
Mortgage Rates Increased Over the Last Week—and That Could Put a Damper on the Housing Market
Mortgage rates have inched upward. If the trend continues, it could make affordability even more of a roadblock to would-be buyers.
Mortgage rates have inched upward. If the trend continues, it could make affordability even more of a roadblock to would-be buyers.
Over the years, we’ve covered Oprah Winfrey as she’s bought and sold some of her many properties. But, it turns out, those were just the tip of the iceberg.
Only 20.9% of homeowners with a mortgage were cost-burdened as of 2018, meaning that they spent at least 35% of their monthly household income on housing costs, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate, and if a significant number of them can’t go back, the state’s housing shortage will likely make a bad situation even worse.
Construction on U.S. new houses fell more than 9% in September, but a recent surge in permits suggests the decline in so-called housing starts is just a brief pause in a real estate market reinvigorated by lower mortgage rates.
Overall, apartment occupancy was the highest in August that it has been at any point since the tech boom in 2000, RealPage said earlier this month. August also marked the seventh consecutive month that apartment occupancy has risen, and the 12th consecutive month of rent growth at or above 3%.