homebuying

With the historically low interest rates, many homeowners with 30-year mortgages have been leaving their loans for younger models. According to a new report from Freddie Mac, more homeowners are refinancing into 15- and 20-year mortgages than ever before.

With interest rates dipping to historic lows, many homeowners are refinancing their mortgages to shorten either the terms of their loans or their monthly payments. Here's what you need to know to decide whether refinancing now is right for you.

With the Standard & Poor's downgrades, the declining stock market, the flat employment figures and Europe's fiscal woes, you might not expect much optimism in the housing market just now. But a few major metropolitan areas should see price increases in the next year, according to a new report.

Even before the latest stock-market plunge, U.S. consumer confidence was already sliding downward, according to a Fannie Mae survey released Monday. Some 70% of respondents say the economy is heading in the wrong direction.

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it would leave interest rates unchanged -- for now. For consumers, that means a holding pattern for the near term, with little impact on borrowing, great rates for mortgages, and no hikes for credit cards. By end of summer, that may change.

Today's sluggish housing market has little margin for error: Make an ill-conceived or poorly researched home purchase now, and you'll almost certainly pay the price later. To avoid that, make sure you have the right answers to these three questions before you buy your next home.

You've found the right house, you're approved for a loan, your credit score rocks, you have the down payment. Let's make a deal, right? Not so fast. There's a deal-breaker in town and it's called "cash." Those who can buy a home with it are elbowing out those who can't. Turns out there are a lot...

Older home owners and the builders of senior housing have a bit of a communication gap, according to a recent survey. These potential buyers say they want non-slip floors but don't much care about lever doorknobs. Builders say they have those easy-to-open knobs covered but aren't so sure about...

This is the third part of a five-part series about how the writer and her husband, Charlie, tackled a major overhaul of their home and the pitfalls they faced along the way. To read the first installment click here. The situation is deteriorating fast. A large part of the problem is our fault,...

The New York Times reports on a developing trend on Long Island: home buyers seeking out their own real estate agents to represent them exclusively in the selection and negotiation process.The Times article is confusingly worded, but the most important takeaway for consumers is this: If you stumble...