Mortgage spreads are the hero of housing in 2025, quietly helping housing demand pick up even when nobody else notices. What are mortgage spreads? In the slow dance between the 10-year yield and 30-year mortgage rates since 1971, the mortgage spread is the distance between them — the key variable keeping them close or distant. […]
Mortgage spreads are the hero of the 2025 housing market Read More »
With the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) set to expire Sept. 30, just as hurricane and wildfire seasons collide with the threat of a federal government shutdown, uncertainty is mounting for homeowners, insurers and the housing market. The NFIP has faced repeated short-term extensions and lapses, including under the Biden administration two years ago. Between
NFIP set to expire as shutdown, disaster seasons collide Read More »
I recently gave a talk to a few hundred real estate professionals in Chicago. I started with the map below of the U.S. showing the days on market for pending home sales in different states. It’s a stark illustration that the country is divided into two distinct real estate markets. The states with the shortest
The Great Stay: Why the US housing market is divided in two Read More »
Existing home sales have shown year-over-year growth for two consecutive months, as mortgage rates have remained below 6.64% for the same period. However, let’s remember that the bar is very low for yearly growth. In fact, for many months, I’ve said that the reports coming out from June to October — which will be reported
Existing home sales show year-over-year growth again Read More »
Today’s report on new home sales printed one of the most surprising results I’ve seen in a while, showcasing significant growth. Now, we should have expected some growth in new home sales, given that mortgage rates have declined recently. In fact, each time mortgage rates have approached 6% since late 2022, new home sales have
New home sales shocked, but are these numbers legit? Read More »
Baltimore is embarking on what civic leaders call ‘the nation’s most ambitious housing redevelopment program’ — a 15-year effort that aims to turn around more than 37,000 vacant or at-risk properties and influence market conditions for another 33,000 homes and lots. The strategy is supported by $1.2 billion in public funding commitments and is expected
Baltimore launches $6.2B housing redevelopment effort Read More »
Neptune Insurance Holdings Inc., the parent company of Neptune Flood, on Monday announced the launch of its initial public offering (IPO) of 18.4 million shares of its Class A common stock. The shares will be sold by existing stockholders, who also intend to grant underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2.7
Neptune Insurance Holdings prices IPO, seeks $2.8B valuation Read More »
The Sun Belt region continues to dominate the U.S. housing market in raw transaction volume, recording 25,857 weekly home sales across its metropolitan areas, nearly six times the Northeast’s 4,452 sales and more than double the West’s 11,061 transactions. However, this sales advantage masks a market efficiency gap. The Sun Belt’s inventory of 353,916 properties
Sun Belt leads sales volume but posts nation’s lowest absorption rate Read More »
The U.S. birth rate fell to an historic low in 2024, continuing a nearly two-decade decline that researchers say is shaped in part by rising housing costs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the national fertility rate dropped below 1.6 children per woman last year. The replacement level — or rate needed
US birth rate hits record low, housing costs weigh on family planning Read More »
Mortgage rates hit a low of 6.13% before the Federal Reserve meeting last week and then rose higher to close the week at 6.35%. I discuss what happened at the Fed press conference in this episode of the HousingWire Daily podcast and then covered the next two days of wild pricing in this episode. Let’s
Where do mortgage rates go from here? Read More »