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Investopedia
15 m
11
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Americans are more confident about the housing market than they have been in over two years, which could be the solution to more affordable housing costs.
The Home Purchase Sentiment Index, conducted by Fannie Mae and released this week, increased by 1.8 points to 73.9 in September. Most of this was steered by high optimism that mortgage rates would decline in the next 12 months.
Economists say that if the Federal Reserve continues to cut interest rates and the economy can remain steady, interest rates will continue on a downward trajectory despite an uptick in recent weeks.
“Following the release of a stronger-than-expected September jobs report, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage saw the largest one-week increase since April,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist in a press release. “However, we should remember that the rise in rates is largely due to shifts in expectations and not the underlying economy, which has been strong for most of the year."
During the pandemic, homeowners found low mortgage rates as the Federal Reserve dropped its federal funds rate to near zero in an effort to revive the economy and avoid a recession. Taking advantage of the record-low rates, many homeowners bought houses or refinanced mortgages in 2021.
In response to inflation heating up in 2021, the Fed raised its influential federal funds rate to a 23-year high. The fed funds rate is one of the main factors influencing mortgage rates, along with 10-year Treasury yields and competition among banks.
Because of that, as the fed funds rate rose, so did mortgage rates. Mortgage rates nearly doubled from the beginning of 2022 to the fall of 2023, leaving homeowners hesitant to trade in their low pandemic-era mortgage rates. This caused a lock-up in the housing market as fewer houses were listed for sale, pushing home prices up as demand outpaced supply.
However, as the market geared up for the Federal Reserve to cut rates in September, mortgage rates began to dip. That has encouraged more homeowners to list their homes and lifted the sentiment of Americans on the state of the housing market. Despite an uptick in recent weeks, mortgage rates have declined 1.25 percentage points over the last year, according to the latest mortgage rate information from Freddie Mac.
Although only 19% of respondents said now is a good time to buy a home, 65% said now is a good time to sell a home, both up from a year ago, according to the survey by Fannie Mae.
"Although mortgage rates have fluctuated recently, the recent declines may have offered some relief to homebuyers who have been grappling with high rates," said Realtor.com Economist Jiayi Xu.
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Instablog9ja
1 h
10
Some Nigerian women have debated that DNA test are baseless and not part of the Nigerian culture.
They shared their opinion while reacting to a post where a lady was recounting an incident in which her friend was battling for his life in the hospital after he discovered that the children father were not his. According to the ladies any child, born by a woman, regardless of the circumstances, belongs to her husband.
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Instablog9ja
15 hrs
14
Music producer Samklef in response to singer Seun Kuti’s recent statement has called him daddy’s boy wey no learn work finish.
He said not one pass or present song of Seun Kuti can near any of his previous song release.
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Investopedia
16 hrs
12
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Teens say they're spending more now than they did last year.
Consumer spending has propped the U.S. economy despite persistently high inflation, and teens are no different. They spent $2,361, on average, in the last year, up 6% compared to the year before, according to a recent Piper Sandler survey.
As for how they're funding their shopping sprees, more than one-third (34%) of the over 13,500 teens surveyed across the country said they had a part-time job.
Amazon (AMZN) was the most preferred online shopping destination for teens. Despite its recent Wall Street and management troubles, Nike (NKE) topped the list of brands popular for footwear and apparel, handily beating out brands like Adidas (ADDYY) and Lululemon (LULU).
Teens are spending big on certain spending categories like beauty. The survey found that the 'core beauty wallet'—which refers to annual spend on fragrance, skincare, and cosmetics—clocked in at $342, up 6% year-over-year. That's the highest level it's been since spring 2018.
To purchase beauty products, teens are flocking to stores like Sephora (36%), Ulta (ULTA) (27%), and Target (TGT) (13%).
Teens are also choosing more affordable beauty brands: the top cosmetics and skincare brands for teens were e.l.f. (ELF) and CeraVe, respectively. Selena Gomez's company Rare Beauty took second place as the top cosmetic brand and drugstore brand Maybelline took third, behind e.l.f.
Do you have a news tip for Investopedia reporters? Please email us at [email protected]Read more on Investopedia
Instablog9ja
17 hrs
9
Kanye West’s former assistant, Lauren Pisciotta, has accused him of drugging and raping her at a party hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was arrested in Manhattan and has been formally accused of s3x traffi3king and racketeering conspiracy.
In an 88-page lawsuit filed on Friday, Pisciotta has made allegations, further implicating the controversial rapper in a s+x crime. Lauren Pisciotta, who served as an assistant for the musician between 2021 and 2022, alleged that the incident occured years prior at an unspecified date.
Lauren Pisciotta, who served as Kanye West’s assistant from 2021 to 2022, claims that the alleged incident occurred years earlier on an unspecified date, as reported by DailyMail.
In an amended lawsuit, she described being invited to a gathering at a Santa Monica recording studio co-hosted by Diddy alongside a female music artist she was collaborating with. According to the lawsuit, guests were told they “had to drink” the beverages served or risk being asked to leave. The drinks were reportedly “poured at the direction” of West, although the suit does not accuse Diddy of any wrongdoing, said the report.
Pisciotta alleged that the rapper “dr3gg3d and r3p3d” her. Pisciotta recounted feeling “an altered and highly impaired state” shortly after cons¥Ming a drink and waking up the next day feeling “physically ill and confused.” She noted that the accompanying music artist “could not bring herself to speak about what she herself endured,” as mentioned in the suit.
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Instablog9ja
18 hrs
15
Drawing from his own experience, a man has encouraged Nigerians to appreciate fathers who go the extra mile to provide for their families.
He said his father sent him N6000 yesterday and what caused it was that he has a visitor who was to spend 3days with him.
Prior to this, he has no money on him, so when the visitor arrived he asked if he has eaten anything and he said he ate bread. When it was 4pm, he went to observe his prayers and after the prayers he began pondering on what to offer his visitor for dinner and the fear gripped him such that, he was afraid to go home.
In this state, he remembered his father, how he came home late trying to fend for the family. He began imagining what the man was going through to put food on the table for the family of 6 on a daily bases.
After he got N2000, from his friends probably, he sent a voice note to his father explaining what the father was going through vis-a-vis his current experience. After his father listened to the message, he called him and there was a moment of silence. Then he promised him N5000. The following day, he called again, a it was a deep silence which he understood and the man finally send N6000 instead of the N5000 he promised.
This is a call for everyone to appreciate their fathers because of the demand of feeding the family on a daily basis.
