Cash-out refinances are on the upswing, to the likes of numbers that haven’t been seen since the financial crisis. But economists say they aren’t concerned—at least yet. After all, home prices are still rising. During the financial crisis, home prices started to drop.Cash-out refis surged 42% year over year in 2020, according to Freddie Mac’s data. Homeowners cashed out $152.7 billion in home equity last year, the highest level since 2007
Single women have long been a powerful force within the first-time buyer segment. Now, one lender's analysis of recent U.S. Census Bureau data shows that, in the largest markets, single women far outpace single men when it comes to homeownership in most of the country.Single women own about 5.2 million homes in the U.S., 44% more than the 3.6 million homes owned by single men in the nation’s 50 largest metros, according to a
Home prices have surged to double-digit percentage gains over the past year, which means home buyers are having to either bring more to the closing table or borrow more. They’re doing both.Down payments are at record highs, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ fourth quarter 2020 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report. The median down payment on a single-family home and condo purchased with financing in the fourth quarter of 2020
Commercial real estate has faced plenty of challenges since the pandemic, but several markets are bouncing back and expected to see large improvements in 2021. In particular, real estate investment trusts as well as multifamily and industrial real estate are expected to be among some of the strongest sectors within the commercial industry this year.The National Association of REALTORS® unveiled its picks for the top commercial real estate market
Many Americans who are part of Generation X—those born between 1965 and 1980—are in their peak earning years. They’re increasingly turning to real estate, and they often make up more than a quarter of home buyers in the nation’s largest metros, just behind millennials, according to a new analysis from LendingTree.LendingTree researchers analyzed 2020 mortgage purchase requests in the nation’s 50 largest metros to identify the leading ma
A home often represents about 90% of the total wealth of a household. Homeownership often has long been pointed to as a way to build wealth over the long run. It also could help narrow racial income and wealth inequity gaps, writes Gay Cororaton, senior economist for the National Association of REALTORS®, at the association’s Economists’ Outlook blog.But how much wealth potential can you gain over time? Cororaton offers the following scenari
Home remodeling has surged since the pandemic began, but many of the projects initially were smaller in scope. That is reversing as homeowners decide to go bigger with their renovation plans and beyond the DIY projects that dominated during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak.Homeowners are increasingly undertaking larger remodeling projects, including expanding and rearranging floor plans as they look to create dedicated home offices or in
About 28.6 million baby boomers retired in the third quarter of 2020 alone, according to Pew Research Center data. Some Americans are retiring earlier than they originally intended to due to the COVID-19 pandemic.That has prompted a growing number of new retirees to seek out the perfect place to ride out their golden years in retirement—and Florida isn’t the only place they’re targeting.“Retirees might be able to cash out pretty significa
Home buyers may not be happy: The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage topped the 3% threshold, averaging 3.02% this week, Freddie Mac reports. Despite the uptick, economists note that mortgage rates remain near historical lows.Since reaching an all-time low in January, mortgage rates have risen by more than 30 basis points, “and the impact on purchase demand has been noticeable,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “While purchase act
Americans are having fewer children, and the trend is apparent among home buyers, Jessica Lautz, vice president of demographics and behavioral insights at the National Association of REALTORS®, writes at the association’s Economists’ Outlook blog. The trend of a “baby bust” will likely continue even after the pandemic, Lautz notes.The fertility rate in the U.S. fell by 1% in 2019, reaching an all-time low compared to the last 100 years.
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