When mortgage rates spiked last year, many potential home buyers put their plans on hold. But hesitant home buyers may want to rethink their position now that the winter housing market has seen mortgage rates fall a full percentage point from where they were last November. After all, newly released research shows the decline means up to 3 million more Americans can now afford a $400,000 loan. Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research at the National Association of Realtors, says lower rates have opened up the market to a growing number of potential buyers. “There is finally light at the end of the tunnel for many Americans, as they now earn more than the income needed to purchase a mid-priced home,” Evangelou said. “Many Americans earn about $5,000 more annually than the qualifying income needed to purchase a home.” Evangelou believes, with inflation improving and the Fed indicating smaller rate increases in the future, the improvements should hold and keep mortgage rates steadier in the months ahead. (source)