Despite market slump, high rates dim homebuyer affordability
Homeownership is likely to remain a pipe dream for many Americans this spring homebuying season.
Aging millennials projected to drive up housing prices
Becoming a homeowner is likely to get more costly and competitive over the next decade as millions more Americans enter the age range where people typically seek to buy their first home. Nearly 45 million Americans will enter their mid-30s over the next 10 years, or 3.1 million more than in the last decade, according […]
Exploring ways to manage student loan debt and take out a mortgage
The college class of 2017 likely graduated last month with more student debt than any class before them. As college costs rise, declining homeownership rates have been named a casualty of the rising student debt. But even when a graduate buys a home, that student debt can be an extra weight hanging over the homeowner’s […]
Bank of America to offer rentals as foreclosure alternative
NEW YORK — Bank of America says it has begun a pilot program offering some of its mortgage customers who are facing foreclosure a chance to stay in their homes by becoming renters instead of owners. The “Mortgage to Lease” program, which was launched this week, will be available to fewer than 1,000 BofA customers […]
Rod Staatz: Healthy secondary market vital
What is the American Dream? For many, the fulfillment of the American Dream is homeownership. To that end, a healthy and accessible primary mortgage market is vital to the success of that dream. And an efficient secondary mortgage market is vital to the success of the primary mortgage market. The secondary mortgage market is the […]
Charitable Giving: Program helps renters hurt by foreclosure
The foreclosure crisis and subsequent financial fallout for homeowners have been headline news for years now. But a less visible aspect of the crisis has quietly emerged — the plight of renters whose landlords are facing foreclosure. Real estate investors flooded the market during Baltimore’s housing boom in the early to mid-2000s, and during the […]
Robert Nusgart: Homeownership becoming more privilege than right
In the last 10 days, it has become apparent that homeownership in the U.S. will be more of a privilege than a right in the coming years. Last week, the Obama administration released its thoughts on how to deal with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and this week, the Federal Housing Administration, which […]
Nation’s homeownership rate remains at 10-year low
WASHINGTON — The nation’s homeownership rate remained at its lowest in more than a decade, hampered by a rise in foreclosures and weak demand for housing. The percentage of households that owned their homes was unchanged at 66.9 percent in the July-September quarter, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. That’s the same as the April-June quarter. […]