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...Large commercial housebuilders, which build the bulk of new homes, have cut their output by about a quarter as buyers are put off by high mortgage rates....
...Mortgage approvals hit an 18-month high in March, the Bank of England reported last week, in a further sign of buyers returning to the market....
...Renters estimated a 40 per cent probability of ever purchasing a home, the lowest since the survey first published results in 2015. Low inventory has helped to push up US home prices....
...This mortgage rate lock-in led to a 57% reduction in home sales with fixed-rate mortgages in 2023Q4 and prevented 1.33 million sales between 2022Q2 and 2023Q4....
...Home prices have risen more than 70 per cent since then, so why have home equity loans halved? After the financial crisis, banks have actively taken down their mortgage exposure....
...The deal by the world’s largest home improvement company values Texas-based SRS at $18.25bn including debt and signals further emphasis on the professional contractor market for Home Depot, as consumers...
...Mortgage brokers have welcomed an “innovative” home loan aimed at first-time buyers, which requires a deposit of just £5,000 for homes worth up to £500,000....
...The company says it will lend up to six times the borrower’s income, far higher than the standard 4.5 times from high street banks....
...Mortgage rates were at 7.5 per cent, a 10-year high and more than double the 3.25 per cent interest Angela, who requested that the Financial Times not use her last name, was paying on the loan on her home...
...They are now closer to the 2016-19 monthly average of 66,000, signalling a normalisation in the market despite a steady rise in home loan costs over recent months....
...The growing demand for mortgages that usually characterises the spring home buying season could delay approvals....
...Simon Gammon, managing partner at Knight Frank Finance, said: “Demand for mortgages to buy homes has been rising since the new year and momentum will continue to build into the summer.”...
...According to Jefferies, this is the largest ever buyback programme by a UK investment trust, with £1bn representing 9 per cent of the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s shares....
...After years of catering to the already wealthy with ever bigger and more expensive homes, builders are rethinking their approach and prioritising affordability....
...Karen Noye, mortgage expert at wealth management company Quilter, said: “The large increase in mortgage rates seen over the last couple of years is really starting to bite for some borrowers and this is...
...The company expects to build 7,500 homes in the 12 months to July, down from almost 11,000 in the same period a year ago. Shares were broadly flat in morning trading on Tuesday....
...Rocket Company, owner of Quicken Loans, the country’s largest non-bank mortgage lender, is up 66 per cent since November....
...The company on Wednesday reported home sales by its agents were down nearly 20 per cent in 2023, but said a recent pick up meant it was entering the new year with more sales in the pipeline than at the same...
...The data comes against a backdrop of recent volatility in the mortgage market. Home loan rates peaked in the summer of 2023 before declining sharply at the end of last year....
...The buyback, which represents 9 per cent of the trust’s shares, is the largest-ever for an investment trust, according to analysts at Jefferies....
...“Previously, older borrowers may have used [mortgages] for home improvement, travel or to help a younger family member get on the property ladder,” said David Hollingworth, associate director at L&C, a mortgage...
...That’s why they have to react so quickly,” said Simon Gammon, a mortgage broker at Knight Frank. At the end of 2023 there was a rally in bond markets that prompted lenders to lower mortgage rates....
...In 2021 the government introduced a 95 per cent loan-to-value mortgage scheme which officials say has helped close to 40,000 home buyers....
...“What people don’t realise is that most Mexicans want to go back home every year,” he said. “They just come here to earn money.”...
...“We did talk about waiting, and yes, we may have lost out a little when it comes to mortgage rates, but current rates are not high when you look historically, and I don’t think they will ever go back below...
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