Tag Archives: Down Payment

Potential first-time homebuyers looking to shift from renting to homeownership in 2023 are facing mortgage rates that are nearly 4 percentage points higher than the low point in Q4 2020, limiting their purchasing power. In a new analysis, First American Economist Ksenia Potapov revealed the costs of renting against the costs of owning a home.

For a clearer glimpse into what first-time homebuyers are experiencing, Poin2 analyzed the number of years it would take for the average renter to save up for the upfront costs required to buy, as well as how many years it would take to cover the full cost of the first year of homeownership in the top-100 metropolitan real estate areas.

"The Federal Reserve has increased rates every time it has met for over a year, so the pause on rate hikes last month and the fact that we've likely reached a near peak may offer some respite for buyers," said Steve Kaminski, Head of U.S. Residential Lending for TD Bank.

"Generally speaking, home prices are lower in expensive markets and higher in affordable markets, implying greater mortgage rate sensitivity for high-priced homes," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

The correlation between the asking price and the size of the down payment is behaving as expected—as the housing market has cooled over the past year, down payment amounts are down by 10%.

A new report found an upward trend in new homebuyer assistance programs amid difficult homebuying conditions.

Are the nation’s renters preparing to buy a home? New data from Realtor.com shows that may not be the case as affordability issues remain. 

For many, when it rains, it pours, and many new and young adults got dealt a bad hand at the outset of the pandemic, when lockdowns eliminated many ...

Among renters and non-homeowners, many believe that the once-standard down payment of 20% is a rule, not a recommendation, on the path to homeownership.

Redfin reports that San Jose, Oakland, and San Francisco are among the fastest-cooling housing markets nationwide, as mortgage rates remain above 5%, pricing many potential buyers out of the market.