Employment numbers are on the rise across most of the country, but job growth is strongest in the West and South. Utah posted the highest growth, at 3.3 percent. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia saw annualized growth between 0.2 percent and 1.4 percent year over year in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Idaho and Nevada have the nation’s fastest-growing populations, which increased at rates of 2.2 percent and 2 pe
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it has fixed what’s become known as an information “black hole” in the Know Before You Owe mortgage rules, and the agency is attempting to provide greater clarity to borrowers when it comes to disclosing increases in closing costs. Under a new amendment to the mortgage rules, the CFPB clarifies when lenders are allowed to pass increased closing costs on to consumers and makes the disclosure of
Millennials purchased 36 percent of homes last year, which is the highest share of any age group, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. But faced with one of the tightest, most competitive housing markets in years, they’re being pushed out of some of the the nation’s largest and priciest cities.Therefore, young home shoppers are relocating to more affordable parts of the country. Realtor.com® identified cities with the highest
Freddie Mac is debuting a new 3 percent down payment option for qualified first-time buyers that could put it in direct competition with the Federal Housing Administration’s low down payment mortgage. The mortgage financing giant announced Thursday that it is rolling out a new conventional 3 percent down payment option called HomeOne, which will not have any geographic or income restrictions.Freddie’s expansion into small down payment loan p
Over the last year, more Americans became homeowners as the number of renters continued to decrease. The homeownership rate in the first quarter was unchanged at 64.2 percent, higher than last year’s 63.6 percent, the Census Department reported Thursday. This is also the fifth consecutive quarter of yearly increases in the ownership rate.The homeownership rate has been gradually climbing back since hitting a 50-year low in 2016. The rate peake
Mortgage rates continued their climb this week, reaching their highest level since 2013.“Higher Treasury yields, driven by rising commodity prices, more Treasury issuances, and the steady stream of solid economic news are behind the uptick in rates over the past week,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Despite the increase in borrowing costs, demand for home purchase credit remains solid.” The Mortgage Bankers Associatio
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released a proposal on Wednesday that would increase the amount of income that Americans living on housing assistance pay toward rent on public housing.Currently, most tenants who receive federal housing assistance pay 30 percent of their adjusted income toward rent. The government then pays the remainder, up to a certain amount. But under HUD’s new proposal, renters would devote 35 percent o
Buyer demand is high but the number of homes for sale is low. This is prompting more shoppers to stretch their budgets, put less money down, or turn to adjustable-rate loans to prevail in a bidding war for a home.“The frustration with the lack of inventory is, so many of the houses are going in bidding wars, and so you know you really have to step up to the plate and you have to do your homework to be a competitive buyer,” Patrick Clark, a r
Property owners who offer short-term rentals on sites like Airbnb and Getaround have the most lucrative type of side gig today, with the majority earning an average income of $1,000 to $5,000 per month.In March 2018, Dealspotr, a shopping and promotion-based social network, surveyed nearly 10,000 Americans across all age groups to learn about the state of the gig economy. About 500 people who responded said they have side gigs, which accounts for
The monthly payment for an entry-level home is on the rise. And the rising costs may be one reason why first-time buyers are making up a lower share of buyers this spring. First-time buyers comprised 30 percent of existing-home sales in March, which is down from 32 percent a year ago, according to data from the National Association of REALTORS®.Monthly housing costs for an entry-level buyer increased $136 to $1,641 nationwide, a 9 percent increa
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