Borrowing costs are lower even after the Fed’s hike this week—but a bigger issue looms large.At 6.39% this week, the average for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has been settling in below the 6.5% range for some time now and is only one percentage point higher than a year ago, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. But while the outlook for borrowing costs bodes well for prospective home buyers this spring, the lack of inventory does not.The number o
U.S. job openings as recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics fell to 9.6 million in March, the lowest level since April of 2021. This marks the third consecutive month of decline and points to ongoing success in the cooling of the labor market. The construction sector faced similar declines with the number of openings in the industry falling from 404,000 in February to 341,000 in March.Additionally, though hires increased 33,000 in the constru
When staging a home to attract potential buyers, we really don’t know their personal preferences, so custom styling isn’t an option. On your initial walkthrough of the property, determine the style of home—whether it’s a colonial, farmhouse, Cape Cod, contemporary, etc.,—and assess the neighborhood’s features (family-friendly, first-time home buyers, retired community) and go from there. These staging tips should get you started.Neutr
Despite the weekly volatility in borrowing costs lately, the overall trend is down, NAR says.Though mortgage rates inched up this week, they remain below 6.5%, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.43%, up from 6.39% last week. But “with the rate of inflation decelerating, rates should gently decline over the course of 2023,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Incoming data suggest the hou
US economic growth slowed in the first quarter by more than expected as tepid business investment and a pullback in inventories tempered a pickup in consumer spending.Gross domestic product rose at a 1.1% annualized rate on the back of the strongest consumer spending in nearly two years, the Commerce Department’s initial estimate showed Thursday. The Federal Reserve’s preferred underlying inflation metric accelerated to a one-year high.
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Consumer spending remained high while the broader economy slowed, growing just 1.1% in the first 3 months of 2023, according to data released Thursday by US Bureau of Economic Analysis The nation’s economy slowed during the first three months of the year, growing at a sluggish rate of 1.1 percent at a time when the nation continued to endure a period of high interest rates.It marked the second quarter in which real GDP growth slowed, according
In this typically good month for housing, hires between 2015-19, averaged a gain of 3,460 positions.Southern California bosses in real estate-related industries cut staff in March amid wet weather and a sluggish property market.Real estate employment in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties was 763,100 in March, off 4,600 for the month and off 10,100 over 12 months – or a 1.3% one-year drop.March is typically a good month f
WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. single-family homes jumped to a one-year high in March, likely as a retreat in mortgage rates boosted demand.New home sales surged 9.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 683,000 units last month, the highest level since March 2022, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. February's sales pace was revised lower to 623,000 units from the previously reported 640,000.New home sales are counted
Economists say even minor movement in borrowing costs will continue to have an impact on housing activity.After weeks of declines, the interest rate for a 30-year mortgage reversed course, jumping to a 6.39% average this week, Freddie Mac reports. “For the first time in over a month, mortgage rates moved up due to shifting market expectations,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Home prices have stabilized somewhat, but with
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