Mortgage rates dropped to their lowest level since October 2016 due to weaker economic data over the past week. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.49% during the week ending Sept. 5, down 9 basis points from the previous week, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Rates for 30-year home loans have only increased nine times so far this year — otherwise, they have dropped or remained flat from week to week. Mortgage rates roughly track the direction of the 10-year Treasury note. The yield on the 10-year … [Read more...]

Considering the time and energy homeowners put toward making their house look great (particularly if they're trying to sell), many make the critical mistake of neglecting another one of our senses that can be far more powerful: smell. Even if you’ve decorated or staged your home perfectly, if potential buyers walk in and detect an unpleasant odor, they could skedaddle fast. Good scents, on the other hand, entice them to linger. “One of the easiest ways to evoke pleasant feelings about a space is … [Read more...]

You hear a lot about the down payment required to buy a home, but closing costs are also a significant consideration. You can’t eliminate all or even most of these costs, but there are steps you can take to reduce them. You can do this by understanding how much closing costs amount to early in the purchase process. Several factors go into determining your closing costs. These vary depending on the state in which the property is located, local market traditions and from lender to lender. You … [Read more...]

Perhaps you are a homeowner preparing to sell your home and are curious what features will make your home standout to potential buyers. You wonder if things like appliance updates really will grab more attention in listing photos and if you should do a bathroom remodel instead of updating the kitchen. At realtor.com, home is everything and we can help. Based on a recent survey by our consumer insights team, which took into account such factors as where people live by state as well as location type (urban, … [Read more...]

Quite a bit has changed since the housing bubble burst and the world plunged into a bleak recession. Rampant layoffs have been replaced by a booming economy and hiring sprees. A housing market pocked by foreclosures and abandoned construction sites is now on fire. But the postcrash price growth might actually be higher than most thought. Home prices shot up a cumulative 50% over the past decade, from June 2009 through May 2019, according to a recent report from real estate information provider CoreLogic. … [Read more...]

The housing market has been sending mixed signals in recent months, with existing home sales rocketing back in May from spring lows. But even with many buyers treading cautiously, Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale says there are growing signs bidding wars could be coming back in the fall. The inventory of homes coming on the market has been growing at just under 3%, way below the 6% rate from the start of the year. “If that declining growth trend continues, we could see maybe this fall that we’ll have … [Read more...]