Home buyers may have felt more determined in November to purchase before 2021 comes to an end and mortgage rates and borrowing costs increase, as largely is forecasted to happen.Existing-home sales, which include completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops, rose 1.9% in November compared to October, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday. Sales, however, are down 2% compared to a year ago.
The nation’s hottest rental market in 2021: Eugene, Ore., according to a new end-of-the-year report from RentCafe. The city has been attracting new residents and boasts a rapidly growing tech sector. San Diego, Calif., and Knoxville, Tenn., were number two and number three on RentCafe’s list.In 2021, the most competitive rental markets tended to be smaller metros that are within close proximity to nature and allow for a more affordable lifest
Mortgage rates rose this week after the Federal Reserve announced it would accelerate its bond tapering and that three rate hikes would come in 2022. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.12% this week, Freddie Mac reports.Rates are largely expected to continue to rise due to the Fed’s recent announcement. But National Association of REALTORS® Senior Economist Nadia Evangelou says home buyers shouldn’t panic. By historical standards
Buyers have been drawn to new-home construction as existing housing inventories remain lean. Builders have struggled to ramp up construction even more due to the high demand as building materials, labor, and lot shortages loom.However, builders say they’re building as much as they can and as quickly as they can given such challenges.Housing starts for both single-family and multifamily homes rose 11.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.
More first-time buyers hope to transition from renting to owning in 2022. After a challenging 2021, many are looking ahead to the new year for an opening in the market—one where competition may not be as tight as it has been this year.Aspiring first-time buyers are already actively looking: 40% say they’re researching home values in their target neighborhood, 34% say they’ve researched the real estate process, 30% have talked to family and
Many of the housing markets to watch in the new year are located in the South, says the National Association of REALTORS®, which released its top picks for the markets that likely will see some of the strongest price appreciation in 2022—the “hidden gems,” as the association says.NAR released its top 10 list during its third annual year-end Real Estate Forecast Summit on Wednesday, where economists weighed in on the trajectory for the 2022
The housing market is hot, but some homeowners may overestimate just how hot it is when they go to sell. Real estate professionals shared with realtor.com® a few unrealistic expectations that some of their sellers have had, such as that their home has doubled in value since they bought it or that they shouldn’t have to make any repairs before closing.“One of the biggest mistakes sellers can make is going with aspirational pricing just becau
Rising inflation is pressing on Americans across the economic spectrum with costs for groceries to gasoline increasing. In November, consumer prices increased by 6.8% compared to a year ago, the largest annual gain in the past 40 years.Some of the highest increases have occurred for energy, shelter, cars, and food—these comprise about 61% of consumer purchases and account for 81% of inflation over the past 12 months, MarketWatch reports.Renters
New home construction has been pointed as a way out of the housing inventory crisis. But even with high buyer demand, builders have struggled to ramp up construction even more due to ongoing labor, lot, and materials shortages. Some markets are faring better than others in adding more new homes to their housing pipelines.Zonda, a homebuilding and multifamily data firm, recently selected five U.S. cities as markets of interest for new-home sales i
Homeowners continue to build wealth. Home price growth is reaching the highest level in more than four decades, pushing equity gains to a record high.The average home equity gained between the third quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2021 is about $57,000, CoreLogic reports.“Not only have equity gains helped homeowners more seamlessly transition out of forbearance and avoid a distressed sale, but they’ve also enabled many to continue bu
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