Housing Market

The collapse of the housing market has led to historically low interest rates on mortgages, leading many renters to wonder if now is a good time to purchase a home. If you’re mulling it over, consider this: new research says that in most areas, buying is now cheaper than renting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fixed mortgage remain a bargain at the start of the spring-buying season: The average rate on the 30-year mortgage dipped last week, while the 15-year loan fell to a new record low. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the rate on the 30-year loan ticked down to 3...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Home sales rose in January to the highest pace in nearly two years, flashing signs of health ahead of the spring-buying season. The National Association of Realtors says home sales increased 4.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4...

ROANOKE, Texas (AP) — A man who gained notoriety for claiming he can live in a $340,000 suburban Dallas house for $16 has been ordered to vacate the home by next Monday. Kenneth Robinson says he filed an “affidavit of adverse possession” that gives him the right to live in the empty foreclosed home in Flower Mound...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer people bought new homes in December, making 2011 the worst sales year on record. The Commerce Department said Thursday new-home sales fell last month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 307,000. The pace is less than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold in a healthy economy...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fixed mortgage rates rose slightly this week off their record lows. The year ends much like it began, with few people able to take advantage of the best rates in history. Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average on the 30-year home loan increased to 3...