Real Estate Market Archives

May 15, 2024May 15, 2024

The Rise and Rise of Down Payments

A down payment is the portion of a home’s purchase price the mortgage borrower pays upfront. You knew that. But did you know the median down payment for U.S. homebuyers is now more than $55K+? That’s remarkable. It was less than $45K just last year.

Buyers often try to put 20% of the purchase price down. That’s not always feasible, and Redfin’s latest analysis shows today’s typical homebuyer putting about 15% down. Again, big rise from last year, when the typical down payment was 10%. In some areas, a normal down payment is now well over the 20% mark.

What’s the impact of all this on deed transactions?

April 1, 2024April 25, 2024

A “Silver Tide” of Boomers Will Pass Their Deeds Along — And It’s Rolling

Freddie Mac is planning for nine million baby boomers to let their homes go — gradually.

Freddie Mac’s recent analysis predicts just 300,000 boomer-owned homes will be released to the market this year. Larger numbers will follow, though, increasing year by year. Freddie Mac’s report shows the silver tide has begun to roll. Expect the baby boomers to convey deeds to more than 9 million homes between now and 2035, says Freddie.

March 1, 2024April 25, 2024

Core of the American Dream? Three-Fourths Call Buying a Home Goal #1

The U.S. population has all sorts of goals. But of all that we strive for in our lives, seems we place the highest priority on owning a home. In recent surveys, three-fourths of respondents said owning a home is “the leading component of the American dream.”

And yet, just about the same percentage of people say housing is too expensive to buy. With each year, it feels like fewer can afford to buy a home. It’s almost like buying a home is a wealthy person’s thing.

Homeownership is still the centerpiece of the American dream, but affordability issues such as high home prices, income that is too low or not being able to afford the down payment and closing costs are holding back nearly 3-in-4 aspiring homeowners.

—Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate LLC

You said it, Greg.

December 8, 2023April 25, 2024

Get in Early, Make a High Down Payment: The Case for Assertive Home Buying

Have you noticed the big home finance companies desperately touting their low-down-payment deals?

You’d think no one wants to put 20% down anymore!

But interest rates are high, so keeping your debt high is a pricey thing to do. Therefore, it can make sense, for those who can swing it, to:

Put as much money down as comfortably possible, and…

Jump into the market, and get busy paying that monthly mortgage down, for an easier time in your retirement years.

Let’s explore the case for getting aggressive with an investment in a home.

October 2, 2023April 25, 2024

Frustrated Home Buyer? It’s Not You. Affordability Is the Worst It’s Been in a Century

Given today’s incomes, mortgage interest rates, and the prices on homes, we just had the least affordable month for U.S. housing in our century.

September 2023 was the second record-breaking month this year. We might be headed for a third record before the year’s over.

In fact, the last time it was this hard to buy a home was back in the early 1980s.