Latest News

Housing affordability was even worse for some Baby Boomers, according to a new Realtor.com analysis. In 1981, a single-family home cost around $66,125, around 6 times less than today's average home price of $410,110. While the current rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage has hovered close to 7% for the past year, mortgage rates averaged 18% homebuyers in 1981.

The higher cost of borrowing means the housing market of the early 1980s was less affordable than today's market, despite other studies claiming that housing has never been this unaffordable, according to researchers.

For millennial and Gen Z homebuyers, purchasing a starter home – smaller and less-expensive dwellings – may be a thing of the past as homeowners stay in their homes longer. 

Nearly 40% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 44 who bought homes last year plan to stay in them for 16 years or more, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. For homebuyers between the ages of 18 and 24, that number jumps to 48%.

With high inflation and high mortgage rates, many prospective homebuyers and sellers are trying to figure out what to do. Many buyers may want to wait to see if mortgage rates drop before making a home purchase.

But buyers and sellers don't need to put everything on hold until interest rates reverse. However, they can start now to they take steps to improve their financial situation and position themselves to qualify for the best possible rates in the future.

If you’re about to close on a home, making major changes to your finances could derail the closing process, and even prevent you from getting a mortgage. For example, don’t make a big purchase including furniture or appliances because it can affect your credit score. Opening a new credit card or closing an existing one can affect your standing, too. 

Another major mistake to make is changing jobs when you’re about to close on a home purchase. Mortgage lenders examine your employment history for consistency, and providing additional documentation on employment to a lender can delay the closing.

If you’re in the market to buy a home, getting a mortgage can be intimidating because of mortgage myths that can cause confusion. By knowing these myths, you can make a more informed decision and find the right mortgage for you.

Don't fall prey to the common mortgage myths that you must make a 20 percent down payment. While it’s a general rule of thumb, that doesn't mean you can't buy one with a smaller down payment. Another myth is that you need a perfect credit score. Having good credit is important when applying for a mortgage, but it's not the only factor lenders consider. 

California is planning to pay homeowners to build housing in their own backyards, thanks to $50 million in the state budget to incentivize more people to build accessory dwelling units, also called ADU. 

It's a revival of a previous program that distributed funds through 2022, aiming to increase ADU construction amid a housing shortage in the state. Through that previous program, homeowners received grants of up to $40,000 to develop at least one additional housing unit on their property. 

The California Mortgage Relief program is expanding its reach yet again, offering aid to more homeowners who’ve fallen behind on their payments since the pandemic began. The program offers up to $80,000 to low- and moderate-income homeowners who have missed at least two mortgage payments because of a pandemic-related financial hardship. They can also obtain up to $80,000 for overdue property taxes.

The state previously limited aid to homeowners who had missed payments by March 1, 2023. But the California Housing Finance Agency’s Homeownership Relief Corp. hasn’t exhausted the $1 billion in federal funds it received for the program, so aid is now available to those who missed at least two mortgage payments or one property tax payment by Aug. 1.

The average teacher can afford just 12% of homes for sale within commuting distance of their school, down from 17% last summer and 30% in 2019, before the pandemic homebuying boom drove up housing prices, according to a Redfin analysis of median teacher salaries (2022) in the 50 most populous U.S. metro areas and more than 70,000 PreK-12 public and private schools in those metros.

“Commuting distance” means a teacher can drive between home and work within 20 minutes during rush hour. This analysis covers homes for sale on July 31 in 2023, 2022 and 2019, and homes for rent on Aug. 4, 2023. To calculate the share affordable by metro, we averaged the shares affordable for each school within a metro.

From 2016 to 2022, homeownership rates rose most for those under 44, according to recent analysis from the U.S. Census, and much of that came during the pandemic period. While the homeownership rate grew overall during the pandemic, it was fueled mostly by younger people buying a home, the Census Bureau said.

Younger households are typically more likely to rent than own their home. But between 2016 to 2022, homeownership rates went up among adults under age 55, but stayed the same among those over 55. By 2022, the US homeownership rate was 65.8%, up from 64.6% in 2019. That rebound was driven largely by buyers who were aged 44 and younger, according to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey/Housing Vacancy Survey.

One of the biggest problems in today’s housing market is the inventory shortage, with demand far outstripping supply. Factoring into this problem is the fact that many homeowners don’t want to give up the low interest rates they locked in with their current homes.

Ninety percent of U.S. homeowners with mortgages have an interest rate below 6%, according to a report from Redfin. Therefore, even those who want to move may feel stuck in place right now, knowing potential savings could be curbed by current towering interest rates.

More than 4 out of 5 prospective home buyers consider climate risks as they shop, new Zillow research shows. Most say their major concern is flood risk, followed by wildfires, extreme temperatures, hurricanes and drought.

