California housing markets were the all-stars in 2017, claiming more than half of the top 20 spots for booming markets this year.But recent wildfires in the state may be taking a toll. Santa Rosa, which faced destructive blazes this fall, dropped seven spots and fell out of the top 10, landing at number 16 on realtor.com®’s top housing market list for 2017.Realtor.com®’s research team identified the hottest metro housing markets in the coun
Mortgage financing giant Freddie Mac announced a new plan to tackle the affordable housing crisis by financing more rural and manufactured housing and preserving more affordable housing for home buyers and renters across the country. Its Duty to Serve plan will include increasing loan purchases in such underserved markets.Freddie says it will team with the mortgage industry, community nonprofits, organizations, and government officials to expand
The U.S. House and Senate have passed sweeping tax reform legislation that is expected to have a major impact on housing markets. The bill will go to President Donald Trump now that the House has passed the bill a second time to accommodate small, last-minute changes made in the Senate.The bill is an improvement for homeowners when compared to earlier House and Senate versions, because it makes several changes NAR sought. However the structure o
For the third consecutive month, existing-home sales were on the rise, with all major regions of the country except the West posting a “significant hike in sales activity” last month, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday.Total existing-home sales—which includes completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops—increased 5.6 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.81 mi
Despite escalating home prices, Americans in many cities still can find it more affordable to own a home with a mortgage than to rent nationwide, according to the Urban Institute.The think tank’s research shows that a median-income family spends 28 percent of its household income to pay the median rent for a three-bedroom house. On the other hand, they’ll spend 25 percent of their income for a monthly mortgage payment (principal, interest, t
More households are feeling the strain in their personal financial situations and losing confidence in the housing market, even as the country sees solid job growth and record gains in the stock market, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ fourth-quarter Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey, based on more than 2,700 respondents.Tight inventory and weaker affordability conditions are prompting consumers to do
As housing prices rise, more households are tapping into home equity lines of credit. Residential property owners secured 393,602 HELOCs in the third quarter of this year, up 19 percent from the previous quarter and 12 percent from a year ago, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q3 2017 U.S. Residential Property Loan Origination Report.Among the 120 metro areas ATTOM Data Solutions analyzed for the report, the following had the largest year-ove
Puerto Rico is bracing for a “housing meltdown” and foreclosure crisis after Hurricane Maria nearly destroyed the entire island in September, The New York Times reports. About one-third of Puerto Rico’s 425,000 homeowners are behind on their mortgage payments, and about 90,000 of those delinquencies are due to Maria, according to real estate data firm Black Knight Inc.Puerto Rico’s foreclosure and delinquency rate now stands at 35 perc
Mortgage rates were in a holding pattern this week, even after the Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to hike its benchmark interest rate.“As widely expected, the Fed increased the federal funds target rate this week for the third time in 2017,” says Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist. “The market had already priced in the rate hike, so long-term interest rates—including mortgage rates—hardly moved. Mortgage rates held rel
The rental market's decade-long boom may soon reach its finale, as fewer new renter households are forming, rental vacancies are rising, and rent increases are slowing, according to the 2017 America’s Rental Housing report, released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Still, rents remain high and continue to take a significant chunk out of households’ monthly incomes—more than what most experts consider “affo
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