for the housing market. The Great Housing Reset will take shape in 2026.” Significantly, Redfin predicts that incomes will rise faster than home…
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Hopeful Buyers Running Away From Their Home Purchase Deals? Why?
It’s no longer a seller’s market. Why, then, in most areas across the country, has home buyer demand wilted? Even when they do sign purchase agreements, many buyers are “ghosting” their sellers. Brokers, agents, and lenders are beginning to notice the trend. New Redfin research finds 53,000 September 2025 purchase contracts were broken — by…
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“Warped”: Since 2010, Average Home Buyer Goes From Age 39 to 59. Typical First-Time Buyer Turns 40.
The numbers don’t lie. First-timers have never dealt with harsher circumstances in U.S. homebuying history. The typical age for first-time home buyers is now 40, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). Fortune magazine points to the observation of Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok: on average, all buyers have aged. Using NAR’s data, Slok…
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Look Who’s Back in the Real Estate Market: Investment Firms Sense Opportunity
Home prices? They’re high. Mortgage rates? Not exactly low. Current deed holders with lower mortgage rates still don’t want to move if they can help it. And hopeful buyers keep renting, biding their time. Investors are “seizing the opening and ramping up” their activity, according to the financial data analytics firm Cotality. Market watchers such…
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Breaking Down the Debate on 50-Year Mortgages
So, the federal government is going to bring 50-year mortgages back? Yes, the idea has been tried before. Some lenders marketed 50-year mortgages back in the lead-up to the 2008 mortgage crisis — although those loans weren’t government-backed. We can’t tell how the federal government would try to make them work this time, but there’s…
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“The Debasement Trade”: Home Values Climb, But Is the Dollar Value Real?
On Wall Street, they call it the debasement trade. Here’s what the concept means. As the U.S. dollar loses value, some investors are moving their cash into things like gold and real estate. They’re trading…in favor of hard assets. Homes are “hard assets”, but are they actually holding their value? We all know the story…
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Thinking of Downsizing? Consider Costs Along With Benefits.
Thinking of downsizing? For some deed holders, it’s a fantastic choice. Just be sure you’re on the lookout for unexpected costs in today’s housing market. Here, we go through some scenarios so you can spot potential issues related to moving into a smaller place. Don’t let them catch you by surprise.
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One in Three Home Buyers Now Pay Cash. Here’s What This Means for Everybody Else.
A third of home buyers this year haven’t needed a mortgage. The proportion of people paying cash is “well above pre-pandemic levels,” according to the National Association of Realtors®. It’s hard to compete with buyers who don’t need to wait for a lender’s approval. These wealthier buyers are shaping markets by snapping up the lion’s…
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Real Estate Is Still Key to Wealth—But It’s Taking Longer.
This year, the National Association of REALTORS® came out with an article titled The 5-Year Rule Is No More. It was all about how long a buyer needs to stay in a home to “truly break even.” That old drop of wisdom about holding onto a home five years to recoup the cost of closing…
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Federal Reserve Poised to Start Rate Cuts: What’s Next for Mortgages?
Mortgage rates are dipping down in advance of the Federal Reserve’s discussion of rate cuts this week. Freddie Mac shows the average rate on 30-year, fixed-rate home loans is just about 6.3% as of mid-September, down from 7% at the start of 2025. Two weak U.S. employment reports pushed the average rate down. In response,…
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With a Million Homes Now on the U.S. Market, Why Aren’t Prices Falling?
This year, for the first time since 2019, a million homes are on the market. Listings are up more than 7% from last year, According to Realtor.com. Inventory is rising nationwide, with the southern and western parts of the country actually back to 2017-2019 levels! And homes are starting to linger on the market for…
