You hear a lot about the down payment required to buy a home, but closing costs are also a significant consideration. You can’t eliminate all or even most of these costs, but there are steps you can take to reduce them. You can do this by understanding how much closing costs amount to early in the purchase process. Several factors go into determining your closing costs. These vary depending on the state in which the property is located, local market traditions and from lender to lender. You … [Read more...]
Confidence in housing boosts Economic Sentiment Index
August 6, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Consumer confidence improved over the past two weeks, according to the Microsoft News-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI), powered by Hamilton Place Strategies. Following a drop of 1.2 points toward the end of July, the ESI increased by 0.7 points to reach 53.9. The increase was driven by a 3.1-point bump in consumer confidence in the housing market, moving the indicator up to 52.9 points – its highest level since September 2016. Three of the ESI's five indicators increased during the reading. Consumer … [Read more...]
9 housing & mortgage trends for the rest of 2019
June 27, 2019 by Leave a Comment
The first half of 2019 surprised housing markets across the country: Mortgage rates fell. That’s the opposite of what the experts had predicted at the beginning of the year, and it is welcome news for home buyers, sellers and homeowners. Millions of owners could benefit from refinancing at these unexpectedly lower rates. In other ways, housing forecasters’ predictions for 2019 were correct. Buyers are still competing for a short supply of homes, but the market isn’t quite as tilted in favor of sellers as it … [Read more...]
Phoenix leads US in population growth, new Census data shows
May 28, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Phoenix is the fastest-growing city in the country, according to newly released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Phoenix welcomed 25,288 new residents between 2017 and 2018 — more than any other American city. Phoenix remains the fifth most-populous city with a population of 1,660,272, according to Census data. San Antonio, Texas (20,824 new residents); Fort Worth, Texas (19,552); Seattle (15,254); and Charlotte, North Carolina (13,151) rounded out the top five fastest-growing cities by raw population … [Read more...]
Phoenix area real estate: South Phoenix pegged as next ‘hot area’
May 9, 2019 by Leave a Comment
For years, home buyers have kept moving further and further out, but that's changing. In fact, the next hot area, believe it or not, is supposed to be south Phoenix. Maricopa County is the home of a Phoenix metropolitan area that continues to keep on growing. ”For the fourth year in a row now, Maricopa County has been the fastest growing county in the U.S.," said Thomas Maynard who is the Vice President of Business Development of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC).It's quite a statistic. And as … [Read more...]
