Homeowners are spending a growing share of their mortgage payments on property insurance, which is now rising faster than principal, interest and taxes, according to the September ICE Mortgage Monitor.

Data shows that annual property insurance payments for single-family mortgage holders now average nearly $2,370.

That amounts to 9.6% of monthly mortgage-related expenses, the highest share on record.

“Property insurance costs continue to be the fastest growing subcomponent of mortgage payments among existing homeowners,” said Andy Walden, head of mortgage and housing market research at ICE Mortgage Technology. “While mortgage principal, interest and property tax payments have all increased in recent years, insurance has far outpaced those gains, rising 4.9% in 2025, 11.3% annually and nearly 70% over the past five and a half years.

“That rapid escalation now means insurance alone consumes almost one in every $10 spent on average mortgage-related costs.”

The report highlighted several key findings:

• Slower but steady growth: Property insurance payments rose 4.9% in the first half of 2025, driving an 11.3% increase year-over-year. That is lower than the 7.3% increase reported during the same period in 2024 but still represents historically high growth.
• Outpacing other costs: Over the past five years, insurance has climbed nearly 70%, compared to increases of 23% for principal, 27% for interest, and 27% for property taxes.
• Higher cost per coverage: The cost per $1,000 of coverage rose by $0.29, or 5%, over the past 12 months, and by $0.85, or 16%, since 2022. The increases show that higher premiums reflect not only rising home values but also more expensive coverage.
• Regional differences: California saw the largest increases in the first half of 2025, with Los Angeles premiums up 9% in six months and 19.5% year-over-year. Florida, which has historically had among the highest property insurance costs, showed signs of moderation with smaller increases and even some declines.
• State-backed plans: Florida has seen a sharp drop in reliance on state-backed insurance programs, from 25% to 16% in the last 18 months. Usage of such programs is rising in California and North Carolina.

“As property insurance costs continue to climb and account for a larger share of monthly mortgage expenses, homebuyers and homeowners are facing increased affordability pressures,” said Tim Bowler, president of ICE. “These dynamics highlight the need for better data and connectivity. At ICE, we provide insights and integrated technology that help market participants anticipate risks, manage costs and deliver more sustainable solutions for homeowners.

“For instance, our solutions support helping borrowers and homeowners shop for the best home insurance rates. By bringing together origination, servicing and real-time data assets with our end-to-end technology platform, we enable our clients to respond to these pressures with greater confidence and efficiency.”

On Friday, 46 independent mortgage banks (IMBs) jointly sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and FHFA Director Bill Pulte, laying out priorities for IMBs for a successful Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac exit from conservatorship.

Spearheaded by the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA), the only national group that exclusively represents IMBs, this IMB sign-on letter laid out five key recommendations designed to maintain a level playing field, maintain consumer choice, protect smaller lenders and promote healthy competition. The letter was sent just one day before the 18-year anniversary of these GSEs going into conservatorship.

Why is this important for non-bank mortgage lender/servicers? First, because all the signs are there that the Trump Administration is serious about carrying out an exit from conservatorship. 

A month ago, it was reported that the Trump Administration is doing serious planning for a secondary offering of Fannie and Freddie stock by the end of the year. And more recently, both Treasury Secretary Bessent and FHFA Director Pulte have mentioned the coming sale of portions of both GSEs to investors.

But the second reason this is important is many don’t fully appreciate how much things could change once Fannie and Freddie are released. After almost 20 years of tight control by FHFA as their conservator, the two GSEs would be unshackled from a host of regulatory dictates and would be then driven by a new key objective — generating a return to shareholders while pursuing the government mandates of the existing statutes under HERA.

Without rules of the road ensuring the companies create safe and sound markets and fair access for all, we saw how that worked prior to 2008. Fannie and Freddie offered volume discounts to reckless lenders like Countrywide and WaMu. This harmed smaller mortgage lenders — and encouraged risky loans and market concentration. 

