Affordability

Mortgage rates aren’t hampering millennials’ homebuying interest

Millennials are the only generation showing increased interest in buying a home in the next six months, according to a new survey by Realtor.com. The survey, conducted this spring, found that 23% of millennials plan to buy a home, up from 15% in September 2024. By contrast, 69% of Americans across all generations said they […]

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Newly Built Homes May Be Less Expensive Than You Think

Newly Built Homes May Be Less Expensive Than You Think

Do you think a brand-new home means a bigger price tag? Think again. Right now, something unique is happening in the housing market. According to the Census and the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the median price of newly built homes is actually lower than the median price for existing homes (ones that have already

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New platform aims to ease California down payment burden

Zown, a real estate platform that offers upfront financial help to homebuyers, is expanding into California with a goal to ease the burden of down payments and elevated home prices. The service has launched in the Golden State after gaining traction in Canada, where it supported more than 250 homebuyers and facilitated $300 million-plus in

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Zillow: Northeast housing competition heats up while Sun Belt offers breathing room

As the spring homebuying season ramps up, prospective buyers in the Northeast are facing fierce competition, while shoppers in the Sun Belt are finding more negotiating power, according to new data from Zillow. The analysis released Thursday shows a stark contrast between markets. In cities like Buffalo, New York; Boston; Hartford, Connecticut; and Providence, Rhode

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Home prices expected to dip as supply and demand collide

U.S. home prices are projected to flatten in the third quarter and decline 1% year over year by the fourth quarter of 2025, according to a new report from Redfin. The company also expects mortgage rates to remain elevated near 7% through the end of the year. This marks a sharp reversal from more than

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Where land-use regulations are driving up housing costs

President Donald Trump has made deregulation a policy pillar for his second term — and housing regulations are up for review. Homebuilders say that federal rules have driven up the cost of building a home. Many mortgage professionals want to release Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship. And there were no shortage of complaints

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Rural America isn’t immune to housing squeeze

Rural areas of the U.S. that have long been viewed as a refuge for affordable homeownership are now grappling with rising prices, limited inventory and increasing competition — pressures once thought unique to urban housing markets. “Even the term ‘affordable’ feels like a relic of the past,” said Jake Vehige, president of mortgage lending at

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Inventory back to 2019 levels and what that means for 2025

To start things off, I have an announcement to make, today will be my last weekly article for Altos Research. I founded Altos nearly 20 years ago to bring a new level of analytics and data to the housing market. Two and a half years ago, Altos was acquired by HousingWire, and it’s been tremendously

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MORE Seller Financing wants to debunk ‘the bad rap for wraps’

In an era of high mortgage rates and stagnant home sales, a real estate transaction model is making waves by reintroducing and standardizing a once-popular financing method. Ryan Leahy, the founder of MORE Seller Financing, said his company has created the first nationwide platform to bring consistency, compliance and clarity to seller financing — a

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More home sellers and home sales in May

The weekly pending home sales picked up this week as expected, with 2.6% more pending home sales contracts started than a year ago. If you’re following the data closely, you know that home sales are still running at or below last year’s pace. Year to date, through the first week of May, we count 3%

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