The financial news that actually matters
This category covers housing market trends, property prices, affordability, rental markets, and real estate investment insights. It helps readers understand how housing decisions are influenced by economic conditions.
Homeowners across the United States face another year of rising insurance costs, with the national average premium projected to hit $3,057 in 2026. That figure represents a 4% increase after premiums already jumped 12% in 2025, according to data from insurance comparison platform Insurify. The steepest increases are concentrated in California, Nebraska, New Mexico, and…
Retirees who tap their home equity through a reverse mortgage often discover that the loan’s true cost extends well beyond the initial closing table. The federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, administered by HUD and backed by the FHA, allows homeowners aged 62 and older to convert equity into cash without monthly payments. But…
Homeowners across the United States fell behind on mortgage payments at a faster clip in the first quarter of 2026, with the national delinquency rate reaching 4.44 percent. Florida and Texas stood out as the two states where borrowers slipped into early-stage missed payments most quickly, according to federal regulator data released this spring. The…
The cost of borrowing to buy a home has barely moved in months, and a widely publicized new housing law is unlikely to change that anytime soon. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage sat at 6.49% as of July 9, 2026, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey — a hair above…
The economist whose forecasts set the tone for much of the housing industry has sharply lowered his expectations for the year. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, now projects that existing-home sales will grow about 4% in 2026, a steep markdown from the roughly 14% jump he was calling for just…
Evictions in New York City have risen to their highest level in years, a stark measure of how far the city’s affordability crisis has spread as rents hover near record highs. The pace has quickened enough that housing advocates now warn the recovery from the pandemic-era eviction pause has tipped into something harsher for the…
Homeowners in Florida and California are being dropped by their insurers at higher rates than anywhere else in the country, according to a new analysis of the national home-insurance market. The trend, known in the industry as non-renewal, has quietly become one of the biggest financial risks facing homeowners in disaster-prone states, because it can…
Homeowners across California are staring down the steepest home-insurance increase of any state in the country this year, a fresh signal of how sharply the cost of protecting a house has climbed in the most disaster-exposed corners of the United States. Industry forecasters put the average 2026 increase in California at roughly 16%, a bigger…
The share of income the typical American renter spends on rent has edged down to its lowest level in years, a rare piece of encouraging news in a housing market that has delivered mostly bad headlines. The improvement is modest, and it does not undo the affordability strains that built up during the pandemic, but…
Homebuyers hoping the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would bring quick relief on monthly payments face a hard reality: the law’s supply-side provisions phase in over years, while the bond yields that set mortgage pricing show no sign of retreating soon. With 30-year fixed rates hovering near 6.5 percent and the 10-year Treasury constant…