Mediocre Credit Adds Hundreds to Buyer’s Monthly Housing Costs
It’s not just ability to pay that helps knock less-well-off buyers out of the housing market as prices and mortgage interest rates climb through the roof.
Study: Millennials Didn’t Stray Far from Where They Grew Up
Millennials who move far from childhood homes are a distinct minority among others who reached adulthood in the 21st century, according to a new study by the U.S. Census Bureau and Harvard University researchers released Monday.
Train Lures Investors to the South Coast
Massachusetts’ South Coast will not see MBTA commuter rail service until the end of next year, but the train is already making waves in the region’s housing market.
Could Buyers Regain Limited Power as Market Cools?
With many buyers pushed out of the market or further afield from their jobs in recent months, sellers are losing some of their clout, real estate agents and brokers say.
First-Time Homebuyers’ Costs Soar Past Monthly Rents Statewide
The income needed to buy the median home in every major Massachusetts metro is significantly greater than the median income, a new study found.
Purchase Loan Apps Dwindled as May Closed
After briefly rallying in the face of rising interest rates earlier this spring, the number of prospective homebuyers seeking home loans dwindled over the course of May.
RE/MAX CEO: Home Prices Can’t Keep Up Double-Digit Gains
The U.S. housing market is slowing as would-be buyers struggle with rising borrowing costs and a persistent shortage of properties for sale.
Wu Budget Puts $60M Toward Home Ownership Programs
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu appeared at the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance’s office in Dorchester yesterday to tout her proposal to spend $60 million in federal COVID aid on affordable home ownership programs.
Help for Down Payments Available
The Build Back Better legislative package championed by President Joe Biden contains billions for down payment assistance. But rookie buyers don’t have to wait for Congress to act – if it ever does.
War, Rate Hikes Will Heap Costs on Prospective Buyers
As we head into the spring market, predictions that 2022 would see home prices continue on their record tear, posting another year of double-digit increases, no longer looks like a sure bet.
State’s Racial Homeownership Gap Persists Despite Record Buying
Massachusetts’ Black households appear to have been left behind by a record jump in the nation’s homeownership rate, a new study by the National Association of Realtors has found, and the soaring price of homes is likely to blame.
Fannie Mae: Young Homebuyers Most Pessimistic in a Decade
A record low 25 percent of respondents in Fannie Mae’s latest monthly Home Purchase Sentiment Index survey said it was a good time to buy a home.
Tax Credit for Student Debt Relief Pitched on Beacon Hill
State lawmakers pitched a new tax exemption Tuesday that they say could address both the crushing levels of student loan debt carried by many residents and the perennial concerns that businesses have around being able to find and keep the types of workers they are looking for.
Can’t Boost Home Ownership Without More Homes
Boosting first-generation and first-time homebuyers has become popular among banks and politicians looking to boost their communities. But without commensurate effort to boost home building, these efforts will come to naught in the face of plenty of all-cash offers.
Why Boston Candidates, Banks Want to Boost Homeownership
From Boston’s mayoral race to the Biden administration’s Build Back Better agenda, boosting homeownership rates is being held up as the most important solution to reducing the wealth gap between white households and people of color.
Mass. Gateway Cities See Price Records
Sales of homes and condominiums in these mid-sized, older industrial hubs are rising as buyers, many of them first-timers, search for more affordable alternatives after being priced out of Boston and its ever more expensive suburbs.
Mass. Should Pass Homebuyer Savings Bill, Implement Housing Choice
The benefits of home ownership to an individual and to a community are numerous and expansive, and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors is proud to support a state bill to help first-time buyers.
Buyers Can Do Better Than FHA
Real estate professionals who do not make their clients aware of non-FHA options are doing them a great disservice. In this hot housing market, LMI buyers need more buying power, not less.
Helping MDIs and CDFIs Build Homeownership
Paul Katz is leading an initiative at Promontory MortgagePath to support CDFIs and minority depository institutions in their efforts to expand homeownership in underserved communities.
Key Tool for First-Time Buyers Sidelined in Hot Market
FHA loans are exploding in popularity. But their users – often Black and Latinx first-time buyers – can lose in multiple-offer situations. What can be done?
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