10’000 Hours | Digitalvision | Getty Images Housing costs are outpacing median household incomes in the U.S., further straining affordability. Would-be homebuyers need to earn $113,520 a year to afford the typical house in the U.S. That is 35% more than what the typical household earns annually ($84,072), according to a new analysis by Redfin, … Read more
The Spring housing market is defying expectations that prices would cool and competition would ease. Higher mortgage rates usually cool both prices and demand, as they did last year, but that’s not the case now. There are still too few homes for sale because current homeowners can’t afford to move, and it’s keeping prices high. … Read more
Luxury vacation home co-ownership platform Pacaso is attempting to appeal to the masses, as it grows its business during a pricey and competitive phase of the housing market. The company, which launched in 2020 with multimillion-dollar homes listed for co-ownership, is now introducing thousands more listings with share prices starting as low as $200,000. Previously, … Read more
Canada’s competition watchdog is urging Ottawa to drop requirements for some borrowers to pass the mortgage stress test at renewal, arguing it limits Canadians’ abilities to shop around for a better rate. The Competition Bureau issued a report Thursday afternoon examining concentration in Canada’s financial sector and how a lack of competition impacts affordability for … Read more
A “Sale Pending” sign in front of a home in Pinole, California, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Sales of existing homes surged 9.5% in February from January to 4.38 million units, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. Housing analysts … Read more
A landmark class-action lawsuit may change the way Americans buy and sell homes. The National Association of Realtors agreed to a $418 million settlement last week in an antitrust lawsuit where a federal jury found the organization and several large real-estate brokerages had conspired to artificially inflate agent commissions on the sale and purchase of … Read more
Hinterhaus Productions | Digitalvision | Getty Images Savings accounts Higher rates mean that consumers have to pay more to service their debt, but it also means that banks pay higher rewards to savers. It’s one of the silver linings to the current rate environment, said Ted Rossman, chief credit card analyst at Bankrate. “There’s also … Read more
Townhomes are under construction on July 19, 2023 in Mundelein, Illinois. Scott Olson | Getty Images Mortgage interest rates rose last week for the first time in three weeks. As a result, total mortgage application volume dropped 1.6% compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. The average contract … Read more
Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images While inflation is 10 times higher now than 60 years ago, home prices are 24 times more expensive, a new study found. If home prices increased at the same rate as inflation since 1963, the median price of a typical house in the U.S. would be $177,511, according to … Read more
Artificial intelligence is moving into the housing space, specifically architecture. ICON, which developed one of the first fully 3D-printed housing developments in the U.S., is taking automation another step further. It recently unveiled what it calls Vitruvius, an AI program that helps consumers design custom homes online and get the plans, making the process cheaper … Read more
