Did the national average mortgage rate dip?
It did! The national average for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage went down 0.04% to 7.09%* yesterday.
This comes after a spike on the hot inflation report on Tuesday. The bond market saw a mid-day rally and a flat close that lead to mortgage rates cooling off slightly. We get a fair bit of new data today, so there may be some movement if any of it is outside of market expectations.
Where are the best metros for single homebuyers?
If you’re unmarried, uncoupled, or uncuffed, there are a few metros that you may want to consider if you’re a potential homebuyer.
According to a recent article from Realtor.com, the best metro area for singles is Minneapolis, MN. The City of Lakes offers affordable housing, a booming job market, low unemployment, and a lot of young professionals to mingle with. St. Paul came in third on the list, so both of the Twin Cities may help you hook up.
Madison, WI came in second place because it has affordable housing and 1/3 of the population is between the ages 20-to-34. Also, 2/3 of the population is unmarried.
When it comes to the worst metro areas for single folks to settle in, seven of the top 10 were in California.
What’s the outlook for the DC area housing market in 2024?
The Times Union surveyed a few local real estate experts in Washington D.C. to get their take on the next 10 months of the year for housing.
Emily Dessingue, a real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway Balke HomeServices, stated, “I think we can anticipate this spring market to be similar to last year. The number of listings will increase but there’ll be a high demand of buyers, so houses will go quickly.”
How hot will the competition be? Pending sales are already up 8.6% and new listings are up 4% in January. This indicates that the Spring market could see homes in the Washington D.C. area move a bit quicker this year.
When it comes to home prices in D.C., buyers may have to expect them to continue to rise. According to the article, the National Association of Realtors expects Washington area home prices to increase by 1.4% in 2024. But Fannie Mae is predicting a 3.2% increase, and the Mortgage Bankers Association has them increasing by 4.1%. In January 2024, home prices in Washington were up 4.5% when compared to January 2023.
* National average rates accurate as of 2/14/24 from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are not advertised rates from Guaranteed Rate.
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