Instead, after 2008, FHFA has moved towards a policy of “G-fee Parity” — identical fees without regard to lender size or volume — and has also directed the development of a robust cash window, to provide fair access to all approved Fannie/Freddie seller servicers.

1. G-fee parity and a competitive cash window

The Trump Administration commendably adopted these policies in January 2021, formally incorporating them in the PSPAs. But we need to further hardwire these reforms. So the number one IMB sign-on letter ask is to make sure these strong G-fee parity and cash window provisions are maximally incorporated in the framework for a GSE conservatorship exit.

2. No Wall Street bank charters for GSE loans

A second concern is that as major Wall Street banks line up to underwrite stock in Fannie and Freddie, they ought not be granted their long-desired goal of gaining a GSE charter, as they tried to do in Congress in 2014. Only a concerted effort by small lender groups, the Realtors, and consumer groups beat this back.

Competition is a good thing, but it should be at the loan origination level, as the GSE model now works — and not by giving anti-competitive charters to mega-banks to use a GSE backstop to exclusively serve their own customers. This is priority number two on the IMB sign-on letter.

3. Keep Fannie and Freddie separate

What about combining Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into one entity? From the point of view of a secondary stock offering, this might seem attractive to some investment bankers, but what we don’t need is another monopoly being pushed by Wall Street, which is what combining Fannie and Freddie would create. Two GSEs have worked extremely well over the last 18 years; neither has engaged in ruinous competition — but at the same time the competition that has existed between the two is healthy. 

Two GSEs enhance innovations important to consumers and community lenders, and also prevent using the advantages of a federal backstop to unreasonably raise G-fees – thus maintaining affordability and enhancing their affordable housing mission. 

4. GSEs should maintain critical loan products

The fourth recommendation in the IMB sign-on letter is simple:  Fannie and Freddie should maintain critical mortgage products. On its face, this does not seem like a concern — if loans are profitable and safe and sound, we assume Fannie and Freddie will participate. 

But the concern — embodied in statutory mission requirements like Duty to Serve — is that Fannie and Freddie might stop purchasing — or reduce their focus on — lower-volume loan products because there aren’t big profits to be made therein.

This could affect critical products like mortgage loans for condominiums, manufactured homes, investor loans which produce affordable housing, and for second homes, which are important to many communities. Remember, post-conservatorship, Fannie and Freddie are much freer to do what they want. Let’s make sure they remain committed to their affordable housing mission, and not just maximizing profits.

5. The GSEs should purchase MBS to lower mortgage rates

Finally, the IMB letter closes on perhaps THE number one concern affecting housing markets and homeownership affordability — high mortgage rates, which are at historically high spreads compared to 10-year Treasuries. But since MBS are arguably undervalued (due to high spreads), this could be a good time for Fannie and Freddie to make opportunistic MBS purchases, which would bring down mortgage rates by signaling other MBS investors to step up.

We understand that are many issues that need to be resolved to achieve a successful Fannie/Freddie exit from conservatorship. These five IMB recommendations don’t cover all issues — but how they are resolved will be critical to ensuring we maintain a competitive mortgage market with robust participation by smaller lenders — and maximum choice for American families.

Rob Zimmer is the Director of External Affairs at the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA)

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: Sarah@hwmedia.com

A private beach is up for grabs as part of a remarkable waterfront property with a boundary extending to the high water mark.

The prized Clifton Springs address takes in the clifftop leading down to Corio Bay, offering buyers direct access to their very own patch of sand.

With rare north-facing water views across to the You Yangs, the 4288sq m property is part an exclusive club in Australia.

RELATED: Geelong’s surprise return to ‘best buy’ as prices rise

Western Beach jewel poised to smash Geelong waterfront record

Architectural Barwon Heads home lights the way

But buyers can expect to pay handsomely for the privilege – price hopes for the five-bedroom, three-bedroom house are $4.3m.

Buxton agent Alex Wescott said 126 Bay Shore Ave, Clifton Springs, was one of only a handful of homes in the area that included a private beach in its title.

