Bidding Wars Are Back — But Not for Homes

(from Finance.Yahoo.com)

It now takes over $100,000 a year to comfortably rent in eight major U.S. cities, and no, your avocado toast habit isn’t the problem.

Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, and Miami just joined the six-figure rent club, where the median apartment can easily run you three grand a month. In San Jose, renters need to earn $137,000, but at least incomes there are keeping up with the rent hikes. Meanwhile, cities like New York and Miami are financial black holes where renters spend more than 40% of their income just to have a roof.

Nationwide, the average renter now needs to make $81,000 to keep rent under control, but wages haven’t grown fast enough to keep pace. If you want a little breathing room, cities like Buffalo, Louisville, and Oklahoma City are still holding it down under 60K.

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Mortgage Rates for New Homes Are Typically Lower, New Research Finds

(from Realator.com)

Homebuilders are quietly helping buyers save money by offering lower mortgage rates than what you’d get on an existing home.

On average, buyers of new-construction homes are locking in rates around 6.1 percent, compared to 6.6 percent for resale homes. That half-point difference can mean saving about $105 a month on a $400,000 loan, which adds up fast.

The secret weapon? Builders are using mortgage rate buy-downs as a sneaky but effective way to close deals.

Some even have in-house financing teams or preferred lender relationships that make it easier to offer below-market rates. With mortgage rates stuck above 6 percent, these builder incentives are becoming a major draw for buyers looking to save wherever they can.

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