US Housing Market

President Donald Trump 's plans for bringing homeownership within reach of more Americans involve pushing for lower interest rates on home loans and credit cards, and banning large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. In his address Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump outlined four policies his administration is pursuing in a bid to make homeownership more affordable. Each had been previously mentioned by him or his administration in recent weeks, part of a broader push to address affordability generally, a hot-button issue with voters heading into the midterms. The US housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. The combination of higher mortgage rates, years of skyrocketing home prices and a chronic shortage of homes nationally following more than a decade of below-average home construction have left many aspiring homeowners priced out of the market. Sales

According to the US Census Bureau, the median monthly expense for homeowners with a mortgage rose to $2,035 from $1,960, with the highest costs reported in California

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Monday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on signed contracts, rose 2.2 per cent last month to 79.0 - the highest since February 2023

For decades, the rapid inflow of migrants helped countries including Canada, Australia and the UK stave off the demographic drag from aging populations and falling birth rates

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose to its highest level in five weeks, a setback for prospective homebuyers during what's traditionally the busiest time of the year for home sales. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.88% from 6.82% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.27%. When mortgage rates rise, they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford at a time when the U.S. housing market remains constrained by relatively few homes for sale and rising home prices. Rates have been mostly drifting higher in recent weeks as stronger-than-expected reports on employment and inflation have stoked doubt among bond investors over how soon the Federal Reserve will move to lower its benchmark interest rate. The central bank has signaled that it expects to cut its short-term rate three times this year once it sees more evidence of cooling inflation. On Wednesday, Treasury yiel

The average 15-year rate also jumped to 6.46 per cent. It was up from 6.34 per cent the week prior and was also the highest level since April 2002

Contract closings fell 5.4% from May to an annualized 5.12 million, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed Wednesday.

The year-long COVID-19 pandemic has shifted demand towards bigger and more expensive houses as millions of Americans continue to work and remote schooling remains in place

Sales in the South, which accounts for almost half of the existing homes sales market, increased 1.9 percent last month.

Economists had forecast pending home sales rising 0.7 per cent last month