Friday, April 10, 2026

Homeownership Increasingly Unaffordable in U.S.

Thu, 31 December 2020  |  housing 

Homeownership is increasingly unaffordable in the U.S. according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions. ATTOM's fourth-quarter 2020 U.S. Home Affordability Report, shows median home prices of single-family homes and condos in the fourth quarter of 2020 were less affordable than historical averages in 55 percent of counties with enough data to analyze, up from 43 percent a year ago and 33 percent three years ago. Yet rising wages and falling mortgage rates still helped keep median home prices close to affordable for average wage earners across the country.

The report determ... Read More

Mortgage Rates Remain Near Record Low Heading Into 2021

Thu, 31 December 2020  |  interest rates housing 

Mortgage rates remain near record lows heading into 2021 according to the latest results of Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 2.67 percent.

“All eyes have been on mortgage rates this year, especially the 30-year fixed-rate, which has dropped more than one percentage point over the last twelve months, driving housing market activity in 2020,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “Heading into 2021 we expect rates to remain flat, potentially rising modestly off their record low, b... Read More

Retirement Savers Challenged by Global Pandemic

Wed, 30 December 2020  |  retirement workplace pandemic 

A global survey of more than four thousand retirement investors conducted by MFS has cast new light on the challenges encountered by millions potentially facing an uncertain retirement. The current retirement savings gap is estimated at US$70 trillion on a global basis and is projected to increase to approximately US$400 trillion by 2050.1 The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on jobs, income and the economic outlook has yet to be fully felt but points to a real danger that the crisis will likely exacerbate.

In the United States, 1,005 individuals actively contributing to a workpl... Read More

Home Prices Up 14%, Pending Sales Rise 34%

Tue, 29 December 2020  |  housing real estate 

The median home sale price increased 14% year over year to $320,714 during the 4-week period ending December 20, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

Below are other key ho... Read More

Annual Home Price Gains Remained Strong In October

Tue, 29 December 2020  |  housing real estate 

S&P Dow Jones Indices reported today that annual home price gains remained strong through October. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported an 8.4% annual gain in October, up from 7.0% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 7.5%, up from 6.2% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a 7.9% year-over-year gain, up from 6.6% in the previous month.

Phoenix, Seattle and San Diego continued to report the highest year-over-year gains among the 19 cities (excluding D... Read More

Pandemic Brings Heightened Awareness to Need for Planning

Mon, 28 December 2020  |  pandemic financial planning 

The global focus on COVID-19 over the past year has caused people to evaluate aspects of financial security that they may have previously put off — most importantly, creating a will and an estate plan. But the Q4 Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index shows that while some progress has been made in this area, many investors have more work to do. Close to half of investors in the new survey (45%) report they have neither a will nor an estate plan. About a third say they do have a written will (34%), 4% have written estate plans, and 17% have both.

“The pand... Read More