U.S. prices moderated in February, with the cost of services outside housing and energy slowing significantly, keeping a June interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve on the table.The report from the Commerce Department on Friday also showed consumer spending rising by the most in just over a year last month, underscoring the economy's resilience. The United States continues to outperform its global peers despite higher borrowing costs, thanks
Mortgage rates moved down a bit this week, in line with the benchmark 10-year Treasury, as the markets continue to digest comments from Federal Reserve members.The 30-year fixed loan averaged 6.79% as of Thursday morning, down 8 basis points from the previous week's 6.87%, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey. For the same period last year, the average was 6.32%.Meanwhile the 15-year FRM averaged 6.11%, down from
A new realtor.com® analysis looks at historical listing metrics to pinpoint when sellers have the biggest advantage this spring.Mark your calendar: The week of April 14 could offer the perfect mix of market conditions for home sellers, according to a new realtor.com® study(link is external).The study, an analysis of trends in home sales, finds that sellers could potentially fetch as much as $34,000 more for their home if they list between
The judge's ruling supports a federal rule that opens insurers to legal liability for disparate-impact claims.A federal judge in Illinois ruled in favor of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Tuesday, concluding a 10-year-old case brought against it by a major insurance industry lobbyist group.The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America first filed the suit against the Housing Department in November 2013, a
Interest expenses exceeded earnings as rates climbedCentral bank boosted interest rates to fight inflationThe Federal Reserve’s expenses exceeded its earnings in 2023 by $114.3 billion, its largest operating loss ever, forcing the US central bank to forgo remittances to the Treasury as interest rates remain elevated.Interest expenses, which includes reserves balances at the Fed’s reverse repo operations, nearly tripled to a $281.1 billio
Existing-home sales decreased 3.3% annually in February, according to the National Association of Realtors. However, sales did improve 9.5% from January — signaling that recovery won't be linear Existing-home sales were on the upswing in February, according to a National Association of Realtors report published on Thursday.The sale of existing single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops declined 3.3 percent year-over-year
The biggest economic story of the post-pandemic period has been inflation.It's a narrative that, at first, had two clear phases. First came the breakneck acceleration in price growth amid reopenings and job changes, when the 12-month inflation rate surged from less than 1% in June 2020 to more than 9% in June 2022.Then the fever appeared to break, with price growth slowing over the next 12 months to just 3.1% in June 2023.Yet it is now clear that
More buyers are leveraging equity from a previous home sale and dodging higher mortgage rates.Home buyers who paid cash accounted for 32% of home sales in January, marking the highest rate since 2014, the National Association of REALTORS® reports. Many leveraged the equity from a prior home sale.Vacation-home buyers and real estate investors made up the bulk of all-cash buyers over the last six months, according to NAR. However, in the last two
Here are key takeaways from the February US jobs report released Friday:Nonfarm payrolls effectively undershot expectations. While they climbed 275,000, more than the 200,000 median estimate in Bloomberg’s survey, that was only after the previous two months of payroll gains were revised lower by 167,000.The unemployment rate unexpectedly climbed to 3.9%, the highest in two years, with the household survey of employment showing the fou
Spring hasn’t officially sprung yet, but the spring housing market already appears to be on the move despite stubbornly higher mortgage rates.Mortgage applications to purchase a home increased 11% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Demand was still 8% lower than the same week one year ago.The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with
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