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 aged 62 and older can now tap up to $1,249,125 in home equity through a federally insured reverse mortgage, the highest cap ever set for the program. The Department of Housing and Urban Development raised the 2026 Home Equity Conversion Mortgage limit after the Federal Housing Finance Agency pegged the national conforming loan baseline…
Homeowners filing claims with the largest property insurers in the United States now face odds that look more like a coin toss than a safety net. An analysis of insurer data found that State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, USAA, and Farmers did not pay out on more than 44% of claims they resolved in 2025….
Near-retirees who buy their own health coverage through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace are about to confront a sharp price increase. When the temporary expansion of premium tax credits expires after tax year 2025, a 60-year-old earning roughly $64,000 a year could owe about $14,900 annually for a benchmark silver plan in 2026. That figure…
More than 444,000 renters who paid hidden fees to the nation’s largest single-family landlord are getting money back. The Federal Trade Commission has begun mailing 444,131 checks totaling more than $47.2 million to consumers who were charged undisclosed fees by Invitation Homes between January 2021 and September 2024, according to an FTC announcement. Recipients who…
Homebuyers shopping for a fixed-rate loan this week face the steepest borrowing costs of 2026. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached 6.55%, a level not seen since late August 2025, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That jump adds roughly $40 per month to a principal-and-interest payment on a $400,000 loan compared…
Homeowners across the United States are paying hundreds of dollars more each year to insure their properties than they did just a few years ago. Average premiums climbed roughly 27 percent between 2019 and 2024, rising from about $2,235 to approximately $2,829, according to a federal analysis. The steepest increases have hit ZIP codes exposed…
Roughly one in seven U.S. homes now lacks homeowners insurance, according to a Federal Reserve survey of household finances, as carriers accelerate their retreat from areas hit hardest by wildfires, hurricanes, and severe storms. Federal data covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia show that nonrenewal activity has climbed steadily since 2018, with…
Homeowners who paid for mortgage help that never arrived are getting money back. The Federal Trade Commission announced in June 2026 that it is mailing checks totaling more than $2.8 million to 1,821 people who were charged by a network of companies operating under names like Golden Home Services and Home Matters USA. According to…
Families settling the estates of deceased reverse-mortgage borrowers are facing unexpected fees that surface only after a loved one dies, according to allegations in a lawsuit targeting a major servicer. The complaint centers on charges that heirs say were never disclosed during the life of the loan, emerging instead during probate when survivors have the…
Homeowners in disaster-prone parts of the country are absorbing premium increases of 25% or more, according to a federal audit, and several states are now locked into scheduled rate hikes that will push bills higher through 2026. North Carolina approved a 7.5% base-rate increase effective June 1, 2025, with a second 7.5% jump set for…