Affordability isn’t all about home prices and rates
Affordability is often associated primarily with home prices and mortgage interest rates. However, mortgage payments generally include not only principal and interest, but also property taxes and homeowner's insurance. For loans exceeding 80% loan-to-value, private...
Prepayment penalties may be coming back
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman’s call for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offer new government‑backed mortgages with prepayment penalties put a spotlight on how much United States borrowers have paid for the right to refinance at will. Ackman wrote “One of...
Portable mortgages are better than 50-year mortgages but demonstrate that billionaires shouldn’t be the ones to solve housing market problems
A portable mortgage lets you move your existing loan and its interest rate to a new property rather than getting a completely new mortgage. For example, if you've paid off half of a $400,000 home at a 3% interest rate, you could sell that house and transfer the...
Fed rate cut at next meeting in December may be a coin flip
On October 29th, 2025, the Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate for the second consecutive time, reducing it by a quarter point to set the target range at 3.75%-4.00%. The next opportunity for a potential rate cut will be at the upcoming Federal Open Market...
50-year mortgage is a very bad idea for homeowners
A recent proposal suggests offering 50-year loans to help buyers purchase homes and build equity. However, this plan is unlikely to succeed, as it would significantly slow down the equity growth that makes homeownership appealing. Buyers would be essentially locked in...
Historic Shift: Fewer First-Time Homebuyers as Age Soars to 40
The average age of first-time homebuyers is increasing. It is important to note that a first-time buyer does not solely refer to individuals purchasing their first property. Rather, the term encompasses anyone who has not owned real estate within the past three years....
Mortgage Application Surge Following Rate Drop
On September 19th, 2025, mortgage rates experienced a significant drop, leading to a notable increase in mortgage applications across the country. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 6.39%, marking the lowest level since October 2024. Alterna...
Federal reserve chairman finally lowered the federal fund rate. Will there be more cuts?
The Fed lowered borrowing costs by 25 basis points on September 17, 2025, a move Chair Jerome Powell framed as a “risk management” cut to bolster an increasingly fragile labor market. The decision was nearly unanimous, with the only dissent coming from Stephen Miran,...
Fixed-rate mortgages are influenced more by the 10-year Treasury yield than by the federal funds rate
The 30-year mortgage rates fluctuate due to factors aside from changes in the Federal Reserve's federal funds rate. Although Federal Reserve actions can influence these rates, additional elements contribute to rate movements. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage generally...
The Fed risks falling behind the curve (again)
Chairman Powell decided to keep rates at their current range of 4.25% to 4.5%, citing uncertainty over the impact of tariffs on inflation. There's been significant debate over the Fed's interest rate policy this year, mainly because of tariffs. Most economists agree...