Found 106 blog entries tagged as interest rates.

Mortgage Rates Lowest in More Than a Week

Mortgage News Daily writes, "We're measuring our mortgage rate spikes in terms of years and decades at the moment.  Progress in the other direction has been elusive--especially since the beginning of August.  Since then, mortgage rates haven't been able to string together any sort of winning streak lasting more than a few days.  On a slightly broader note, we haven't been able to say "lowest rates in 2 weeks" in almost 2 months now. 

If the present stability continues, we'll be very close to breaking that curse over the next few days.  Today's rates weren't markedly different from yesterday's, but both days are much better than last week--especially the 20-year highs seen on Tuesday.  During that time, the average lender moved back down from the…

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The Austin real estate market is in the middle of a shift.  While the housing market in Austin is still a seller's market, the trend is changing. More would-be buyers are now renting, thanks to a cooling down market. Next year, the market will shift from a seller's to a buyer's market.

Austin's Housing Market Pushed More Would-be Buyers Into Renting During Covid-19 Pandemic

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Austin's housing market was tight, with rents rising by about 5% annually. In Austin alone, there are nearly 125 people moving every day. In addition, builders haven't kept up with demand, and city zoning laws limit the building of new multifamily housing. As a result, home prices have reached new peaks. In May alone, the median sale price in Austin…

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Investor activity began to plateau in the second quarter but even with higher interest rates and a slowing housing market, it's likely some groups will continue to find opportunity.

Real estate investors bought 87,500 U.S. homes in the second quarter, up 11% on a quarterly basis and 5.9% higher year over year, according to Seattle-based Redfin Corp. (Nasdaq: RDFN). Investors bought an all-time high of 93,700 homes in Q3 2021 but, as Redfin notes, investors continue to buy more homes than they did pre-pandemic.

Investors purchased a record $60.1 billion worth of real estate in Q2, and their market share was 19.4% of all homes purchased last quarter (down from 20.5% in Q1).

Defined by Redfin and most industry groups as an institution or…

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We all know buying and building homes in the Austin area is expensive. Austin is outpacing other Texas cities when it comes to development fees for builders, and home prices have skyrocketed.

A recent study by Florida Atlantic University ranked Austin as the second-most overvalued housing market in the country. But is that true? Ashley Jackson, president-elect of the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR), joined KVUE Midday to dig deeper.

Jenni Lee: According to Florida Atlantic University, buyers in Austin pay just a little bit more, but 67% more than they should. So, demand for new and existing homes is there, but there's not enough supply. Is the Austin housing market overvalued?

Ashley Jackson: "No, I do not believe the Austin…

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After a two-year boom, the United States housing market finds itself at a pivotal moment — but pivoting to what, exactly?

This spring should have been a busy time for home sellers. Instead, the season was a dud, stalled by a dramatic spike in mortgage rates that stunned even industry experts with its chilling effect on the market.

The frenzied environment we had become accustomed to — with its eye-popping price increases and bidding wars that left buyers dejected and sellers giddy — suddenly seemed to be a thing of the past. While buyers stood on the sidelines, recalculating their much larger mortgage payments, sellers began to realize that offers of $100,000 or more over asking might not be forthcoming.

And over in the rental market,…

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Austin home buyers and sellers are getting creative to lessen the blow of rising interest rates. Realtors report more people are exploring temporary interest rate buydowns.

The temporary rate buydowns happening right now involve sellers taking some of their profit from the sale and putting it toward helping the buyer make payments at a lower interest rate. It's usually a benefit that sellers only agree to for a couple of years, but it is helping homes sell while rates are high.

For the first time in years the Austin Board of Realtors says the area housing market is stabilizing—something that will help some buyers get back in the game.

"They can be a little bit more relaxed. They can actually have a shot at making one of their offers stick.…

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