Carriage House Real Estate

09/05/2026

Stubbornly high mortgage rates finally took their toll on buyer demand in August, snapping an eight-month streak of pending sales growth even as sellers slashed prices.

The share of listings in pending status fell 0.2% from a year ago, marking the first negative readout since November 2025, according to the latest Realtor.com monthly housing market trends report released Wednesday.

09/04/2026

Los Angeles County announced Monday that it had filed a lawsuit against State Farm after hundreds of victims of last year's devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires complained that their claims had been delayed, denied or underpaid.

The lawsuit alleges that State Farm engaged in illegal and deceptive business practices that kept victims of the wildfires from receiving what they were entitled to under their policies.

09/03/2026

09/02/2026

The outlook for the economy and the housing market remain heavily shaped by inflation and its impact on interest rates, consumer sentiment, and housing demand. The Fed’s continued focus on price stability, along with consumers’ concerns over gas, food, and broader cost pressures, reinforces that inflation is still the key determinant for whether borrowing costs ease or stay elevated. Higher mortgage rates have already weighed on new home sales, while foreclosure activity remains contained by strong equity. For now, the outlook remains balanced between near-term challenges and signs of stability, with the next few months likely to depend on whether price pressures show more meaningful improvement.

09/01/2026

A survey of 1,000 prospective homebuyers by Neighbors Bank found that many consumers are overestimating current mortgage rates, with only 35% correctly identifying the average 30-year mortgage rate range and 45% believing rates were higher than they actually were.

The survey also found that 72% of potential buyers have delayed their home search for an average of 13 months while waiting for lower rates, with many targeting a mortgage rate of about 5% before making a purchase. Meanwhile, 41% of respondents said they regret not buying before rates or home prices increased further, and 28% said they are actively searching for a home now. According to the report, current mortgage rates remain below their 2023 peak but are still higher than the rate many prospective buyers are waiting to see.

08/31/2026

Mortgage rates ticked higher this week, nudging the average long-term U.S. home loan rate closer to its recent high for the year.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate edged up to 6.66% from 6.65% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.56%.

The average rate is now back to where it was four weeks ago and is just shy of 6.69%, the high for the year it reached earlier this month.

08/29/2026

The average American’s credit score is holding steady. Beneath that stability, however, the divide between financially secure consumers and borrowers struggling with housing costs is widening.

The national average FICO Score stood at 714 in April, unchanged from October 2025 and one point lower than a year earlier, according to FICO’s new Fall 2026 Score Credit Insights report.

Mortgage delinquencies initially appeared equally reassuring. The share of borrowers 30 days behind declined to 1.35% from 1.42% a year earlier. But those averages obscure mounting pressure among lower-scoring borrowers and a mortgage payment that has grown much faster than inflation.

The findings point to an increasingly important distinction for mortgage originators: A consumer can maintain a solid credit score without having the income or monthly cash flow needed to support today’s housing costs. Debt-to-income ratios now account for more than one-third of mortgage denials, according to a White House economic report released earlier this year.

08/28/2026

It’s easy to see the steep median home prices today and think it’s never been worse, but California has long dealt with high prices. Rising prices and reforms making lending more stringent, however, have changed the demographic of the median homebuyer over the past two decades.

“The average California home buyer today looks very different than a generation ago,” CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® President Tamara Suminski told The Los Angeles Times in a written response to questions.

“Buyers are entering the market later, saving longer, and facing higher barriers to home ownership as home prices, mortgage rates, living costs, and years of limited housing supply continue to strain affordability,” she wrote.