TOP STORIES

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Federal Reserve Likely to Hold Interest Rates Steady Despite Pressure from Trump. Here's What That Means for Your Money  

CNBC  7/25/2025  By Jessica Dickler

Chairman Powell stated that Fed has held off rate cuts due to uncertainty and inflation risks posed by tariffs. But fixed mortgage rates don't directly track the Fed. The nationwide problem of limited inventory and housing affordability is a key issue, regardless of the Fed’s next move. 

Lawmakers Press FHFA on Crypto for Mortgages
HousingWire  7/25/2025  By Jonathan Delozier
Five Senate Democrats are urging caution as the Federal Housing Finance Agency considers allowing unconverted cryptocurrency in mortgage underwriting. Citing volatility, security and ethical concerns, the lawmakers warn such a move could destabilize housing markets. Pushback follows FHFA Director Bill Pulte’s social media remarks signaling openness to crypto-backed mortgage assets. 

How the End of Student Loan Relief Could Hurt Homebuyers—and What to do About It
Realtor.com  5/5/2025 By Dina Sartore-Bodo

For aspiring homeowners carrying student debt, the financial landscape is shifting—and not in their favor. With federal student loan protections set to expire, many borrowers are confronting the challenge of resuming payments in the face of a looming recession and continued inflation, making the cost of living even more expensive than ever before. But, if your student loan has been in default and now you’re facing paying it back, there are options to improve your credit score and get you into a home. 

The Flagging Economy is Hurting the Housing Market
The Washington Post   5/5/2025  By Rachel Siegel
The faltering economy is starting to become a drag on the housing market. Real estate agents, developers, homebuyers and economists are all trying to make sense of which way trends are heading. Slower growth — the economy shrank at the beginning of 2025 — means interest and mortgage rates will probably stay high for the foreseeable future.  

Fannie Mae Economists Expect Two Rate Cuts in 2024
HousingWire 7/23/2024  By James Kleimann 

Home price growth in the second quarter was stronger than previously anticipated, but economists at Fannie Mae believe it will likely moderate soon, closing 2024 and 2025 at annualized rates of 6.1% and 3%, respectively. Despite more listings of homes for sale compared to a year ago, existing-home sales fell in June. Fannie Mae expects the Fed to be looking at rate cuts twice in 2024 in hopes of increasing affordability for homebuyers.

Twenty-somethings Buying More Homes Than Their Elders Did

National Mortgage Professional  5/20/2024  By Erica Drzewiecki
Young adults are buying more homes than the generations before them did in their 20s, a new report from Redfin revealed. Generation Z homebuyers ages 19 to 25 have a higher homeownership rate than millennials and Gen Xers when they were the same age.

Lehigh Valley municipality added more people than any in Pennsylvania since 2020 

The Morning Call  5/20/2024  By Eugene Tauber

Which Lehigh Valley city is growing faster than any other in the state?

'She-cession' Can't Slow Homeownership Surge Among Single Women
National Mortgage Professional  3/7/2024  By Ksenia Potapov, First American Economist

As we commemorate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, it’s an opportune time to celebrate the progress that single women have made in pursuit of the American Dream of homeownership.  

Housing Market Predictions: Six Experts Weigh in on the Real Estate Outlook in 2024
USA Today 

No other phrase has defined the 2023 housing market as much as the “mortgage rate lock in effect” – a phenomenon that brought the industry to a standstill, putting downward pressure on everything from inventory levels to home sales. But will things change this year?  

Federal Reserve Preview: Goldman Sachs Says Rate Hikes Finished, Hints at Possible 'Insurance Cuts' in 2024  

Benzinga 10/30/2023

Market sentiment is leaning heavily toward the belief the current interest rate  will remain untouched. CME Group’s FedWatch tool is showing a staggering 98% probability of rates staying on hold. When could we be looking toward rate cuts?  

Designating Former Martin Tower Site "Deteriorated" Could Help Affordable Housing Shortage in Area

The Morning Call 8/28/23

The 55-acre plot's "eyesore" status could help bring affordable housing options to the site to help ease the affordable housing crisis in Bethlehem which is currently experiencing a less than 2% rental vacancy rate. What would it take to make it happen?

 Lehigh Valley Community is 1 of the Hottest Real Estate Markets in the Country 

The Morning Call 8/24/23

Another Lehigh Valley ZIP code has made the list as one of Realtor.com‘s “hottest ZIP codes.” With 18017 and 18018 already on the list, which zip code is the latest to assend and why?

What Will Future Homebuyers Look Like?

The Mortgage Note

The median age of first-time homebuyers has changed significantly in recent decades. As younger buyers age into homeownership medians and ethnic demographics of homebuyers shift, will there be enough homes for everyone?

Home Sellers Were Winners This Spring Despite Headwinds

NationalMortgageNews.com 7/20/23 

"The second-quarter numbers clearly show the market has more steam left in it, and sellers are reaping the benefits," said Attom CEO Rob Barber in a press release.

Mortgage Rates Post Biggest Decline Since March

Fox Business 7/20/23

"Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year loan fell to 6.78% from 6.96% the previous week, the first decline since June and the biggest one-week drop since March."

Here's Why Experts Believe the U.S. is in a Housing Boom and Not a Bubble
CNBC 

The U.S. housing market has been an unlikely beneficiary from the Covid-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, home prices have climbed at a record pace. The median price for an existing home reached over $363,000 in June 2021, a 23.4% year-over-year increase.  

 What to Expect in the 2022 Housing Market  

Fortune 

For any homebuyer, novice or weathered, the 2021 housing market has been harrowing to navigate. By some experts’ definitions, “this year, [the housing market] decidedly shot way ahead of the economy, to the point where we saw this incredibly overheated market characterized by massive multiple offers, contingency waivers, price escalation clauses, and, in fact, record prices,” George Ratiu, senior economist at realtor.com, tells Fortune.