The federal government said Wednesday that it’s lowering the cost of certain federal mortgages by an average of $800 per year, lowering housing costs for an estimated 850,000 homebuyers and homeowners...
Tag: Selling a home
I ruined my family’s finances by withdrawing from my 401(k) to buy a house – I regret it
I recently made a panic decision to withdraw all my money from one retirement account and I am now closing on a house in February (about $200,000). I am 36 years old, married and have a 1-year-old. Ha...
My husband and I rent our second home to our son and his wife. Now we want him to own this house, but keep our 2.5% mortgage rate. How can we do that?
My husband and I bought a second home two years ago, for $160,000, with a 30-year mortgage at 2.5%. We bought it with the sole purpose of renting it out to our son and his new wife. They were recent ...
Will 2023 finally be a good year to buy a home? Read this before making a decision.
The housing market is nothing if not unpredictable. Mortgage rates have skyrocketed, and the market has taken a beating. But don’t expect 2023 to turn into a buyer’s market just yet, housing experts s...
Mortgage rates fall for sixth week in a row, providing some relief for buyers
The numbers: Mortgage rates continued to inch downwards, providing some relief to prospective homeowners. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.27% as of December 22, according to data released b...
Home Buyers Could Soon Get $1 Million Mortgage With 3% Down Payment
To qualify for a $1 million mortgage, Americans typically have to make a down payment of at least 20% of the home’s price. Starting next year, some buyers could put as little as 3% down. The cap for h...
‘I want to buy a house for under $300,000, but I only earn $60,000.’ Should I cash out my brokerage account? How do I know the best time to sell my current home?
Dear MarketWatch, I want to buy a house in a different state for under $300,000. I have $150,000 in cash and a mortgage-free house worth $300,000. I also have $300,000 in my brokerage account. But w...
Americans are souring on the housing market and California is now giving residents up to $1,050 of ‘inflation relief’ — here’s who is eligible
Hi, MarketWatchers. Don’t miss these top stories. September jobs report highlights major shift in white-collar work — as Labor Department plans changes to jobs questionnaire ‘The old question was beco...
Americans are souring on the housing market. Home buyer sentiment hits lowest level since 2011 — and mortgage rates reach 7%.
There’s no respite for home buyers these days. From rising rates, high home prices, and an uncertain economic outlook, shoppers are finding it hard to jump into purchasing a home. Fannie Mae noted th...
A housing ‘crash?’ What lower prices mean for homeowners and hopeful buyers.
Some would-be home buyers are rooting for a full-on housing market crash because prices have zoomed so far past the point of affordability. Please “crash faster so I might be able to own my own place ...
Opinion: The Federal Reserve is missing a crucial turning point in its fight against inflation because it believes in flawed data
The Federal Reserve can’t see the probable economic crash that is coming because it’s still looking into the rearview mirror, where it sees nothing but high inflation. The danger arises because the co...
7% Mortgage Rates Are Almost Here. What That Means for Home Sellers.
Text size Further rises in U.S. interest rates could be on the way. Depending on how the Federal Reserve responds through monetary policy, mortgage rates could hit 7%. Allison Dinner/Getty Images For...
After Years of Low Mortgage Rates, Home Sellers Are Scarce
Homeowners with low mortgage rates are balking at the prospect of selling their homes to borrow at much higher rates for their next homes, a development that could limit the supply of houses for sale ...
‘No sign of a rebound’: Mortgage applications hit 22-year lows, as home buyers pull back
The numbers: As mortgage rates head towards 6%, would-be home buyers continue to stay on the sidelines, putting off purchases and refinances. Weak demand from buyers is reflected in the Market Composi...
Bank of America draws mixed reviews for zero-down-payment mortgages aimed at boosting Black and Hispanic home ownership
Bank of America Corp. is drawing a mixed reaction in social media to a zero-down-payment mortgage program aimed at bringing first-time home ownership within closer reach of more African American and H...
My $10,000 in student debt is canceled. What should I do now? Save for retirement, invest in the stock market and bonds — or buy a home?
President Joe Biden made a long-awaited announcement in August that individuals earning less than $125,000 a year would have $10,000 in federal student loan repayments forgiven, but that would rise to...
