Data

While rising supply is causing rent growth to slow, Redfin’s latest market report revealed rent growth experienced its first single-digit increase in a year, marking a significant slowdown from the estimated 20% growth in Q1. Here are the latest findings.

Those looking to stretch their budget as far as possible are not seeing any relief as affordability continues to decline amid an environment of rising rates and high home prices.

“Year-over-year home price growth decelerated in the third quarter, as the sharp rise in mortgage rates—and declining housing affordability—appears to have weighed further on demand,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s SVP and Chief Economist.

According to TD Bank's 2022 Home Equity Trend Watch survey, many Americans have more equity in their homes than ever before, as new data showed that nearly 50% of homeowners know how much tappable equity is available on their home but have yet to or no plans to tap into it.

As escrow and title payments turned negative in 2022, new data from Bank of America showed that median mortgage payments rose nearly 9% in September, while total payments increased 10% year-over-year.

Redfin reports that housing market activity is plunging further this fall than it did over the summer, with increased concern over 20-year high mortgage rates compounded by a volatile U.S. economy.

Fitch Ratings expects that most issuers should be able to withstand current market conditions and potentially gain market share through scalable technology platforms, diversification, balance sheet strength, and access to liquid capital, all of which should afford them the flexibility to mitigate operational losses.

"First-time buyers now appear to be making relative gains as high mortgage interest rates disproportionately encourage current homeowners to stay put," said Manny Garcia, Zillow Population Scientist.

After more than a year of double-digit yearly rent gains, the U.S. median rental price in September posted its smallest year-over-year increase since last summer, further declining from its peak in July 2022.

After a slight break last week, Freddie Mac reports the fixed-rate mortgage inched closer toward the 7% mark, as recessionary concerns and housing affordability continue to drive down housing demand.