Gilbert

When housing affordability deteriorates, most people expect the cause to be obvious. Home prices must be rising. That seems logical. If houses become more expensive while household incomes remain relatively stable, buying becomes harder. But today's housing market demonstrates why that explanation is incomplete. Housing can become less affordable even when...

For years, rising home equity has been one of the clearest financial benefits of owning a home. A homeowner buys a property, pays down the mortgage, benefits from potential appreciation and gradually builds a larger ownership stake in the property. Over time, that equity can become a source...

For years, homebuyers have been taught to begin their search with a few familiar numbers. The purchase price. The down payment. The mortgage rate. And the estimated monthly mortgage payment. Insurance was usually somewhere further down the list. That approach is becoming increasingly difficult to justify. As homeowners insurance costs rise across many parts...

The U.S. housing market is becoming more buyer friendly in several important ways. There are more homes available than there were a year ago. Properties are taking longer to sell in many markets. Sellers are facing more competition from other listings and some buyers are gaining more room...

For homeowners who are locked in a mortgage rate during 2020 or 2021, today's housing market can create a difficult financial choice. Their home may be worth substantially more than when they purchased it. They may have built significant equity. They may need money for renovations, debt consolidation,...

For years, one number dominated the homebuying conversation: the monthly mortgage payment. Buyers would calculate how much they could borrow, compare interest rates, estimate principal and interest and then decide whether the payment fit their budget. That calculation still matters. But it is no longer enough. A growing number of homebuyers...

For years, rising home values have been one of the biggest sources of financial security for American homeowners. A homeowner who purchased a property years ago may now have hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity. On paper, that can make the household look considerably wealthier than it...

For decades, home equity was treated as the quiet part of homeownership. You bought a house, made your mortgage payments, watched the property appreciate and gradually built wealth. The goal was relatively simple: own more of the house over time. But that relationship with home equity is changing. More homeowners are...

For generations, buying a home has been treated as one of the clearest paths to financial security. The logic was simple: instead of sending money to a landlord every month, a household could put that money toward a mortgage, build equity, benefit from rising property values and eventually...

For years, moving was the natural solution when a home stopped fitting a household's needs. A growing family could move into a larger house. A couple whose children had left could downsize. Homeowners who wanted a better kitchen, an additional bedroom or a home office could sell and...

Homeowners generally think of insurance as a recurring expense: the bill arrives, it gets paid and the household moves on. But when insurance premiums rise sharply, that simple expense can create a much bigger financial problem. A homeowner who was comfortably covering a mortgage, property taxes, utilities and maintenance...

For decades, the basic financial equation of homeownership was relatively straightforward. Buy a property, secure a mortgage, make the payments and gradually build equity. But the cost of owning a home doesn't stop with the mortgage. Homeowners also have to manage: Property taxes Insurance Maintenance Repairs Utilities HOA fees Renovations Unexpected property expenses And as some of these costs...