Home prices increased nationwide on a seasonally adjusted basis, a pair of widely followed metrics agree, although they vary on the size of the increase. Processing Content The Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index hit another high in December at 440.36, up from 439.72 in November, a change of 0.1. Price rose 0.8% on […]
Home prices are up… depending on where you look Read More »
Sam Hall/Bloomberg Homebuying power is at its highest level in nearly four years, as lower mortgage rates and slowed demand has improved affordability, a new industry report found. Processing Content A median-income household in the United States could comfortably afford a $331,483 home with a 20% down payment in January, $30,000 more than a year
Homebuying power hits highest level in nearly 4 years Read More »
Weekly pending home sales, which had shown year-over-year growth up until the late-January snowstorm, got back on track with year-over-year growth again last week. One thing to remember about our weekly pending sales data: it takes about 30-60 days to be reflected in the existing home sales data, so not only did the snowstorm delay
Weekly pending home sales back to year-over-year growth as we head into spring Read More »
A paper from Andrew Davidson & Co. reportedly supports the notion that dropping the tri-merge credit report standard would result in greater risk to mortgage industry participants. Processing Content The paper was brought to media attention by the Consumer Data Industry Association. Others stand by their views that a single pull is sufficient to use
Dropping tri-merge reports hikes mortgage risk, paper claims Read More »
Loan applications for newly constructed homes increased 19% between December and January, benefitting from how housing starts performed at the end of 2025, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Processing Content Year-over-year, however, volume increased by just 2%, the MBA’s Builder Application Survey reported. Rates for the 30-year fixed reached a three-year low at 6.09%
New home mortgage applications up as starts end 2025 strong Read More »
Mortgage rates ended the week just above 6%, the lowest point since September 2022, although one other indicator had the 30-year fixed under that level for a couple of days. Processing Content The 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell 8 basis points this week to 6.01% as of Feb. 19, the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market
Mortgage rates settle above 6%, lowest in over three years Read More »
A new report from the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) estimates that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has imposed $237 billion to $369 billion in cumulative costs on U.S. consumers since its creation in 2011, largely through higher borrowing costs. For 2024 alone, the report estimates $24 billion to $38 billion in costs. The
CEA analysis weighs CFPB’s economic impact Read More »
Plummeting mortgage rates during the third quarter last year started a shift in originators’ business mix towards refinance, and this, more than a lessening emphasis on loan manufacture quality, resulted in a huge jump in defect rates, Aces Quality Management said. Processing Content For the last week of June, the 30-year conforming fixed rate mortgage
Refi shift drives latest increase in mortgage defect rates Read More »
As home-price growth has flattened, the average down payment has decreased, according to a new industry report. Processing Content The typical homebuyer’s down payment in the United States decreased 1.5% year over year to $64,000 in December, the first drop in five months, Redfin found. That’s 15.2% of the average purchase price, compared with 16.7%
Average down payment falls amid price cooling Read More »
Mortgage applications rose 2.8% last week as lower borrowing costs spurred a pickup in refinancing activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Feb. 13. On an unadjusted basis, the index rose 5% compared with the previous week. Refinance applications led the gain, climbing 7% from the
Mortgage demand rises 2.8%, fueled by 7% leap for refis Read More »