Despite hovering around their all-time low for several months now, it looks like mortgage rates have done about all they can for housing affordability.
According to a new report, skyrocketing home prices have now outstripped their power, and overall homebuying affordability is now moving downward.
Data from mortgage insurer First American shows that record-low mortgage rates boosted American homebuying power for much of 2020. At one point, buyers could afford a whopping $15,000 more house thanks to declining interest rates.
But now, with home prices up 8% over last year and 1.5% between just July and August, those days have officially come to an end.
Despite hovering around their all-time low for several months now, it looks like mortgage rates have
Turns out, it isn’t all about the stainless steel appliances.
One of the many mantras in the real estate world is the saying “kitchens sell houses,” but until now there has been very little information about exactly what it was in a kitchen that would make buyers pay attention. With the help of a few homebuyers wearing glasses that track eye movements, we are beginning to have some hard facts.
It isn’t the shiny metallic fridge or the latest high-tech dishwasher their eyes go to when they first walk in the kitchen. It’s the oven. Many of the buyers in the study would go so far as to look inside the oven, and some of them would even turn it on to see how well it worked. So if you’re selling your home, make sure the oven is so clean it sparkles inside
