RFK Jr’s Plan to Fix the US Housing Affordability Crisis: Would it Work? Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who happens to be running for president in 2024, posted on X sharing his idea for alleviating the U.S. housing affordability crisis.  His idea? Tax-free, government-backed 3% mortgage bonds.  While lower mortgage rates are always desired, if rates are […]

Housing Affordability Hits its Lowest Point Since 2007 New reports from ATTOM and Redfin show just how much housing affordability has worsened compared to a year ago. With home prices rising and mortgage rates hovering around 7.5%, the share of the average income needed to cover the cost of homeownership has climbed to 35%,  That’s according to ATTOM’s Q3 2023 […]

Jerome Powell on Housing Supply and Lock in Effect During yesterday’s FOMC press conference, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced that the Fed chose to pause rate hikes, as expected by the majority of analysts.  While Powell spoke in length about the labor market and inflation, he also spoke about housing a total of five times […]

Unexpected Boost for Homebuyers in August The latest market report from Zillow shared some good news for buyers: a slight increase in new listings for August—which is a nice surprise given inventory typically drops during the end-of-summer slowdown.  It’s good to have options. And today’s homebuyers have had significantly fewer to choose from compared to a year […]

September 11 – Patriot Day & National Day of Service and Remembrance PATRIOT DAY | SEPTEMBER 11 Patriot Day on September 11th honors the memory of the nearly 3,000 innocent victims who died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Each year Americans dedicate this day to remembering those who died and the first responders […]

From Floods to Fires: How Climate Risks Impact Home Buying Today, more than ever, home shoppers are factoring in climate risks when they hunt for their dream home. According to new research from Zillow, over 80% of prospective home buyers are considering climate risks when making one of life’s biggest decisions. Zillow’s research shows that for many—especially […]

Residential Home Loans Increase by 21% in Q2 ATTOM has just released its Q2 2023 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report, showing a 21% quarterly increase in total residential mortgages after eight consecutive quarterly declines.  The total number of residential mortgages rose to 1.56 million in the second quarter. And while that’s down 38% from a […]

Rents Drop for Three Straight Months as Rental Supply Increases The Realtor.com® July 2023 Rental Report is out, and, thanks to rising rental supply across the U.S., rent prices have fallen year over year for the third consecutive month. Rents for 0-2 bedroom units dropped -1.0% from July 2022 in the 50 largest U.S. metros. The median […]

5 Home Buying Misconceptions Americans Believe Americans have significant gaps in knowledge and understanding about various aspects of the real estate market—especially surrounding home prices, interest rates, mortgages, and the home buying process in general. In a study conducted by Real Estate Witch, data showcased real estate myths Americans believe about the home buying process. […]

Stuck in Renting Purgatory: Over 80% Believe It’s a Bad Time to Buy a Home The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) for July is, as one might expect, a mixed bag. Consumer sentiment on job loss concerns improved. Optimism regarding household income held steady. And the net share of respondents who expect mortgage […]