With home prices high and interest rates nearing 7%, mortgage debt is a growing burden on American families. But homeowners in some states are seeing this type of debt grow more than in others.
A new report from WalletHub found that homeowners in Maryland, Hawaii, and Nevada added the most mortgage debt between Q3 and Q4 2023.
The average household is $100,000 away from paying off their home, and the total mortgage balance in the U.S. is more than $12 trillion. But in Maryland, the average balance is $283,092 and rose by 1.23% in Q4 2023.
No other state saw an increase above 1% in the same period, and seventeen states saw decreases, putting Maryland at the top of the…
By NICOLE MURRAY
California continues to dominate the luxury homes market, but that could change as communities fight for the country’s wealthiest individuals.
In a recent Point2Homes.com study, analysts looked at which cities in the United States have the highest share of luxury homes worth at least $1 million for sale. Results were categorized by large, mid-sized, and small cities.
They found that listings above $1 million make up around 64% of the for-sale market in Los Angeles.
LA also led the ultra-luxury sector, with almost 12% of its homes priced above $5 million.
Glendale (66%), Huntington Beach (63%), and Oxnard (43%) in California were found to be the three most luxurious mid-sized markets with high percentages of the homes…
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is devoting more than $21 million to support affordable housing for low-income Native Hawaiian families.
The funding will be distributed as a Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and may be used for everything from constructing new homes to buying existing homes for rehab, as well as various support services.
It can also be used to provide rental assistance to Native Hawaiians living both in Hawaii and in the continental U.S.
HUD officials say NHHBG funds throughout the last twenty years have created 750 affordable homes, supported community centers, and provided families with housing-related services like rent assistance and home repair training.
In line with this…
By CHUCK GREEN
Tradition dictates that April and May are the hottest months for the housing market but there are unique opportunities in parts of the country where that isn’t necessarily the case.
Rick Sharga, president & CEO of CJ Patrick Company in Trabuco Canyon, California, says that although there is truth to the idea that home sales increase as the weather improves, there are exceptions to the rule.
“Markets with a late spring – cold weather states in particular like Alaska or North Dakota – might have a later start to the traditional home selling season, while markets with more temperate clients like California and Hawaii may not be quite as dependent on changing seasons to encourage home buyers…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Officials at the U.S. Department of Justice are claiming that condominiums and apartment complexes in Hawaii were built without accessible features required by the Fair Housing Act. The federal act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of disability, race, color, religion, sex, familial status, and national origin. An amended complaint was filed Monday at the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. Two of the five properties cited were built with financial assistance from the federal government’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. They are Kahului Town Terrace, in Kahului, Maui, and Palehua Terrace, in Kapolei, Oahu. The other three properties are Napilihau Villages and Napili Villas, in Lahaina, Maui, as well as Wailea Fairway Villas,…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS A report released this month suggests that despite rising home prices it is more affordable to own a median-priced house than to rent a three-bedroom property in a majority of the United States. ATTOM’s 2022 Rental Affordability Report used fair-market rent data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and sales deed data in 1,154 counties to find that home ownership will be more affordable in a majority of the country again in 2022. Todd Teta, Chief Product Officer at ATTOM, said home ownership still remains the more affordable option for average workers because it takes up a smaller portion of their pay when the math is…
Bidding wars on home offers from Redfin fell to 59.5% in November, their lowest level in eleven months, the company reported. It’s the first time it’s fallen below 60% since December 2020. Month-over-month, bidding wars fell 2.3%, dropping from 61.8% in October. However, they were up slightly year-over-year, from 57.3% in November 2020. They reached a pandemic peak in April when 74.6% of home offers written by Redfin agents faced competition. The top three cities for bidding wars were Richmond, VA, at 80%, Salt Lake City at 73.8%, and San Diego at 72%. Honolulu followed up at 71.1% and Dallas just made the top five at 70.6%. “Bidding wars are still happening, but buyers are starting to get more breathing…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS More than a quarter of the states in the country have experienced a rental price increase of 20% or more in 2021 and a senior research analyst says people moving out of cities and into more rural communities are partially to blame. Nick VinZant works for QuoteWizard by LendingTree. He co-authored an article that was published this month which shows that Florida had the highest percentage increase in the nation at 29%. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Florida is about $1,425. Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington all saw rents increase by more than 20% for one-bedroom apartments in 2021, according…
Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, December 7. New York City will implement a vaccine mandate for private employers this month. President Biden will speak with Vladimir Putin today in an attempt to stave off a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Republican Representative Devin Nunes will resign to run Donald Trump’s media company. And in mortgage and housing news… CT Town Settles For $350,000: Officials from the U.S. Department of Justice have announced a settlement in a lawsuit against a Connecticut town that enacted zoning laws making housing for persons with mental health disabilities unavailable. Mortgage Monitor: Tappable equity reached an all-time high in October 2021, according to Black Knight’s latest mortgage monitor report. New FinLocker SVP: FinLocker has named Andria Thomas …
