Tips for facing high mortgage rates | Real Estate Newsletter
And living next to an AI data center.
You probably saw that mortgage interest rates shot up last week. The average rate for the most popular type of home loan is well over 7% as I write this. My face when I saw the news: 😧
Some people who want to buy homes are already sitting on the sidelines because of high home prices. High mortgage rates make homebuying even less affordable.
But if you have to move, you have to move. Babies are born, jobs relocate, and future plans can hinge on owning a home.
If you’re in the market for a home right now, I have some tips for navigating elevated mortgage rates.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
Sleepless nights: What’s it like living in the shadow of an AI data center? These Vineland residents know.
Sheriff’s office saga: The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office found $20 million in undisbursed proceeds from its property sales.
Luxe listing: A Delaware County estate for sale has a par-three golf hole and an “entertainment lodge.”
Symphony of art: Peek inside this condo filled with art in Center City’s Symphony House.
— Michaelle Bond
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Last week, the average interest rate for the popular 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage hit 7.28%, the highest it’s been since November 2023.
It’s a daunting number for anyone buying a home.
Rates will likely drop a bit. But they won’t fall significantly anytime soon, thanks to surging energy prices, government debt, and inflation.
And they’re not getting back to where they were in the pandemic era, when folks got 3% interest rates or lower.
But people still want and need to buy homes. According to real estate experts I talked to, anyone looking to purchase now should:
🏠 Fix your credit.
🏠 Shop around for mortgages.
🏠 Make a down payment plan.
🏠 Be flexible.
Keep reading to get into the details of these and other tips for homebuyers.
Homeowners in Vineland have been living with a noisy neighbor: a 2.4-million-square-foot data center complex that emits a near-constant hum.
Plans for massive AI data centers have been popping up across the country and in our area as demand for the facilities grows.
Data centers are proposed in King of Prussia, the outskirts of Conshohocken, and the site of the former Pennhurst State School and Hospital in East Vincent. Construction recently started on one in East Whiteland.
But neighbors locally and nationally are pushing back against data centers, voicing their concerns about negative impacts on the environment, quality of life, and property values.
In Vineland, people have sued over the data center there. Residents complain about the noise, which disrupts their sleep.
Some residents have sold their homes to companies tied to the data center. Others who don’t want to move wonder what happens next.
The latest news to pay attention to
The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office found $20 million in undisbursed proceeds from its property sales.
Collingswood will allow backyard chickens after an earlier ban and years of debate.
Philly’s historic Wanamaker Building is getting a new $4 million event venue.
A 15-acre site in Upper Darby could become a public forest — if organizers can raise $8 million to buy it.
SEPTA wants to transform a historic East Passyunk trolley substation into something new.
EPA will spend $2.5 million in Camden to clean up the site where a giant dirt pile caused underground contamination.
House of the week: For $615,000 in East Mount Airy, a four-bedroom stone twin in what the owner calls “the greenest corner in Philadelphia.”
Luxe listing: For $4 million in Delaware County, an estate with a par-three golf hole, multi-sport court, and an “entertainment lodge.”
Mur Sherman Hayman and her husband, Mark Paul, downsized from the four-story townhouse they’d called home for four decades to a condo a few blocks away.
They moved into Symphony House at Broad and Pine Streets five years ago. Hayman had to persuade Paul to go, but their condo won him over.
The two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit on the 12th floor has a balcony and views looking out to the Delaware River.
Hayman’s parents were antique dealers who brought gifts for the home whenever they visited.
Hayman is an artist, and her paintings of Paul as a Renaissance bishop, a cowboy, and a palace guard in the court of Louis XIV hang in the condo. Hayman credits Paul, who died in November, with making the space a comfortable home.
Peek inside the condo to learn about the work Paul did and Hayman’s favorite piece she brought home from England.
📷 Photo quiz
Where in Philly was this photo shot?
📮 If you think you know, email me back.
Last week’s quiz featured a photo of the sculpture Freedom by Zenos Frudakis at 16th and Vine Streets.
Shout out to Lars W. for getting that right.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
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