A clear majority of prospective buyers in each region of the United States consider at least one climate risk when shopping for a home. People in the West are most likely to report climate risk as very or extremely impactful in their home search, followed by those in the Northeast. On the flip side, one-third of Midwestern and Southern shoppers say climate risks are not very impactful or not at all impactful to their real estate journey.

As home prices continue to inch higher and the average 30-year fixed mortgage rates sitting at a 22-year high, and homebuyers are feeling the pinch. In the last year, a buyer with a $3,000 budget has lost $71,000 in buying power, according to Redfin.

While some factors may be outside of your control, there are steps you can take to help get you ready to act when you come across a good deal and the timing is right for you. Rather than waiting for home prices or mortgage rates to dip, saving money, paying off debt, managing your credit score and educating yourself will greatly increase your chances of becoming a homeowner.

With the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage now above 7% — many homeowners are reluctant to sell. At today’s rates, most homeowners would need to finance a new home at a higher rate than the rate they currently hold, adding hundreds of dollars a month to their mortgage payment. That has created an incentive to stay where they are.

However, recent reports found that homeowners are nearly twice as willing to sell their home if their mortgage rate is 5% or higher, according to Zillow, and 71% of prospective home buyers who plan to purchase their next home with a mortgage said they would not accept a rate above 5.5% — that is the “magic mortgage rate,” according to a survey by John Burns Research & Consulting.

Housing affordability in California slid to the lowest level in nearly 16 years as interest rates stayed above 6 percent for the third straight quarter and home prices remained elevated by a shortage of homes on the market, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said.

Fewer than one in five (16 percent) home buyers could afford to purchase a median-priced, existing single-family home in California in second-quarter 2023, down from 19 percent in the first quarter of 2023 and down from 17 percent in the second quarter of 2022, according to C.A.R.’s Traditional Housing Affordability Index (HAI). The second-quarter 2023 figure is less than a third of the affordability index peak high of 56 percent in the first quarter of 2012.

You want to buy a house. But you’re worried you won’t qualify for a mortgage because of your student loan debt. You’re not alone. Half of non-homeowners (51%) say student loan debt is delaying them from buying a home, according to a survey from the National Association of REALTORS®. That number jumps to 60% for millennials.

The numbers tell an ugly story of a generation paying for its education long after graduation. As a result, they’re having to make hard life choices for decades. The average public university student borrows $30,000 in student loans to get a bachelor’s degree, according to the Education Data Initiative. The average student loan payment is $460 a month. And nearly 48 million people have student loans.

Prospective homebuyers want to know when home price growth will slow down, whether mortgage rates will continue their upward climb and what they need to know if they’re in the market to buy a house now.

Economists and real estate pros weighed in on what they think will happen in the housing market this year. Mortgage rates could continue to rise but if job growth is too strong, it could spark a new uptick in mortgage rates in anticipation of bigger Fed action. And because of a housing shortage, home prices will continue to rise in the following months but not as fast as they did in previous months.

While mortgage payments are reported by lenders to credit bureaus, landlords typically don't report rental payments – and that can hamper renters' ability to build a credit history.

Fannie Mae plans to subsidize the cost for landlords of multifamily properties it finances to help renters build their credit scores, which will benefit historically underserved groups who disproportionately have no credit scores or lower credit scores.

About two-thirds of agents say they are aware of a growing trend of buyers purchasing their “second” home first, according to a survey by HomeLight. This usually involves buying a property in a more remote location as an investment or part-time vacation home while continuing to rent in the city. While 28% of agents have personally seen this trend, an additional 36% have heard rumblings of it in other markets.

It’s a strategy that enables buyers whose budgets haven’t kept up with recent home price surges to still get their foot in the door. Agents estimate that the tactic of purchasing your “second” home as your first property in today’s market can help to save an estimated $76,000 on the cost of a home. In the Pacific region, the savings is even greater at an estimated $177,000.

With interest rates on the rise in recent months and high home prices, some buyers have turned to adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) in an attempt to (temporarily) lower their monthly housing payment. What should you know before considering an ARM?

Adjustable-rate mortgages typically start out with a lower-than-average interest rate, and then “adjust” to a higher or lower rate after a set period of time. A 5/1 ARM, for example, changes its interest rate once a year after five years. ARMs can be attractive because borrowers will initially have a lower monthly mortgage payment than they would with a traditional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

As interest rates rise, making it harder for prospective home buyers to afford a home, there’s one thing they can do to save money — raise their credit scores.

Analysis from Zillow finds home buyers with lower credit scores may pay $103,626 more over the life of a 30-year fixed mortgage loan than someone with an excellent score, based on the current price of a typical home, $354,165. Experts say prospective buyers should take steps to improve their credit score and shop around for a mortgage at least six months before their home purchase.