Getty Images The United States needs at least 1.5 million additional homes, and likely many more, to relieve the nation’s housing shortage, according to Freddie Mac. In the first quarter of 2024, the homeowner vacancy rate dropped to 0.8% from 0.9% the prior quarter, the mortgage buyer said in a recent report on the housing […]

Getty Images The numbers: Pending home sales plunged in April as buyers felt the effects of an expensive housing market. With home prices and mortgage rates rising, buyers seem to be pulling back on signing contracts on homes for sale. Pending home sales fell 7.7% in April from the previous month, according to the monthly index

Realtor.com; Getty Images (1) Mortgage rates shot back up this week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed home loan rising from 6.94% last week to 7.03% for the week ending May 30, according to Freddie Mac. “Following several weeks of decline, mortgage rates changed course this week,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said

Getty Images Home prices in the U.S. have hit a new all-time high, despite higher mortgage rates that have discouraged many buyers. Nationally, home prices rose 6.5% on an annual basis in March, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index released on Tuesday. On a monthly basis, the index rose 0.3% from February

Realtor.com; Canva Pro America’s top retirement spots for 2024 have it all—nice weather, access to urban centers, and close proximity to medical centers. And on top of that, they’re affordable. This year, Sun City Center, FL, comes in at the top spot, according to the Realtor.com® annual rankings of America’s best retirement towns. This community—which

Realtor.com; Getty Images (1) Mortgage rates dipped below 7% this week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed home loan dropping from 7.02% last week to 6.94% for the week ending May 23, according to Freddie Mac. “Spring homebuyers received an unexpected windfall this week, as mortgage rates fell below the seven percent threshold

Getty Images The spring housing market was more tepid than hot in April for home sales. Sales of existing homes shrank by 1.9% in April compared with March, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors®. Sales also fell annually, dipping 1.9% from April 2023 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of

Illustration by Realtor.com; Source: Getty Images (2) Higher home prices and mortgage rates aren’t the only rising numbers in the housing market since the COVID-19 pandemic turned everything on its head. The average down payment for a median-priced home also rose from pre-pandemic days in 2020 to the first quarter of 2024, according to a

Canva Pro (3) Rental prices might be rising as we enter the summer months, but they’re down from a year earlier and even further compared with the COVID-19 pandemic peaks. A new Realtor.com® report has found that the median asking rent in the 50 largest metros for April was $1,723. That’s up by $16 from March,

Getty Images Construction of new homes ticked up last month despite higher mortgage rates, partly reversing a dramatic slump in March. Housing starts rose 5.7% in April from March, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and