It has been the scene of many happy memories for the long-term owners, who have enjoyed swimming and fishing in the comfort of their own back yard.

“The property has been with the same family for 60-plus years so it’s a much loved place. The whole family grew up there,” he said.

The two-storey brick house is set among private, established gardens featuring a large magnolia tree, expansive lawn and a separate pavilion with an indoor pool and spa.

Mr Wescott said while solidly built and habitable, the home would benefit from a modern renovation.

Alternatively, buyers could explore subdividing off the existing dwelling and building a new luxury residence on the bay side of the property.

Beach access could also improved as the vendors have used a staircase on the boundary of a neighbour’s property to reach the water’s edge.

“It really could be compared to some of the places on the Mornington Peninsula side of the bay if you could spend some money on it,” Mr Wescott said.

“It’s the kind of place that if you did that you would be there forever.”

The property is poised to challenge Clifton Springs’ price record, which stands at $3.6m.

The median house price in the Bellarine Peninsula township is $657,500, according to PropTrack.

The post Private beach for sale with front row Bellarine Peninsula estate appeared first on realestate.com.au.

The total value of U.S. homes has climbed to a record $55.1 trillion, although growth has cooled in the past year amid high housing costs.

That figure represents a $20 trillion increase since early 2020 and an $862 billion gain over the past year, according to an analysis released Monday by Zillow.

But while the national market edged higher, several large states saw their housing values decline.

Florida’s housing stock lost $109 billion in the past year, California lost $106 billion and Texas lost $32 billion. Conversely, New York posted the biggest gain, adding $216 billion, or about one-quarter of the national increase.

“Even as buyers struggled with rising costs, U.S. housing wealth kept climbing,” Orphe Divounguy, senior economist at Zillow, said in the analysis. “New construction opened the door for many first-time homeowners, creating trillions in wealth that didn’t exist five years ago. Home value gains are a windfall for longtime homeowners, but they also highlight how housing deficits that sent prices soaring left behind many aspiring first-time buyers.

“The bottom line is that we need more homes to solve our chronic affordability crisis.”

Regional shifts

The report points to subdued markets in pandemic-era boomtowns across the South and Mountain West regions, while states in the Northeast and Midwest are driving much of current national growth.

Analysts attribute the shift in part to affordability challenges in the Sun Belt — where rapid price appreciation and higher insurance costs have eroded the region’s earlier advantages.

Since 2020, the biggest overall increases in housing values have come from California (+$3.4 trillion), Florida (+$1.6 trillion), New York (+$1.5 trillion) and Texas (+$1.2 trillion).

But three of these four states posted declines in the past year.

New construction

New homebuilding has added $2.5 trillion in housing value since early 2020, accounting for about 12.5% of the total gain nationwide, Zillow said.

The construction boom has allowed more households to enter the market and has contributed significantly to wealth creation — particularly in states that saw large population inflows during the pandemic.

Utah (23%), Texas (22%), Idaho (22%) and Florida (20%) led all states when measuring the share of housing market growth that’s tied to new construction.

Analysts say these additional homes helped ease affordability pressures and gave buyers more options.

The $1 trillion club

Nine U.S. metro areas now have housing markets valued at more than $1 trillion each — collectively accounting for nearly one-third of the nation’s housing wealth (31.9%).

They are New York ($4.6 trillion), Los Angeles ($3.9 trillion), San Francisco ($1.9 trillion), Boston ($1.3 trillion), Washington, D.C. ($1.3 trillion), Miami ($1.2 trillion), Chicago ($1.2 trillion), Seattle ($1.1 trillion) and San Diego ($1 trillion).

With great power comes greater responsibility. But with great territory comes even greater responsibility.

Such has become true for NRL clubs, whose popularity is now being linked to the impact of the property market.

As the top eight sides of this year’s competition look set for the finals, figures from research group Roy Morgan have revealed it’s actually a Sydney team not in the running this year that takes the cake for most widely supported in the state.

