By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Home affordability continues to be problematic for American families. High prices, elevated mortgage rates, and a low supply of inventory have kept adults in their 20s and 30s off the housing ladder.
At the same time, homeowners with growing families are unable to move up that ladder into properties that would better accommodate their needs for the same reasons.
It’s an issue that touches all generations because older adults are worried about their children and grandchildren. They’re also aging but if their house is paid off, it often does not make financial sense to move, even if they no longer need three bedrooms on a regular basis.
But will the affordability of homes push people to vote…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
A bicameral bill that would force hedge funds out of the single-family home market has been introduced.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) introduced the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act of 2023 this week, with Merkley stating, “The housing in our neighborhoods should be homes for people, not profit centers for Wall Street.”
“Yet, in every corner of the country, giant financial corporations are buying up housing and driving up both rents and home prices,” Merkley said in a statement. “It’s time for Congress to put in place commonsense guardrails that ensure all families have a fair chance to buy or rent a decent home in their community at…
Turmoil in Congress is making headlines, but will it impact the economy – and the mortgage industry – more broadly?
The House this week voted 216 to 210 to remove Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from his position as speaker. He was the first speaker to be ousted through a vote in the middle of a congressional term.
No new speaker has been appointed, though several Republicans have put themselves in the running.
“It’s uncharted territory because we’ve never done that in the history of the United States,” Matthew Green, a politics professor at Catholic University, told CBS News.
The short-term impact of this week’s turmoil has been felt immediately in the mortgage market.
Redfin Economic Research Lead Chen Zhao said that…
When President Joe Biden was trying to pressure Republicans into supporting Democrats’ efforts to raise the debt ceiling, he warned of ominous outcomes should the effort fail. “People may see the value of their retirement accounts shrink. They may see interest rates go up, which will ultimately raise their mortgage payments and car payments,” Biden said. Is that true? Political pundits on both sides of the aisle appear to agree the debt ceiling will get lifted, one way or another. “It has to be done, it will be done. The debt ceiling will be raised,” Fox News’ commentator Brit Hume said Monday night. “This will get done.” But what if something goes wrong in Washington, DC — hardly an unusual…
