Category Archives: Mortgages

Thorough, in-depth, housing forecast from smart Harvard guy.

Posted on January 19, 2023 by grim

From the NY Post: Why US home prices will fall another 10 percent, according to Harvard economist Pain across the US housing market that began last year is likely just getting started if interest rates remain high, star economist Ken … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 134 Comments

Helping with the mortgage

Posted on January 16, 2023 by grim

From Yahoo Finance: Housing expert: ‘Sellers are absolutely having to negotiate’ Housing expert: ‘Sellers are absolutely having to negotiate’ It’s the same housing story across the U.S., according to real estate agents in three U.S. cities. Sellers are offering more … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 47 Comments

Home price gains continue to slow

Posted on December 28, 2022 by grim

From the WSJ: Home Prices Fell in October for Fourth Straight Month’ Home prices declined in October from the previous month as higher mortgage interest rates continued to weigh on home-buying demand. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 208 Comments

Fed raises, mortgage rates flat

Posted on December 15, 2022 by grim

From Mortgage News Daily: Mortgage Rates Remain Near Recent Lows Despite Fed’s Rate Hike It’s often said here, but bears repeating: by the time the Fed officially announces a rate hike, that rate hike is old news and of no … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 95 Comments

Why not assumable loans?

Posted on December 9, 2022 by grim

From MarketWatch: How people bought homes in the 1980s when mortgage rates were 18% For all the similarities between the 1980s and today, there are key differences. One of them involves “assumable mortgages,” which were plentiful then and are in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 166 Comments

The new inflation baseline

Posted on December 6, 2022 by grim

From the WSJ: Must Inflation Be Brought Down All the Way to 2%? “Why must inflation be around 2%?” is a question that obsessed central bankers back when inflation was stubbornly below their favorite target. It makes more sense to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Mortgages, Politics | 135 Comments

October housing market hit a wall

Posted on November 22, 2022 by grim

From Mansion Global: October Was a Spooky Month for the U.S. Housing Market Would-be buyers are turning their backs on the turbulent U.S. housing market in droves, according to new data released from Redfin on Monday.  The number of pending … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 66 Comments

Spread ’em

Posted on November 15, 2022 by grim

From the WSJ: Mortgage Rates Are High Because Nobody Is Buying Mortgages Bank of America Corp. BAC -1.69%decrease; red down pointing triangle gobbled up hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage bonds during the height of the pandemic. But with rates rising, its buying … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate | 210 Comments

That was fast…

Posted on November 11, 2022 by grim

From CNBC: Mortgage rates fall sharply to under 7% after inflation eases Mortgage rates fell sharply Thursday after a government report showed that inflation had cooled in October, prompting a decline in bond yields. The average rate on the 30-year fixed plunged … Continue reading →

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

Nobody positive about NJ housing

Posted on November 7, 2022 by grim

From NJ1015: As interest rates rise, the NJ real estate market’s new twist Interest rates have already been raised several times this year by the Federal Reserve but what’s expected to be another big hike on Wednesday will push the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, New Jersey Real Estate | 51 Comments

“People are in wait-and-see mode, because the numbers don’t work out” 

Posted on November 5, 2022 by grim

From the NYT: The Housing Market Is Worse Than You Think Everyone is feeling the squeeze. “Mortgage rates are sky high, prices are sky high, and there’s no inventory,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “This may … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 26 Comments

Fed Hates Housing

Posted on November 3, 2022 by grim

From Forbes: Fed Chair Calls Housing Market “Very Overheated” Jerome Powell said he viewed the U.S. housing market as “very overheated” after the pandemic, and believes supply and demand need to get back into balance.  Powell spoke at a press … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 214 Comments

Ready … Set … HIKE!

Posted on November 1, 2022 by grim

From CNBC: Another interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve is on the way: Here’s how it may affect you This week, the Federal Reserve will likely raise rates for the sixth consecutive time to combat inflation, which is still running at … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 50 Comments

Housing tanks, buyers screwed

Posted on October 21, 2022 by grim

From CNBC: Existing home sales fall to a 10-year low in September, as mortgage rates soar Existing homes are selling at the slowest pace since September 2012, with the exception of a brief drop at the start of the Covid 19 … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 70 Comments

Brokers Capitulate

Posted on October 20, 2022 by grim

From Mortgage News Daily: Another Day, Another 20 Year High in Rates There’s no sense in beating a dead horse or wading through another “same story, different day” assessment of rates. They were already at 20 year highs yesterday, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 107 Comments