News Knockout: Readers vote for the top real estate story of 2024

Will it involve the DOJ, the three-way agreement, the National Association of Realtors, alleged bad behavior or something else? You decide Inman’s top story of the year. Continue reading

Americans optimistic home prices and mortgage rates have peaked

While only 23 percent of Americans surveyed by mortgage giant Fannie Mae in November thought it was a good time to buy a home, that’s up from 14 percent a year ago, when mortgage rates were near post-pandemic peaks. Continue reading

Hiring slows and unemployment rises, boosting odds of Fed rate cut

Employers added 227,000 workers to their payrolls in November, but with 7.1 million Americans out of work the unemployment rate is back up to 4.2 percent. Continue reading

Homebuyer interest surges on slight pullback in mortgage rates

Applications for purchase loans jumped 12 percent week over week and 52 percent from a year ago, according to a weekly survey of lenders by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Continue reading

Slight pickup in homebuyer loan demand may prove short-lived

Applications for purchase mortgages were up 2 percent last week when compared to the week before but down 1 percent from a year ago, according to a weekly survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Continue reading

Dramatic downward revisions for projected 2025 home sales: Fannie

Fannie Mae and MBA forecasts dampened expectations for projected home sales in 2025 while offering a more cautious outlook on the prospects of mortgage rates coming down in the new year. Continue reading

Record number of Americans say they’d rather rent than buy

Housing market sentiment rose in October to the highest level since February 2022, but 8 in 10 consumers still said it was a bad time to buy, Fannie Mae survey finds. Continue reading

Uncertainty, volatility ahead for housing market under Trump

Plans to eliminate federal income taxes, enact high tariffs and force the Federal Reserve to cut federal funds rates could tank the housing market, economists say. Continue reading