This pandemic housing boom is the strongest we have seen in more than a decade. The median sales price for existing homes in more than 180 metro areas was tracked by the National Association of Realtors, where they say numbers rose in the fourth quarter compared to the year prior. That is the second consecutive quarter that every metro area tracked by NAR posted an annual increase. It is the first time this has happened in back-to-back quarters.

What Does This Mean For Buyers?
Demand for homes has surged over this past year, as buyers took advantage of the record-low interest rates. The pandemic prompted many households to seek bigger houses that could better accommodate remote work. Home sales in 2020 rose 5.6% to the highest pace since 2006, according to the NAR.

Last time we last saw a housing boom similar to this, was back in 2006. Then, buyers were trading up to bigger, more expensive homes after just a year. Many home buyers were paying very small down payments, if any a. ...

Don’t Let Buyer Competition Keep You from Purchasing a Home

This year’s record-low mortgage rates sparked high demand among homebuyers. Current homeowners, however, haven’t put their houses on the market so quickly. This makes finding a home to buy today challenging for many potential buyers. With an obstacle like this, those searching for their dream homes may be pressing pause on their searches as we approach the end of the year, but that could be a big mistake for many hopeful house hunters. Here’s why. 
According to the most recent Housing Trends Report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB):
“The length of time spent searching for a home continues to grow.”
The report indicates that 62% of buyers now spend 3 months or more looking for a home, an increase from 58% one year ago. A primary cause for the delay is the heavy competition today’s buyers face when making an offer on a hom ...

Taking Advantage of Homebuying Affordability in Today’s Market







Everyone is ready to buy a home at different times in their lives, and despite the health crisis, today is no exception. Understanding how affordability works and the main market factors that impact it may help those who are ready to buy a home narrow down their optimal window of time to make a purchase.

There are three main factors that go into determining how affordable homes are for buyers:


Mortgage Rates



Mortgage Payments as a Percentage of Income



Home Prices


The National Association of Realtors (NAR), produces a Housing Affordability Index, which takes these three factors into account and determines an overall affordability score for housing. According to NAR, the index:


“…measures whether or not a typical family earns enough income to qualify for a mortgage loan on a typical home at the national and regional levels based on the most recen ...

Experts Predict Economic Recovery Should Begin in the Second Half of the Year


One of the biggest questions we all seem to be asking these days is: When are we going to start to see an economic recovery? As the country begins to slowly reopen, moving forward in strategic phases, business activity will help bring our nation back to life. Many economists indicate a recovery should begin to happen in the second half of this year. Here’s a look at what some of the experts have to say.

Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman


“I think there’s a good chance that there’ll be positive growth in the third quarter. And I think it’s a reasonable expectation that there’ll be growth in the second half of the year…

So, in the long run, I would say the U.S. economy will recover. We’ll get back to the place we were in February; we’ll get to an even better place than that. I’m highly confident of that. A ...