Tammie VanDeusen

  Buying a House in 2021: Home Prices, Housing Inventory, Mortgages, and More Despite the pandemic’s impact on the country and the economy, one could argue that housing was never hotter than it was last year. Homes  flew off  the market at a record pace, driven by a  shift in what buyers  want from their home. That drove prices up  faster  than they had climbed in more than a decade, but many buyers were undeterred by the rising prices. That’s because they could afford more house for their money due to mortgage interest rates falling to  record lows  more than 15 times last year. Housing in 2020 was, in many ways, unprecedented. And the experts are  already predicting  that it will be more of the same in 2021. So, if you’re considering buying a house this year, the question becomes: how do you make sense of this unprecedented market and find the home of your dreams? Let’s start by breaking down where things are now. What are the cur...

  Mortgage Rates Hit New Record Low as 2021 Begins Mortgage rates fell to record lows 16 different times in 2020, hitting a new record low as recently as the week of December 24. And now, with the calendar flipped to 2021, it’s much of the same: another new record low. The prevailing market interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, which is tracked by Freddie Mac, fell to a new record low of 2.65% in the week ending January 7, 2021. That’s one basis point below the previous record low of 2.66%. This marks the 17th time that interest rates have set new record lows in the last year, per Freddie Mac’s records, which stretch back to 1971. Mortgage Rates Hit New Record Low as 2021 Begins For reference, at the beginning of 2020, the prevailing market interest rate for a 30-year mortgage was 3.64%. Despite interest rates being lower than many thought would ever be possible, Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said that housing affordability is declining (meaning it’s becoming l...