homebuyers Archives - The Virginia Star

Inflation Still Biting Homebuyers as Headline Number Falls

November 16, 2023November 15, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The price of shelter increased substantially in October despite topline month-to-month inflation remaining flat, dashing many Americans’ dreams of buying a home, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Inflation decelerated to 3.2% in October, down from 3.7% in September, owing to substantial deflation in the price of energy, but the shelter sector individually had prices increase by 5.5% for the year. Since the beginning of 2021, when President Joe Biden first took office, home prices have risen 29%, rents are up 17% and mortgage rates have neared 8%, according to the WSJ.

Mortgage Payments Surge 50 Percent Since Last Year as Homebuyers Get Priced Out

November 11, 2022November 10, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

As mortgage rates climbed, typical monthly mortgage payments on existing single-family homes with a 20% down payment skyrocketed by 50% in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the year prior, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Thursday.

Monthly mortgage payments under the above conditions climbed to $1,840 between July and September, and the median price of existing single-family homes climbed 8.6% on an annual basis to $398,500, according to the NAR. This monthly payment represented 25% of a family’s monthly income, and was up dramatically from the same time last year, when the typical payment was just $1,226, roughly 17.2% of a family’s income.

Share of First-Time Buyers Plummets as Young Americans Are Pushed Out of the Housing Market

November 7, 2022November 6, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

First-time homebuyers are now much older and comprised the lowest share of homebuyers since National Association of Realtors (NAR) records began over 40 years ago, as high interest rates and soaring home prices squeezed younger buyers out of the home market, the NAR reported Thursday.

U.S. Home Ownership Rate Sees Highest Annual Surge Ever Recorded

March 1, 2022March 1, 2022 Admin

The rate of homeownership in the United States saw its highest surge ever recorded in 2020, with homebuying rates jumping significantly even as the country continues to see record-low stock in most states.

The homeownership rate “climbed to 65.5% in 2020, up 1.3% from 2019 and the largest annual increase on record,” the National Association of Realtors said in a press release this week.