Aramco Report

The Blog
Mortgage applications ending the year on a high note

A surge of homeowners looking to refinance their existing mortgages led to another uptick in mortgage activity. Total mortgage applications for the week ending December 18 jumped 0.8 percent after rates for 30-year fixed mortgages fell to a new record low. Refinances, mostly from borrowers with VA...

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San Diego bidding wars get brutal

With record low mortgage rates coupled up with a severe shortage of available homes, 2020 has seen a surge in buyer competition like never before. According to a new report from Redfin, the number of housing markets that are seeing an increase in bidding wars is rising. The San Diego metropolitan m...

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Open concept floor plans may become a thing of the past

The coronavirus pandemic has transformed our homes in to far more than just where we live. It is also where many work, learn and play. As a result, some of the features that home buyers often listed as ‘deal-breakers’ have now become defunct. According to a new report from Apartment Therapy, the op...

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Existing home sales slip in November

The sales volume of previously owned homes declined last month as housing inventory remains chronically low. Existing home sales dropped by 2.5 percent in November on a month-over-month basis. While this is still 25.8 percent higher than last year’s volume, it is greater than the 2.2 percent decline...

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The cost of a Griswold Christmas

Of all the classic holiday movies, arguably the most iconic and memorable home and Christmas light display ever seen on the silver screen must have been that of Clark W. Griswold in the famed National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. The traditional Chicago suburb home covered from roof to lawn in thou...

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It’s beginning to look like a lot of home sales

It’s beginning to look like a lot of home sales Everywhere you go Take a look at the MLS Listings in excess With patios and recessed lights aglow It’s beginning to look like a lot of home sales For sale signs in every lawn But the prettiest sight to see Is the holly that will be When you’ve...

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Mortgage rates drop to new record low

The year appears to be ending on another positive note for the housing market. Nearly a dozen times this year, mortgage rates have dropped to historic lows and just last week Freddie Mac announced that rates are at their lowest point since record keeping began in 1971. “The housing market continues...

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Tech-savvy buyers looking for homes to match

Whether it be a thermostat, a doorbell or a bedside alarm clock, smart devices have crept in to our homes in one way or another. And according to a new report, these integrated technologies are exactly what some buyers are looking for. In a survey from Realtor.com, more than one-in-three young Amer...

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Calif. home sales hit 15-year high

For the first time since January 2009, home sales in California have surpassed an annual pace of 500,000 units as of November, is the highest level since 2005. This latest data comes from the California Association of Realtors. The annualized rate represents what the total number of homes sold in t...

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Home price increases near record high

A surge in homebuying, driven by low mortgage rates and demand from buyers for more space as they work remotely has led to the second-largest annual increase in home prices on record. The national median home price is currently 14 percent higher than it was last year, just below the 14.5 percent ann...

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