MORE: Roosters star knocks back $3.1m offer

MORE: Tom Trbojevic’s new $4.3m home

The Parramatta Eels ended their campaign last season with 500,00 fans, the most of any NSW-based team despite years of poor performances, but it’s the uptake of housing and resident growth out west that may explain why.

The Western region has transformed in recent years into a CBD of its own, with increased housing, more jobs and greater affordability than inner city regions.

It’s surged from being home to 143,143 people at the time of the 2001 census, to now over 180,00 by 2021. That’s roughly a 26 per cent increase across two decades, highlighting serious growth in the area.

A similar trend helped explain why the Brisbane Broncos where now the NRL’s most supported team: Brisbane’s population has exploded by 500,000 people in the last decade.

Demographer Simon Kuestenmacher of The Demographics Group said housing affordability was driving city residents to new areas and NRL supporter bases were swelling as a result.

MORE: Raiders great seeks mates’ help in $1m+ pay-off

This was particularly evident in Sydney, Mr Kuestenmacher said. “(Families) need a three bedroom dwelling. Where do we go? Well you can’t stay in the inner city because three bedroom dwellings don’t exist. You can’t go to the immediate neighbouring middle suburbs,” he said.

“So you need to go to wherever housing is made available, family-sized housing, largely. And that is, of course, Penrith. This is Parramatta. This is just outside that housing that is relatively affordable compared to what something would cost in the inner city. And so you move out.”

Mr Kuestenmacher said a whole millennial generation has been pushed out west, which over time could be contributing to a new wave of supporter fanbases.

While the reasons people support teams are much more complex – results and family allegiances among the most obvious – housing was a factor, Mr Kuestenmacher said.

MORE: Slick homes of State of Origin’s biggest stars

The Penrith Panthers, the most successful team of the decade, have enjoyed an increase of over five per cent in fans, among the highest increases in the league at 377,000, Roy Morgan noted.

While five consecutive Grand Finals and four consecutive premierships will do wonders to any team’s successful fan base, their uptake in residents as the area population booms is no small factor.

“Parramatta and Penrith increasingly over the last couple of decades have become CBDs in their own right, so they increasingly have more local jobs available,” Mr Kuestenmacher said.

“That pushes people there. This is really where a lot of action is happening.”

The dominance of territory has most likely had its greatest effect interstate, where the Brisbane Broncos have now become the most supported team not only in Queensland but across the entire NRL, with an emphatic 1.3 million supporters.

The Broncos’ fanbase was aided, until recently, by representing an entire city, but the city and its surrounds have also boomed.

2011 saw 2,065,996 people recorded as living in Brisbane, but by 2021 that number increased by nearly half a million, ABS data showed.

“A lot of people leave NSW and go to Queensland and obviously a lot that’s leaving Sydney to go to Brisbane, or at least Southeast Queensland. I think a big story about that is housing affordability,” property consultant Cameron Kusher revealed.

“If you’re a passionate supporter of the game, you’re still going to go and watch the game. If you move, say from Sydney to one of those markets, they may not be your favourite team, but you might adopt them as your team and start supporting them as well.”

MOST SUPPORTED CLUBS IN THE NRL

(with estimated fanbase)

1. Brisbane Broncos 1,302,000

2. Melbourne Storm 1,118,000

3. Parramatta Eels 500,000

4. Sydney Roosters 474,000

5. North Queensland Cowboys 471,000

6. South Sydney Rabbitohs 468,000

7. St George Illawarra Dragons 419,000

8. Penrith Panthers 377,000

9. Canterbury Bulldogs 357,000

10. Wests Tigers 348,000

11. Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 280,000

12. Newcastle Knights 273,000

13. Cronulla Sharks 235,000

14. Canberra Raiders 234,000

15. Brisbane Dolphins 205,000

16. New Zealand Warriors 194,000

17. Gold Coast Titans 156,000

Source: Roy Morgan

The post NRL twist gives losing teams huge boost appeared first on realestate.com.au.