By CHUCK GREEN
While many Millennials and some Gen Zers have flown the coop, a number of them don’t have to save up their frequent flyer miles to get back home.
As it turns out, a hefty portion of both groups aren’t straying far.
In a survey of nearly 2,000 U.S. Millennials and Gen Zers to determine how close they live to their parents and why, LendingTree found that the majority of them are choosing to lay down a welcome mat of their own in their hometown.
57% of Millennials and Gen Zers have settled in their hometowns. 42% of those who never uprooted felt it was incumbent upon them to remain close to family, while convenience compelled 36% to…
Mortgage activity dipped in August as rates reached new highs and inventory remained low, according to Black Knight’s latest Mortgage Monitor report.
The 30-year conforming soared above 7.25% last month, its highest level in more than 20 years, before cooling down to 7.07%.
As a result, overall rate lock volumes sank for a third straight month, down 1.5% from July.
“August was another rough month for mortgage borrowers from an interest rate perspective,” said Andy Walden, VP of enterprise research and strategy at Black Knight. “Rates did edge down toward the end of August, but prospective homebuyers still face the least affordable housing market in nearly 40 years.”
The biggest driver was purchase volume, which fell almost a full 2%…
As mortgage rates are locking homeowners in their current houses, many are investing in renovations rather than moving.
A new survey from LendingTree found that 68% of homeowners started or completed a home improvement project in the last 12 months, while 63% plan to begin one in the next year.
Interior painting, landscaping, and bathroom remodeling are the most common projects, but homeowners have diverse reasons for renovating. Of the more than 2,000 respondents, 36% say they need the repairs because their house is aging, 27% say their improvements are relatively small, and 21% say they want to spruce up their home to sell.
Millennials homeowners are poised to take on the most DIY, with 78% engaged in renovation in…
Even as the housing market is rapidly cooling, homeowner equity rose again in Q3, according to ATTOM Data’s Q3 2022 Home Equity & Underwater Report. The report found that 48.5% of mortgaged residential properties were considered equity-rich, up from 48.1% in Q2 and from 39.5% a year earlier. This is a slower increase than previous quarters, but still the 10th quarter of gains. “Even though home price appreciation has slowed down dramatically in recent months, homeowners have continued to build equity,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. At least half of mortgagees in twenty states are now equity-rich, compared to only seven states at the same time last year. In total, 94.3% of all mortgage…
Prepayment activity dropped to a nearly 22-year low in September as interest rates rose to nearly 7%. According to Black Knight’s September 2022 First Look. prepayment activity slid by 14.9% to a single-month mortality rate of 0.57% in September, besting January 2019’s record of 0.59%. It’s the lowest level since November 2000. Inflation is a factor in low prepayment activity, says Jacob Channel, LendingTree’s senior economic analyst. “Since the start of the year, inflation has increased significantly and as a result, many households likely have less cash that they can allocate toward non-necessities like putting extra money toward their mortgage payment,” he told MarketWatch. Black Knight also reported that the national delinquency rate fell 0.2% from August to 2.78%. This…
Mortgage loan application volume fell 1.2% last week to a 22-year low as the 30-year fixed rate rose to its highest point in almost a month, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey shows. The adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased by 1.2%. The adjusted purchase index fell 1% while the unadjusted purchase index dropped 2% and was 21% lower YOY. The refinance index dropped by 3% and made up 31.1% of total applications, down 83% from the same time last year. ARM activity fell to 6.5% of total applications. “Last week’s purchase results varied, with conventional applications declining 2% and government applications increasing 4%, which is potentially a sign of more first-time homebuyer activity.…
