On this International Cat Day, we celebrate pet owners. Did you know there are more households with pets than children? These beloved pets are a driver of a major facet of economic activity: home buying. About one-fifth of recent home buyers considered their pet in their neighborhood choice—a shar

Facts: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate from Freddie Mac dropped to 6.47% this week, compared to 6.73% last week. At 6.47%, with 20% down, a monthly mortgage payment on a home with a price of $400,000 is $2,016. Compared to October 2023, when rates were 7.79%, this is a monthly payment difference o

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On July 31, 2024, NAR held a virtual webinar that provided findings from the 2024 International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate report, and discussed how REALTORS® are unlocking global opportunities in the residential real estate market. The speakers were Stephanie Aker, manage

Mortgage rates are plunging on the news of weak job growth and rising unemployment. The 4.3% unemployment rate is the highest since coming out of the COVID lockdown and higher than the 3.5% unemployment rate right before the COVID-19 arrival. The hourly wage gain of 3.2% is the weakest in 3 years.

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Key Highlights Pending home sales intensified 4.8% in June. Month over month, contract signings increased in all four U.S. regions. Compared to one year ago, pending home sales declined in the Northeast, Midwest and South, but improved in the West.

Facts: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate from Freddie Mac was nearly unchanged at 6.78% this week vs 6.77% last week. At 6.78%, with 20% down, a monthly mortgage payment on the median priced existing home of $426,900 is $2,222; with 10% down, it is $2,500. Positive: Also out today: GDP was stronge

According to NAR's Housing Affordability Index, housing affordability declined nationally in May compared to the previous month. The monthly mortgage payment increased by 3.9%, while the median price of single-family homes rose by 5.7% (from $401,500 to $424,500) year-over-year. The monthly mortga

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On July 22, 2024, from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET, NAR held a virtual economic and real estate summit that provided an outlook on the changing residential real estate market. The speakers were NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun and NAR Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz. a#white-h

Key Highlights Existing-home sales faded 5.4% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.89 million. Sales also slumped 5.4% from one year ago. The median existing-home sales price bounced 4.1% from June 2023 to $426,900 – the second straight month it reached an all-t

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Facts: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate from Freddie Mac fell further to 6.77% over the last week from 6.89%. At 6.77%, with 20% down, a monthly mortgage payment on a home of $400,000 is $2,080; with 10% down, it is $2,340. Positive: This is the lowest mortgage rate reported since March 14. This

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New apartment units completed reached a 50-year high in June. That is truly a wow. The rents have stopped rising in many cities due to the oversupply of rental units. Rents whether on apartments or on single-family rentals have fallen in Austin, Nashville, Charlotte, and Phoenix where the supply h

Key Highlights International buyers purchased $42 billion worth of U.S. residential properties from April 2023 to March 2024, down 21.2% from the prior year. The 54,300 existing homes sold – the lowest since NAR began tracking in 2009 – slid 36% from the previous year. The a

Facts: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate from Freddie Mac declined to 6.89% over the last week from 6.95%. At 6.89%, with 20% down, a monthly mortgage payment on a home of $400,000 is $2,105; with 10% down, it is $2,369. Positive: The CPI retreated today. Importantly, shelter, which is a lagging c

Earlier this year, for Women’s History Month, we published a blog post about the triumphs and challenges of female homeownership. We celebrated single women's impressive progress in the housing market but also pointed out the ongoing obstacles, especially for women of color. These women often deal