Joe Goldian, Cleveland Realtor

09/24/2024

Buying a Home Just Got More Affordable for the First Time Since 2020: Buyers need to earn $115,000 to afford the typical U.S. home, down 1% year over year. That’s the first annual decline since 2020, thanks to falling mortgage rates, which just posted the first annual drop in three years. Still, the typical household only earns $84,000—27% less than it needs to afford the typical home. Texas […]

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09/19/2024

Typical Swing State Renter Earns 17% Less Than Needed to Afford Typical Apartment—But That’s an Improvement From the Last Presidential Election: During the last election cycle, the typical swing state renter household earned 21% less than they needed to afford the median priced apartment. Still, many renters feel the rent is “too damn high,” meaning the housing affordability crisis is a key issue for swing state voters deciding this year’s presidential race. Arizona has seen a […]

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09/19/2024

Housing Payments Post Biggest Decline in 4 Years Ahead of Fed’s Historic Rate Cut, Which Could Lure Buyers Off the Sidelines: Monthly housing payments have declined nearly $300 from April’s all-time high. Improving affordability has yet to push up pending sales, but that could change after the Fed cut interest rates for the first time since 2020 this week. The median U.S. housing payment was $2,534 during the four weeks ending September 15, down 2.7% from […]

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Monthly housing payments have declined nearly $300 from April’s all-time high. Improving affordability has yet to push up pending sales, but that could change after the Fed cut interest rates for the first time since 2020 this week.

09/18/2024

Mortgage Rates Unlikely to Move Much, Despite Fed’s Decision to Cut Big: The Fed split the difference, relative to market expectations, by cutting rates by 50 bps today, but projecting only more gradual cuts from here on out. Mortgage rates are unlikely to move much today as markets had priced in aggressive expectations for rate cuts ahead of time. The Fed chose the more aggressive of two […]

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The Fed split the difference, relative to market expectations, by cutting rates by 50 bps today, but projecting only more gradual cuts from here on out. Mortgage rates are unlikely to move much today as markets had priced in aggressive expectations for rate cuts ahead of time.

09/18/2024

Existing Home Sales, Pending Sales Fall to Lowest Level Since Pandemic Start as House Hunters Wait for Mortgage Rates to Drop Further: Sales of existing homes dropped 1% month over month in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million, while pending sales fell 2%. Declining mortgage rates are giving buyers more purchasing power, but some house hunters are waiting on the sidelines in hopes that rates will fall further. Others are hesitant to buy […]

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09/17/2024

U.S. Home Prices Rose 0.5% in August, the Biggest Increase in 4 Months: Home prices grew 0.5% month over month in August, the fastest pace since April. On a year-over-year basis, home prices rose 6.7%, the smallest annual increase since January. 20 of the 50 most populous U.S. metros recorded a drop in home prices month over month. U.S. home prices grew 0.5% in August on a seasonally […]

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09/16/2024

Redfin Welcomes August Agent Hires: Redfin is closing out the summer strong by welcoming another great group of Newfins! The talented agents who joined us in August come from all corners of the industry, from boutique luxury firms to big homebuilders. And I’m always especially excited for those returning to Redfin after some time away. Whether it’s day one or […]

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Redfin is closing out the summer strong by welcoming another great group of Newfins! The talented agents who joined us in August come from all corners of the industry, from boutique luxury firms to big homebuilders. And I’m always especially excited for those returning to Redfin after some time aw...

09/12/2024

Don’t End Clear Cooperation: Today, the National Association of Realtors is considering proposals advanced by traditional brokers to undo the Clear Cooperation policy against pocket listings. This would hurt consumers. Listing Cooperation Creates an Open, Fair Market Buyers want to see all the homes for sale. Sellers want their listings to reach the most buyers. Studies show that sellers […]

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Listing cooperation creates an open, fair market. Pocket listings hurt consumers.

09/12/2024

Demand for Second-Home Mortgages Falls to Eight-Year Low: Mortgage-rate locks for second homes have dropped 13% since last summer—more than twice as much as rate locks for primary homes. Demand for second-home mortgages is likely cooling in part because some buyers are paying in cash to avoid elevated mortgage rates. But high prices, economic jitters and a sluggish rental market have also made […]

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Mortgage-rate locks for second homes have dropped 13% since last summer—more than twice as much as rate locks for primary homes.

09/12/2024

Falling Mortgage Rates Mean Housing Payments Are Now More Affordable Than a Year Ago Despite Higher Prices: Falling mortgage rates have pushed the median U.S. housing payment down near its lowest level since January, but pending home sales have yet to improve. Many would-be buyers are hoping rates fall further, and others are waiting for clarity around the new NAR rules. The median U.S. monthly housing payment was $2,558 during the four […]

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Falling mortgage rates have pushed the median U.S. housing payment down near its lowest level since January, but pending home sales have yet to improve. Many would-be buyers are hoping rates fall further, and others are waiting for clarity around the new NAR rules.

09/11/2024

Smaller Rate Cut Likely After Hotter-Than-Expected CPI Report, But Fed Has Options: A touch-hotter-than-anticipated August CPI report nudges the Fed toward a 25 bps rate cut at its meeting next week. However, inflation remains cool enough that the Fed could still surprise with a 50 bps cut to get ahead of further weakness in the labor market or simply project the possibility of larger cuts down the […]

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A touch-hotter-than-anticipated August CPI report nudges the Fed toward a 25 bps rate cut at its meeting next week. However, inflation remains cool enough that the Fed could still surprise with a 50 bps cut to get ahead of further weakness in the labor market or simply project the possibility of lar...

09/10/2024

7 Considerations for Climate-Conscious House Hunters: This was originally published to Forbes on July 30, 2025. The pros and cons of owning a home versus renting one are changing along with the climate. Aspiring homeowners are already grappling with rising mortgage rates, record-high home prices and near-record rent prices, and now they’re having to factor risk from natural disasters and skyrocketing insurance costs into their […]

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The pros and cons of owning a home versus renting one are changing along with the climate. Here are seven key considerations for anyone deciding to rent versus buy.