By Alex Veiga The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.78% this week – down from last week’s 6.96% and the lowest rate in about a month. LOS ANGELES – The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate slipped this week to the lowest level in four weeks, a boost for house hunters facing a market held back by persistently high prices and a near-historic low number of homes for sale. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan fell to 6.78% from 6.96% last week. A year ago, the rate
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Tampa skyline By C. A. Bridges The safest metro in Fla. isn’t too surprising. The Villages – Central Fla.’s mega 55-plus community of 60,000 residents – ranks as No. 1. SARASOTA – When you’re deciding where to live, there are a lot of things to consider. But one of the most important things to look at is: Is it safe? While no place will ever be completely safe from crime or natural disasters, some places may be a safer bet than others. Real estate site UpHomes decided to find out which ones those were. They analyzed the 60 largest cities
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Cape Coral By Kerry Smith What makes a city “best” for first-timers? WalletHub looked at 22 key indicators, such as attractiveness, affordability and quality of life. Top of the list? Palm Bay. ORLANDO, Fla. – Not all first-time homebuyers are alike, and what they might find appealing can differ. But WalletHub looked at 300 U.S. cities and used “22 key indicators” to rank them. Those indicators include things like market attractiveness, affordability, quality of life, cost of living, real-estate taxes and property-crime rate. Florida cities, both large and small, ranked near the top for first-time homebuyers. Overall Florida metros in
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By Kerry Smith A federal hidden-fees initiative led major rental websites to announce “total rental fees” notices early in the process: Zillow, Apartments.com and AffordableHousing.com. WASHINGTON – President Biden and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge announced that several of the biggest rental housing search platforms will increase transparency of housing fees. The three rental-ad websites agreeing to make the full cost of rental easier to understand early in the process include Zillow, Apartments.com and AffordableHousing.com. A White House fact sheet outlines the details. “Too often, renters are hit with unexpected fees on top
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By Kerry Smith U.S. single-family home starts fell 7% in June after four consecutive increases, but permits – an indication of future home builds – were up 2.2%. WASHINGTON – After four straight months of gain, June’s single-family production fell, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. Overall housing starts, which includes multifamily housing, decreased 8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.43 million units. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) cited elevated construction costs and rising mortgage rates as the reason. Within the overall number, single-family starts decreased 7% month-to-month
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By Kerry Smith As a percentage of all homes, it’s the lowest one in at least a decade. In the suburbs, it’s a bit higher at 1.6%, but that’s one-third less than the 2.4% in 2019. SEATTLE – Roughly 14 of every 1,000 U.S. homes changed hands during the first six months of 2023. That’s down from 19 of every 1,000 during the same period of 2019 and the lowest turnover rate in at least a decade, according to a report from Redfin. In 2018, Freddie Mac estimated that the U.S. needed about 2.5 million more homes to meet demand,
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By Kerry Smith With the tight inventory of existing homes, the market remains solid for builders, and the index measuring attitudes moved one point higher to 56 from June’s 55. WASHINGTON – Buyers who can’t find an existing home turn to new construction, which helped builders’ confidence in single-family homes move higher in July. In a 1-100 index where any number above 50 indicates optimism rather than pessimism, July’s reading hit 56 – one point higher than June’s 55 – despite higher mortgage rates, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today.
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By Kerry Smith An American Heart Association peer-reviewed study finds that Blacks still living in once-redlined districts have an 8% greater chance of heart attacks. DALLAS – An American Heart Association (AHA) analysis of more than two million U.S. adults found that present day heart failure risk is higher among Black adults living in zip codes historically impacted by redlining than Black adults now living in non-redlined areas. The peer-reviewed study, which was published in AHA’s journal, Circulation, found that white adults living in historically redlined zip codes don’t see an increased rate of heart failure. The analysis, published as
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Over two years, Fla. home prices rose 35.16% – the highest increase on the East Coast – with Ga. and the Carolinas seeing something just short of 30%. NEW YORK – Real estate website New Jersey Real Estate Network has analyzed data from Zillow showing historical average house prices in each East Coast state. The study shows which state has had the highest percentage increase from 2021 to 2023. Florida is the state with the highest increase in property prices. The average price of a home is now $385,157, an increase of 35.16% from 2021. The county with the highest
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By Kerry Smith Best lender for lower mortgage rates? PenFed Credit Union. Best mortgage lender – AmeriSave. Best mortgage refinancing lender – New American Funding. WASHINGTON – U.S. News & World Report, one of the best-known ranking and consumer advice companies, announced the winners of its first-ever Banking, Investing Platforms and Lender Awards. “Today’s homebuyers are contending with an affordability crisis fueled by high interest rates and unyielding home prices, so it’s important to find a mortgage lender that can provide some financial relief,” says Erika Giovanetti, loans expert and reporter at U.S. News. U.S. News’ new awards come as
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