MarketWatch: Weekly Real Estate Update for Riverdale, Bronx – 5/11/2026 – 5/18/2026

Did You Know?

* The 10-Year Treasury hit 4.6%, up about 15% since March…..this impacts mortgage rates and is likely to place a damper on the Spring Housing markets in the US…. (CNBC)

* About 80% of mortgage holders have an escrow account, which pays out property taxes and home owners insurance premiums, as well as mortgage insurance if the borrower is required to have it. Escrow costs have jumped 45% since 2019. Lenders generally spread out any shortfall over 12 months or may allow you to pay the amount upfront. (CNBC)

* Bid It Out: I’m in the midst of a kitchen renovation. The EXACT same marble I chose for counters ranged in price from $170/sf to…..$65/sf…..over 61% lower for the exact same thing. Now imagine if governments were doing this consistently….with YOUR money! 🤣🤣🤣

* The U.S. average yearly real estate tax amount paid by homeowners was $3,018 in 2024, up 27.4% from 2019. During that time, home prices jumped 51.6%. (Remember these are AVERAGES, which are often pretty useless data)

* “They” say the wealthy don’t leave town when new tax policies are implemented, but “they” need look no further than the UK where in 2025, the UK lost a record 16,500 high-net-worth individuals. VAT is 20%, built into all pricing. The UAE, US, Switzerland, and Italy gained the most wealthy people, mostly due to favourable tax policies. While VAT is 8.1% in Switzerland, its 22% in Italy….and 5% in Dubai. While several US states have low or no local income taxes, they make up for that with sales tax, somewhat similar to VAT: When local county, city, and district taxes are added to the state base rate, the combined average rates are highest in the following states: Louisiana: 10.11% average combined rate, Tennessee 9.61%, Washington 9.51%, Arkansas: 9.46% and Alabama 9.46%. New York City is 8.875%, and Palm Beach 6.5%. Some cities in Oregon, New Hampshire and Delaware have zero sales tax! Consumer spending is 68-70% of GDP in most US cities. (Henley)

Mortgage Rate Updates:

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-mortgage was at 6.36% as of May 14th, one basis point below the one-month high in the previous week to hold most of the rebound since the start of the year. Mortgage rates tracked the increase in long-dated Treasury yields during the period as a surge in energy prices placed inflationary risks on the upside, potentially warranting a hawkish Federal Reserve. “While purchase demand is softening, it remains above this time last year. Recent data also shows existing-home sales modestly edging up.” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.

Source: Freddie Mac