Certain housing trends emerging from the pandemic likely will outlast the virus, real estate professionals predict. “The idea of what is necessary is changing,” Camille Thomas, a real estate professional in Jackson Hole, Wyo., told realtor.com®. “The home has become more than a living space.”The Great Escape The suburbs have become a hot place to be in the pandemic. Some real estate experts have called urban flight a myth, but Americans
House hunters who see a home they like should consider making an offer quickly or risk losing out. Homes in October sold 13 days faster than a year ago, an unseasonable trend, a new report from realtor.com® notes.This also marks the first time since 2011 that the pace of sales has accelerated from September to October, “signaling buyers continued to face tough competition in this anything but normal year,” according to realtor.com®’s Mont
For the 12th time this year, mortgage rates have hit a record low. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to an average of 2.78%, the lowest ever recorded in Freddie Mac’s books dating back to 1971.Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, attributed the record-low rates this week to “economic and political ambiguity.""Despite the uncertainty that we’ve all experienced this year," he said, "the housing market, buoyed by low rates
With low housing inventories and high buyer demand, home sellers are expected to continue to command higher home prices this winter—an unseasonable trend in the housing market.“Sellers will have the ball in their court, so to speak, as there are more buyers than sellers,” says Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “This means seller-friendly trends like rising home prices and quick-selling homes.”In September, home inventory
Fewer homeowners are taking forbearance to delay their mortgage payments due to the financial and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The national forbearance rate dropped 7 basis points between Oct. 19 and Oct. 25, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports. Forbearance rates dropped for every loan type.Mortgages in forbearance make up 5.83% of all outstanding mortgages, which is the lowest point since April 5, when the rate stood at 3.74%.
Several banks have rolled out programs in recent months that seek to increase buying opportunities for Black home shoppers, whose levels of homeownership lag behind other minority groups and whites.“Housing advocates are viewing the programs as efforts to repair the damage banks caused over the years, including the subprime mortgage lending in the early 2000s—risky high-interest mortgages to Americans with scuffed or limited credit—that con
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Homeownership accounts for 90% of total wealth, according to data from the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finance. Owners in areas with rapid price appreciation are filling their pockets the fastest. “Housing wealth accumulation takes time and is built up by paying off the mortgage debt and by price appreciation,” Scholastica “Gay” Cororaton, a research economist at the National Association of REALTORS®, writes on the association’s Econo
Generation Z, the oldest of whom are turning 24 this year, is a growing force in the rental market, but real estate experts are watching these consumers’ preferences closely for when they’re ready to buy. Sixty-two percent of Gen Z renters say smart-home technology is extremely or very important, according to a new RentCafe survey of about 2,500 respondents. High-speed internet was the most important feature respondents cited, coming in
Abandoned foreclosures labeled as “zombies” still haunt some housing markets even as moratoriums to stop home seizures during the pandemic remain in effect. While the number of “zombie foreclosures” has shrunk drastically during the COVID-19 outbreak, some homeowners who may be missing out on pandemic relief aid may be needlessly abandoning a home.“Zombie foreclosures” refer to homes that have been vacated by homeowners prior to
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