Home affordability hovering near three-year high

At the end of September 2019, it required 20.7% of the U.S. median income to make monthly mortgage payments on the average-priced home. That figure, which includes principal and interest (P&I), is the nation’s second-lowest payment-to-income ratio in the past 20 months, data analytics company Black Knight reported. This past August was the only previous […]

NAHB: Housing starts increase 4% in 2018

The U.S. had 881,076 new single-family housing units started in 2018, a 4% increase from the number of single-family housing starts in 2017. That’s according to the National Association of Home Builders’ analysis of U.S. Census Bureau construction-survey data. The number of starts in 2018 is double the figure from 2011, but it is still […]

Low rates boost refinance share among millennials

Low mortgage rates have continued to fuel a refinance surge nationwide, and millennial borrowers are no exception. This past August, refinances climbed to a 25% share of all closed home loans among millennial borrowers, growing 2 percentage points from the previous month and reaching their highest percentage since December 2015. The millennial refinance share among […]