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Affordability

Housing leaders say Trump’s plan must go deeper than lower mortgage rates

Affordability, Congress, Donald Trump, Housing Market, Housing Policy, HWmember, Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, Politics, Trump administration /

President Donald Trump highlighted taxes, inflation and trade in his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, but he made only a passing reference to housing, leaving affordability largely unaddressed to the chagrin of housing professionals. Housing professionals had expected a larger discussion on mortgage rates, homeownership initiatives and the policies introduced since Trump […]

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Renting vs. Buying: The Numbers Might Surprise You

Renting vs. Buying: The Numbers Might Surprise You

Affordability, First-Time Buyers, For Buyers, Rent vs. Buy /

Renting can feel like the easier choice right now. There’s no big down payment. No dealing with surprise repairs. And no long-term commitment. But then your rent goes up again. And again. And suddenly the thing that seemed flexible starts looking… expensive, especially considering you’re not building any equity. And once that happens, it’s easy

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Trump State of the Union offers few housing details

Affordability, Congress, Donald Trump, Housing Market, Housing Policy, HWmember, Politics, Trump administration /

President Donald Trump delivered the annual State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night and touched on a wide variety of economic topics. But he barely mentioned ways to make housing more affordable for everyday Americans. Housing professionals expected the speech to include subjects like mortgage rates, affordable homeownership and a slew of

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Midwest apartment demand outpaces Sun Belt as rents remain firm

Affordability, Affordable housing, Capital, Housing Market Data, Rental Properties, The Builder's Daily /

Midwest apartment demand has quietly become one of the strongest stories in U.S. housing, even as the national rental market cooled.​ RentCafe, using data from its sister apartment rental analytics provider, Yardi Matrix, listed Cincinnati as the top apartment market to watch this rental season. Minneapolis, Cleveland and Kansas City, Missouri, ranked in the top

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Older women worry about retirement security, making them prime reverse mortgage candidates

AARP, Affordability, HECM, HWmember, Retirement, Reverse, Reverse Mortgage Daily /

Women who are 50 and older are feeling the pinch of rising costs and economic uncertainty, even as they enjoy time with their family and hobbies, according to a new AARP survey. The research, part of AARP’s “She’s the Difference” series, highlights financial concerns that weigh heavily on older women — particularly when it comes

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Kentucky bill would freeze property taxes for senior homeowners

Affordability, Aging in Place, HWmember, Kentucky, Mortgage, Property Tax, Reverse /

A proposed constitutional amendment that would freeze property tax assessments for 65-and-older residents in Kentucky has cleared a state Senate committee — one of several efforts to limit rising tax bills for elderly homeowners. Senate Bill 51, sponsored by state Sen. Mike Nemes (R-Shepherdsville), would lock in the assessed value of a senior’s primary residence

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The Inflation You Can’t Budget Around: Why Housing Search Must Move From Price to Monthly Payment

Affordability, Affordable housing, Contributors, HWmember, Inflation, Opinion /

Inflation didn’t just make things “more expensive.” It broke household planning—because the largest line item in most budgets, housing, is still shopped with the wrong unit of measure. When families budget by monthly outflow but search by list price, the market becomes inefficient, stress rises, and mobility collapses. The fix is straightforward: make monthly payment

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Property tax burdens vary widely as states debate senior relief

Affordability, Baby Boomer, Florida, Gen X, Housing Market, HWmember, Ohio, Property Tax, Retirement, Reverse, Tennessee, Texas /

Property taxes can feel like a minor nuisance in some states and a crushing expense in others — a reality detailed in a new WalletHub analysis. The average U.S. household pays $3,119 per year in property taxes, according to U.S. Census Bureau data cited in the report. Even renters are affected. Roughly 35% of households

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Massachusetts studies adding supply with single-stair apartments

Affordability, Affordable housing, Architecture, Policy, The Builder's Daily /

America’s quilt work of states whose governors and lawmakers are bucking for housing policy change to break through supply constraints at the root of the nation’s affordability crisis now counts Massachusetts among them. With a focus on prohibitively constrictive building codes and zoning ordinances, Gov. Maura Healey has adopted an approach officials in other states

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When cheaper rates make homes less affordable: What Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com data reveals

Affordability, Contributors, Homebuying, HWmember, Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, Opinion, Origination /

Most buyers are conditioned to believe: wait for interest rates to fall and homes will finally be affordable again. It sounds logical; that lower rates should mean lower monthly payments and that is affordability, right? Except history shows something very different, something counter to what we have been led to believe; that when interest rates

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