Average long-term US mortgage rate declines to levels last seen in early February Home loan borrowing costs fell for the second week in a row, pulling the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its lowest level since early February - good news for prospective home shoppers as the spring homebuying season gets underway.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 6.74% from 6.88% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.60%.
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Real estate lawsuit settlement upends decadeslong policies that helped set agent commissions As part of the settlement, the NAR agreed to no longer require a broker advertising a home for sale on MLS to offer any upfront compensation to a buyer's agent. The rule change leaves it open for individual home sellers to negotiate such offers with a buyer's agent outside of the MLS platforms, though the home seller's broker has to disclose any such compensation arrangements.
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How the recent Realtor settlement could change the way Americans buy and sell homes A settlement announced by the National Association of Realtors on Friday, which ended its litigation with some homesellers, could fundamentally change how Americans buy and sell their homes. The agreement will effectively destroy the rules that many critics say help drive home prices higher. The new rules are likely to be fairer for home buyers and sellers who've been saddled with the most unaffordable housing market in a generation.
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Biden's economic adviser addresses administration's housing priorities The housing priorities outlined by the White House and President Joe Biden last week before and during the State of the Union address are crucial for alleviating a serious burden facing many Americans, and the plan emphasizes actions that can be taken to impact the current housing market. This is according to comments shared with the Urban Institute by Lael Brainard, the White House's national economic adviser and director of the National Economic Council.
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Why Biden's Proposed $400 a Month Tax Credit for Homebuyers Could Make It Even Harder To Buy a Home President Joe Biden might have thrown a lifeline to aspiring homebuyers in his State of the Union address on Thursday evening, but some experts fear that it could result in higher home prices. The president said he would like to provide first-time and repeat homebuyers with a tax credit worth $400 a month for the next two years. The Democrat's administration estimates this could help more than 3.5 million middle-class families.
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Mortgage borrowers could save up to $1,500 on a refinance with the FHFA's new title insurance pilot The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently rolled out a new pilot program that would lower refinance closing costs for some borrowers. Called the "title acceptance pilot," this program would waive the requirement that conforming loans have a lender's title insurance policy on certain refinance mortgages. This would lower eligible borrowers' closing costs, meaning they'd need less cash to close on the loan.
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