How Did Almost Half of Recent Home Buyers Snag a Mortgage Rate Under 5%?
Everyone knows high mortgage rates have been a total drag lately, especially for prospective home buyers facing extremely high asking prices. But what if I told you that nearly half of those who purchased a home recently still got an interest rate below 5%? Sounds pretty unlikely, given the fact that the 30-year fixed is […]
First-Time Home Buyer Share Hits Record Low: Why That Might Be a Good Thing
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that the first-time home buyer share fell to a historic low of just 24%. That was down from 32% a year earlier based on transactions between July 2023 and June 2024. At the same time, the typical home buyer age reached an all-time high of 56 years old. […]
What Will Happen to Mortgage Rates During Trump’s Second Term?
It’s been no secret that most everyone thinks mortgage rates will be higher under President Trump. But because it’s been so telegraphed this time around, we’ve seen a very defensive bond market leading up to the election. Many have argued that him winning the election was already priced in to the bond market. After all, […]
Is This Housing Market Cycle Just Getting Started?
I sometimes wonder with so little equity extracted this cycle if it’s still early innings for the housing market. At least in terms of the next collapse. Sure, home sales volume has plummeted thanks to unaffordable conditions, driven by high home prices and significantly higher mortgage rates. But do we still need a flood of […]
Can Mortgage Rates Improve Much Before Trump’s Inauguration?
While mortgage rates have already seen some improvement since the election dust settled, they remain quite elevated. At last glance, the 30-year fixed was hovering around 6.875%, down about 0.25% from its recent highs. It’s been a good few days, but rates are still at least 0.75% higher than they were in mid-September. The reason […]
What Does It Actually Mean to Return to Lower Mortgage Rates?
Recently, a lot of people have argued that we won’t return to lower mortgage rates. That there’s no possible way we can go back to low mortgage rates. Thing is, when they say that, they’re always thinking about 3% mortgage rates, maybe 4%. In reality, mortgage rates could go down quite a bit from current […]
Normal Mortgage Rates? The Average Mortgage Rate Since 1972 Is Roughly 7.75%
Lately, I’ve been a hearing a lot of people say that mortgage rates are “average” or “normal.” As in, they aren’t high or low. They’re just typical. This is usually in response to someone pointing out that they’re much higher than they were just a couple years ago. In a way, it feels like a […]