Research Brief: Housing – September 2018

Monthly housing payments surged this year for homebuyers as mortgage rate increases and rising home prices lifted the cost of homeownership. The monthly payment on a median-priced home now stands $130 higher than at the beginning of the year, driven by a 70-basis-point interest rate increase. Fixed-rate mortgages now average about 4.5 percent, their highest level since 2011, and this has increased the gap between the monthly mortgage payment on a median-price home and the average monthly apartment rent to $320.

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