National News

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Homes sold faster in March compared to the previous month and year

Properties, on average, remained on the market for 34 days in March 2017, a shorter amount of time compared to February 2017 (45 days) and March of last year (47 days), according to the National Association of Realtors’ monthly Confidence

Low inventory led to cooling homebuyer demand in March

  The Redfin Housing Demand Index decreased in March to 108 from 123 in February, a 14 percent drop, according to Redfin’s latest report. Although the trend of homebuyer demand is cooling down from its record high of 132

Fannie Mae announces new programs to help borrowers with student loan debt

Fannie Mae announced a new student loan cash-out refinance program and policies to help borrowers who are burdened by student loan debt. There are three major policies and programs that will be implemented. Student Loan Cash-Out Refinance: Homeowners will

Getting inside the head of this spring’s homebuyer

  The recently released Active Spring Home Shopper report from realtor.com dives into the mind of this spring’s cohort of homebuyers by breaking down their needs by age group. According to the report, privacy is the top reason out of 10 that

March was the best month for home sales since the market crash

Thanks in part to some slight relief in housing inventory woes, March saw the strongest home sales of any month since the housing market collapse, according to the National Association of Realtors. Home sales in March totaled 5.71 million, the strongest

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Houston rents have decreased in the past year

  Houston rents have decreased 2.5 percent in the past year to an average of $1,544, according to the March Zillow Real Estate Market Report. From 2015 to 2016, rent in Houston increased 4.0 percent. Rents rose only 0.7 percent nationwide

Single-family housing development to outpace multifamily, report says

  More investors and lenders are predicting an increase in single-family housing development that will outpace multifamily buildings, according to the 2017 Akerman U.S. Real Estate Sector Report. Of those surveyed, 43 percent said single-family homebuilding will be the most active

Housing affordability index down nationwide

  Housing affordability is down nationwide as mortgage rates have increased in February, according to The National Association of Realtors’ latest affordability index. Housing affordability declined 8.7 percent from 175.9 in February 2016 to 160.6 in February 2017. The

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5 facts that describe Generation X homebuyers

With all the talk of Millennials and how they fit into the housing market, Generation X doesn’t get a lot of attention as a home-buying population. Gen X-ers, aged 37 to 51 years, make up the second largest share

New construction: bigger homes, smaller lots

  New homes are getting bigger, which has helped in balancing out price appreciation while the market sees low inventory and high demand, reports CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft, based on Census Bureau data on new residential construction.   What’s changed?

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More renters have no plans to move, own a home

  More renters are saying they have no plans to move this year and have no interest in owning a home, according to a new survey from Freddie Mac. The survey also found that the expectation to purchase a

Vacation home sales plummet

Vacation home sales have dropped significantly, according to a recent study by the National Association of Realtors. Only accounting for 12 percent of all transactions in 2016, vacation home sales fell to an estimated 721,000 transactions—the lowest since 2013 (which saw

The real story behind the nationwide housing shortage

A nationwide inventory shortage is hampering the housing market’s growth, but the shortage isn’t uniformly affecting every market. In fact, a market is more likely to have a housing shortage if its housing prices have recovered to pre-crash highs,

Consumers recognize seller’s market with rising home prices

  Housing confidence fell 3.8 percentage points in March following a survey high in February, according to Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index ®. The net share of Americans who say it is a good time to buy fell

5 facts that explain Older Boomers’ homebuying habits

With all the talk of Millennials and how they fit into the housing market, retirement-age Baby Boomers don’t get a lot of attention as a home-buying population. The numbers show, however, that “Older Boomers” aged 62 to 70 years

Average mortgage size reaches record high

The average mortgage size is $318,200, which is the largest it has been in the 27-years of The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly purchase loan data survey. There are multiple factors leading to higher mortgages in the United States beyond larger

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