Everyone’s a Landlord—Small-Time Investors Snap Up Out-of-State Properties
Jack Cronin found San Francisco-area homes too expensive or too far from the city center to buy when he lived there in 2020. The tech worker still wanted a piece of the hottest housing market of his l...
Annual home price growth saw ‘the greatest single-month slowdown’ since at least the early 1970s. Does this mean homebuyers are finally getting a break?
Are home buyers getting some much-needed relief in the form of lower home prices? Getty Images Is this the news home buyers have finally been looking for? In June, the annual home price growth rate sa...
We have $1.1 million to spend on a new house for retirement, but we also want to travel – is buying a home even worth it right now?
Dear MarketWatch, My wife and I are 64 and 65 years old, respectively. I plan on retiring in two years when I’ll be fully vested with my current employer, avoiding early stock withdrawal penalties, a...
Homeowners who locked in low mortgage rates have one reason to ‘celebrate’ right now, economist says
The government’s inflation numbers confirmed that the price of literally everything has gone up. But an economist said that there’s one group who actually may have benefitted from rising costs. Inflat...
‘Good deals for the bold:’ How the rest of 2022 might play out for hopeful homebuyers
This is reprinted by permission from . The first half of 2022 was a catastrophe for home buyers. Skyrocketing mortgage rates and home prices made homeownership unaffordable for millions of renters. A...
‘My friends and family say I’m rich.’ I’m 26 and make $100K a year living in St. Louis, where I pay $850 in rent. But I can’t afford to buy a home, and am losing money when I invest. Would hiring a financial adviser be a smart move?
Is a financial adviser needed if you feel overwhelmed about money? Getty Images/iStockphoto Question: I am a 26-year-old pharmacist earning approximately $100,000 a year — take home pay is about $5600...
I’m the chief economist for a $5 billion real estate data and title company. Here are 5 things you need to know about the housing market now
Mark Fleming Housing has become increasingly unaffordable to millions of Americans — with home prices and mortgage rates continuing to rise (see the lowest rates you may qualify for now here). So – as...
Home Improvements and Tax Deductions: CPA Tax Advice
It’s a frequently asked question, “Are my home improvements tax-deductible? “For most people when you’re doing home improvements it’s a personal expense.” according...
Hot Housing Market Keeps Home Foreclosures at Bay
The U.S. moratorium on home foreclosures ended nearly a year ago, but the sizzling housing market is still protecting many delinquent mortgage borrowers from losing their homes. The pandemic that wipe...
Mortgage rates hit 6%. Here’s one way to pay about 4%, but there’s a catch
The latest mortgage rates, and how home buyers can save money. Getty Images Mortgage rates continue their upward march, with 30-year fixed rate mortgages crossing the 6% mark this week, Bankrate data ...
3 markets in which housing is more affordable than its historical average
Here’s where housing is relatively affordable. Getty Images Home prices have skyrocketed in recent years, with CoreLogic revealing in its latest report that home prices grew by 20.9% year over year in...
Fed’s biggest rate hike since 1994 means millions more homebuyers may be priced out of the housing market
Pity those first-time house buyers. On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised the benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to a 1.5% to 1.75% range, the biggest increase since 1994 as it tries t...
I’m the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. Here are 6 things to know about the housing market now
In this series, we ask a variety of real estate economists what they think buyers and sellers should know about the housing market now. National Association of Realtors As mortgage rates inch upwards ...
5 economists and real estate pros predict the housing market this summer
Want to buy a home? Here’s what pros say you may want to know this home buying season. Getty Images/iStockphoto Home prices have been climbing, as have mortgage rates (you can see the lowest mortgage ...
Good news for home buyers? Fannie Mae chief economist says the U.S. housing market has finally turned a corner. Here’s why.
The inventory shortage, high prices and rising interest rates have finally bitten. Single-family home sales fell sharply by 16.6% in April to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 591,000, accordin...
Opinion: Elon Musk shows in ‘funding secured’ trial that he does not live in the real world
San Francisco has been home in recent days to an upside-down world of contrasts where one of the world’s richest men, Elon Musk, enters a federal courtroom with four security staff in tow to portray h...