The drop in mortgage rates during 2019 marked a dramatic turnaround from the previous year expectations, when mortgage rates briefly reached 5 percent and the Federal Reserve indicated two interest […]
A recent report released by Zillow revealed that the number of households headed by a Latinx member that own their homes is at its highest since 2008. Latinx refers to […]
The drop in mortgage rates during 2019 marked a dramatic turnaround from the previous year expectations, when mortgage rates briefly reached 5 percent and the Federal Reserve indicated two interest rate increases. Instead, surging trade wars shivered confidence in the markets, the Fed cut rates and investors —hungry for the relative security of mortgage debt that they were willing to accept lower yields— drove mortgage rates down.
A new decade started and 2020 greets home shoppers with lower mortgage rates compared with 2019. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.72% this week, compared to 4.51% at the beginning of 2019. In the past two months, the thirty-year rates have floated around 3.7% average, showing some stability in mortgage rates over the last few weeks.
Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist said: “The stability is welcome news after the interest rate turbulence of the last year, which caused a slowdown in the housing market and other interest rate-sensitive sectors. The low mortgage rate environment combined with the red-hot labor market is setting the stage for a continued rise in home sales and home prices.”
Pending Home Sales Jump
The national averages with mortgage rates reported by Freddie Mac for the week ending Jan. 2 are as follows:
The drop in mortgage rates was a save on the budgets of potential homeowners, who could take out larger loans for the same monthly payments; however, economists say housing affordability will become a more pressing issue in 2020, determining where people live and how they spend.
After mortgage rates dropped, home price appreciation accelerated, ending 13 months of slowing home price growth, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, a measure of home prices.
The National Association of Realtors: The trade association for real estate agents predicts moderate growth in the housing market and continued low mortgage rates. The experts predicts that the low rates will last. It is expected that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate will remain below 4% in the coming year, moving to 3.8% by the end of 2020.
We, at Title Partners of Florida, write and support the real estate transaction closing, including the issuance of title insurance policies through Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund. We also coordinate searches, title products, and a variety of other services for our clients. Contact us with any questions about our real estate closing services by phone (844) 321-6168 or by email titleinfo@titlepartnersfl.com.
A recent report released by Zillow revealed that the number of households headed by a Latinx member that own their homes is at its highest since 2008. Latinx refers to individuals who identify with Latino, Hispanic, or Spanish origin. There are roughly 60 million people in the US who identify as Latinx, comprising 18% of the US population. However, they account for over 60% of new U.S. homeowner gains according to the Housing Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2019.
As a consequence of 2008’s Great Recession, Latinx headed households constituted 19.4% of all homes foreclosed between 2007 and 2015. This makes the recent gains in ownership even more meaningful when put into perspective that only 3 years ago the Latinx homeownership rate was at 44.1%, its lowest since 1998. The current Latinx homeowner rate is at 48.9%, the highest it has been since 2008.
Referring to this phenomenon, Manny Garcia, population scientist at Zillow said:
“While Latin households have made recent gains in ownership, longstanding inequities in intergenerational wealth and other systemic barriers continue to impede Latin Americans from reaching parity with the U.S. population as a whole.”
Manny explains how despite the increase in Latinx homeownership gains is substantial, there are still many roadblocks for the community.
Garcia continues by saying: “Latin home buyers are more likely to face challenges during the process, with financing the purchase often reported as a primary concern.”
Manny Garcia’s reasoning is backed by the fact that even though recent gains have benefited the community, the Latinx homeownership rate is still 10% behind the rate for Asian, Native, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander households. And nearly 25% behind non-Latin white households. The difference in household wealth is a big factor as the average Latinx headed household has an income of only 75% of the average non-Latin white household. Therefore, Latinx houses comprise a greater percentage of their wealth.
First-generation Latinx Americans possess the lowest homeownership rate of the community with only 46% of the overall members owning a house. While other generations have a 50% or greater homeownership rate. Nonetheless, Latinx buyers, in general, are more likely to be first-time buyers. 56% of Latinx buyers of first-time homeowners, compared to 43% of buyers overall.
Manny Garcia also stated that “even within the Latin community, wealth inequality could help explain the varying homeownership rates of people of different origins.”
People of Spanish and Argentinian descent have the highest homeownership rate within the community, 63% and 59% respectively. While other groups have homeownership rates as low as 29%.
We, at Title Partners of Florida, write and support the real estate transaction closing, including the issuance of title insurance policies through Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund. We also coordinate searches, title products, and a variety of other services for our clients. Contact us with any questions about our real estate closing services by phone at (844) 321-6168 or by email at titleinfo@titlepartnersfl.com.
A New Year Kicks In With Lower Mortgage Rates
UncategorizedThe drop in mortgage rates during 2019 marked a dramatic turnaround from the previous year expectations, when mortgage rates briefly reached 5 percent and the Federal Reserve indicated two interest […]
New Homeownership Gains in the U.S. Headed by Latinx Americans
UncategorizedA recent report released by Zillow revealed that the number of households headed by a Latinx member that own their homes is at its highest since 2008. Latinx refers to […]