The financial news that actually matters
Two years ago, nearly half of all mortgaged homes in the United States qualified as “equity-rich,” a term the property data firm ATTOM uses when an owner owes less than 50% of the home’s estimated market value. In the first quarter of 2025, that share dropped to 43.3%, the lowest level since 2021 and a…
For years, homeowners insurance was the kind of bill most people glanced at and paid. That era appears to be over. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in March 2026 found that 71% of U.S. homeowners say their premiums have risen in recent years, with 42% calling the increase substantial. Among those paying more, 57%…
A homeowner in Cape Coral, Florida, who bought at the 2022 peak may now owe more than the house would fetch on the open market. That scenario, once unthinkable in a state that minted equity for years, is playing out across multiple Florida metros at the same time the rest of the country is barely…
A buyer who locked in a 30-year fixed mortgage on a $400,000 home during the first week of January 2026 secured a rate of 5.75% and a monthly principal-and-interest payment of roughly $2,334. A buyer taking out the same loan in early May faces a rate of 6.37% and a payment of about $2,498. That…
The roof over Brenda Colquitt’s head in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, needs patching. She knows it. But when her homeowners insurance premium jumped by more than $800 last year, she made a calculation millions of Americans are now making: pay the insurer or fix the house. She paid the insurer. The roof still leaks. Colquitt’s dilemma…
Homebuyers shopping for a mortgage this week are seeing something they haven’t seen in over a month: a 30-year fixed rate starting with a 6.1 handle. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending May 8, 2026, put the benchmark 30-year fixed rate at 6.18%, down sharply from the 6.46% reading on April…
When a Fort Myers, Florida, homeowner locked in a 3.2% fixed-rate mortgage in 2021, her monthly payment was supposed to stay predictable for 30 years. It didn’t. After her insurer pulled out of the state following Hurricane Ian, her replacement policy came in at nearly triple the original premium. Her escrow payment jumped more than…
The U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April 2026 and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on May 8. The gain topped most forecasts, especially given the drag from higher energy prices. Tensions between the United States and Iran that escalated earlier in 2026 have disrupted oil…
Cape Coral, Florida, lost roughly 9% of its home value over the past year. Chicago gained about 5%. Those two numbers, drawn from the same national housing market during the same interest-rate environment, capture a divergence that has become the defining story of American real estate in 2026. Nationally, prices barely budged. The Federal Housing…
The average American homeowner now pays roughly $2,400 a year to insure their house, up from about $1,640 in 2021. The $2,400 figure is an estimate from the Insurance Information Institute, while the 46% trend line is derived from the Federal Reserve’s producer price index for property insurance, which tracks list-price changes published by insurers….