News and Views

Realtor.com; Getty Images (6) Homebuyers looking for a top housing market can ignore the West Coast’s sunny appeal and the East Coast’s seasonal charms. Instead, home shoppers should concentrate on the country’s heartland, in particular, Fort Wayne, IN. The midsized city is the hub of Northeast Indiana and has ranked No. 1 in the Wall […]

Getty/Bloomberg The numbers: Sales of newly built homes in the U.S. dipped in June as buyers continue to deal with an unaffordable housing market. Buyers are constrained by high home prices and elevated mortgage rates. Sales of new homes are at the lowest level since November 2023. Sales of newly built homes in the U.S. fell 0.6%

Getty Images Home prices hit a new high in June even as the number of closings slipped again, continuing recent trends in a market battered by soaring mortgage rates. Total existing-home sales dropped 5.4% from May, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.89 million in June, the National Association of Realtors® reported on Tuesday.

Photo-illustration by Realtor.com; Source: Getty Images (3) In his lengthy speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday, Donald Trump touched on dysfunction in the housing market as he pressed his case to replace incumbent President Joe Biden. Tying rising housing costs to inflation, a lingering weakness for Biden, Trump exaggerated several statistics even as

Realtor.com; Getty Images (1) Mortgage rates dipped this week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed home loan going from 6.89% last week to 6.77% for the week ending July 18, according to Freddie Mac. “The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to its lowest level since mid-March, dropping 12 basis points from last week,” Sam Khater,

Getty Images Construction activity on single-family homes dropped for the fourth straight month in June, as high interest rates weighed on building activity. Single-family housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 980,000 last month, down 2.2% from May, according to U.S. Census data released on Wednesday. Permits for single-family homes also dropped

Photo-illustration by Realtor.com; Source: Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images President Joe Biden has called on Congress to pass legislation that would cap annual rent increases in apartments owned by large landlords at 5% annually. The White House released the plan on Tuesday as Biden traveled to Nevada, one of the swing states where soaring housing costs have

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images President Joe Biden appeared to announce new plans to crack down on rent hikes at his press conference following the NATO summit in Washington, DC, on Thursday. During the wide-ranging press conference, Biden sought to allay fears that his reelection campaign is unviable after a disaster debate performance against Donald

Realtor.com; Getty Images (1) Mortgage rates fell this week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed home loan, going from 6.95% last week to 6.89% for the week ending July 11, according to Freddie Mac. “Following June’s jobs report, which showed a cooling labor market, the 10-year Treasury yield decreased this week, and mortgage

DNY59 / Getty Images Annual inflation in the U.S. dropped to its lowest level in more than three years last month, increasing the odds of a September interest rate cut that would bring relief to mortgage markets. In the 12 months through June, the consumer price index rose 3%, according to data released by the