Housing

The move aims to make it easier for would-be buyers to get a mortgage.

The Sun Belt has previously been a hot real estate market, but Redfin analysis found that the Texas market might be softer this spring.

The National Association of Realtors reports that the median first-time buyer topped 40 for the first time ever.

In March, seasonally-adjusted sales of existing homes were down 3.6%, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Asking rents dropped more than 1.5% in February, and apartment supply is growing in some major metros. But shelter costs, which make up about a third of the CPI, are still showing a 3% annual increase.

When mortgage rates dipped to 6%, experts anticipated a big year for homebuyers who had been sitting on the sidelines. But then came the war in Iran, which drove rates back up.

Plus, do wealthy people really flee high-tax states?

Two days before the start of the war with Iran, mortgage rates dipped below 6% for the first time in three and a half years. Rates topped 6.5% this week.

Rental marketplace Zumper registered a small increase for one- and two-bedroom apartments for March in its national rent report.

In areas where fewer homes are bought using mortgages, getting on the property ladder is even more difficult.