Category Archives: Mortgages

I prefer the term over-asset’ed

Posted on September 18, 2023 by grim

From Fortune: House poor is back: ‘the new normal for the foreseeable future’ While many first-time home buyers struggle to afford a down payment on a house in today’s market, one of the long-term affordability issues centers on monthly payments … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis, Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages | 60 Comments

New home prices might not be what they seem

Posted on September 11, 2023 by grim

From Wolf Street: Mortgage-Rate Buydowns by Homebuilders Are Now All the Rage to Prop Up Sales, Lowering Effective House Prices in a Big Way, but Don’t Get Picked Up by House Price Data Homebuilders don’t have the luxury of outwaiting … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate, New Development, Risky Lending | 35 Comments

Affordable? Not today.

Posted on September 9, 2023 by grim

From Yahoo Finance: US Housing Affordability Remains at a Record Low, NAR Says The National Association of Realtors housing affordability index was unchanged at 87.8 in July, matching the lowest level in data back to 1989. A level of 100 … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 86 Comments

You’d be crazy to sell

Posted on August 24, 2023 by grim

Interesting look at mortgage rate lock-in from Fortune:

Posted in Crisis, Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 87 Comments

Welcome back old friend

Posted on August 23, 2023 by grim

From Fortune: Housing market affordability is worse now than at the height of the housing bubble in 2006 On Monday, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached 7.48%, marking the highest level since the year 2000. Even prior to this recent surge … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis, Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 123 Comments

20 year high

Posted on August 18, 2023 by grim

From NPR: Mortgage rates just hit their highest since 2002 Mortgage rates jumped to their highest level in more than two decades, making home-ownership even less affordable for many would-be buyers. The average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate home … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages | 71 Comments

When will rates impact housing?

Posted on August 14, 2023 by grim

From HousingWire: Where are mortgage rates headed? ast week ended with a wild ride for mortgage rates. We anticipated the two inflation reports could help mortgage rates, however, we had a bad bond auction last Thursday, and the 10-year yield rose sharply. Weekly … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 61 Comments

The crazy continues

Posted on July 21, 2023 by grim

From CNN: US home prices stay near record high, even as sales drop in June US home prices continued to fall in June compared to a year ago, but that may not be much comfort to home buyers. Even after … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 65 Comments

Mortgages still strong

Posted on July 9, 2023 by grim

From CoreLogic: Loan Performance Insights – June 2023 30 Days or More Delinquent – National In April 2023, 2.8% of mortgages were delinquent by at least 30 days or more including those in foreclosure. This represents a 0.1 percentage point … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 4 Comments

Welcome Back

Posted on July 7, 2023 by grim

From Mortgage News Daily: Highest Mortgage Rates Since November It seems like just last week (because it was) we were commenting on the extreme LACK of volatility in the mortgage rate landscape.  Starting last Thursday, things have changed quickly, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 75 Comments

Getting uglier in the UK

Posted on June 26, 2023 by grim

From CNBC: Mortgage catastrophe brews in Britain as millions are pushed toward insolvency There is intensifying pressure on Britain’s government to do more to help struggling households, with the country’s shadow finance minister warning of a “mortgage catastrophe” as millions … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis, Economics, Foreclosures, Mortgages | 36 Comments

Home prices finally dip (a little)

Posted on June 23, 2023 by grim

From CNN: US home prices fall by largest amount annually since December 2011 US home prices fell in May at the largest annual rate in more than a decade, according to a National Association of Realtors report released Thursday. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 55 Comments

Could be worse, we could be the UK

Posted on June 19, 2023 by grim

From the Guardian: Millions are facing soaring mortgage rates. How did we leave them so vulnerable? There is a cross-party consensus that Britain as a property-owning democracy should promote home ownership. To that end, 7.5 million people hold a record £1.7tn … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis, Demographics, Economics, Mortgages, Philly | 76 Comments

Past Peak Mortgage?

Posted on June 17, 2023 by grim

From CNN: Mortgage rates tick down for the second week in a row Mortgage rates ticked down this week for the second week in a row, as investors absorbed the Federal Reserve’s expected pause on raising the federal funds rate after 10 … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 33 Comments

Fed presses pause

Posted on June 15, 2023 by grim

From CNN: The Fed holds rates steady, pausing its rate-hiking campaign The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would pause its historic rate-hiking campaign as it waits for the effects to trickle further through the economy, but signaled that additional rate hikes are … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Mortgages, National Real Estate, Politics | 93 Comments