Sunday, April 5, 2026

Renting Beats Buying Across The US

Thu, 18 January 2024  |  housing 

The 2024 Rental Affordability Report from Attom, a real estate data aggregator, reveals that renting a typical three-bedroom home is cheaper than owning in nearly 90% of local markets throughout the US.  According to the survey, the majority of county-level housing markets saw rent or ownership of a three-bedroom home consume more than one-third of the salaries of average workers, resulting in considerable financial constraints. However, in 296 out of 338 U.S. counties with sufficient data for analysis, median rental rates still demand a lesser percentage of typical salaries than signi... Read More

Post-Pandemic Belt Tightening Continues

Tue, 16 January 2024  |  consumers economy spending 

The latest survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data shows households are continuing to reduce the growth in monthly household spending, although growth still remains above pre-pandemic levels.   

The share of households that reported making a large purchase during the past four months fell compared to August 2023 levels, although it increased for home repairs and electronics. Year-ahead overall household spending growth expectations similarly continued to moderate and reached 3.0% in December 2023, its lowest reading since December 2... Read More

Consumers Now Expecting Lower Inflation

Tue, 09 January 2024  |  economy 

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today released the December 2023 Survey of Consumer Expectations, which shows that inflation expectations declined at the short-, medium- and longer-term horizons. Notably, inflation expectations at the short-term horizon reached the lowest level recorded since January 2021. Earnings growth and spending growth expectations also decreased slightly to their lowest recorded levels since 2021, while expectations about credit access and households’ financial... Read More

Nearly Two Thirds of Americans are Waiting on Mortgage Rates to Drop Before Buying a Home

Tue, 06 June 2023  |  housing 

The latest BMO Real Financial Progress Index reveals current mortgage rates are keeping many Americans from buying a home with 64 percent saying they are waiting on rates to drop before entering the market. Adding to the rate sensitivity of buyers, only 6 percent of Americans who say they plan to purchase a home soon plan on doing so this summer.

Compared to a year ago, homebuyers are dealing with much higher costs of ownership due to a combination of elevated mortgage rates, persistently high home prices and limited inventory, leaving housing affordability near the most challenging l... Read More

Home Prices Remain Resilient

Thu, 01 June 2023  |  housing interest rates 

Pending home sales fell 17% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending May 28, one of the biggest declines since the start of the year. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. That year-over-year drop is especially notable because pending sales had already started falling at this time last year as mortgage rates shot up past 5%.

Seasonally adjusted measures of homebuying demand show that it has also dipped in earlier stages of the house hunting journey. Mortgage-purchase applications and Redfin’s Homebuyer Dema... Read More

Personal Financial Management Becomes New Frontier for Bank and Credit Card Apps

Thu, 01 June 2023  |  banking credit cards technology 

After more than a decade of significant investment in mobile apps and websites, many U.S. banks and credit card providers have mastered the basics of digital transaction management and are now turning their attention to more advanced “super tools.” According to a series of recent studies of bank and credit card mobile app and online users, released today by J.D. Power, digital features focused on personal financial management have become the keys to standout customer engagement and customer satisfaction, but they’ve also introduced a new set of challenges.

The studies—J.D. Pow... Read More