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Libby Wells | Bankrate.com (TNS)

Strictly speaking, you don’t need a credit score to buy a house. If you’re paying cash, for example, no one necessarily cares whether you have good credit. However, if — like most aspiring American homeowners — you’ll need financing, then your credit score is crucial.

Your credit score is one of the most important factors lenders consider when you apply for a mortgage. Not just to qualify for the loan itself, but for the conditions: Typically, the higher your score, the lower the interest rates and better terms you’ll qualify for.

So, what is a good score if you want to buy a house? It depends on the type of mortgage you’re seeking: Many loans vary when it comes to the credit score needed to qualify. Generally speaking, you’ll likely need a score of at least 620 — what’s classified as a “fair” rating — to qualify with most lenders. With a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan, though, you might be able to get approved with a score as low as 500. read more

Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas will take the title of world’s largest cruise ship when it debuts out of Port Canaveral next year and the cruise line Tuesday revealed the first details about features coming to the massive vessel.

The 20-deck sister ship to Icon of the Seas, that debuted out of PortMiami this year, will come in incrementally larger than Icon’s 248,663 gross tons, according to cruise line officials. That puts both ships in the new Icon class about 15,000 more gross tons than the Oasis-class vessels that held the world’s largest cruise ship title before Icon’s debut.

“Star of the Seas is the second bold act of this exciting, new era of vacations first introduced with Icon of the Seas, and it’s putting the world’s best vacation on the map at yet another top travel destination,” Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley said in a press release.

Still under construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland, the vessel will have a 5,610-passenger capacity based on double occupancy, but will approach 8,000 passengers plus 2,350 crew at full capacity. read more

By Abby Badach Doyle | NerdWallet

At the risk of jinxing it, things are looking up for home buyers.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage has dropped for three consecutive months (and counting). Competition has calmed down a bit — and inflation has, too. And while we’re still technically in a sellers’ market, the inventory of homes for sale in June reached its highest level in more than four years.

Hoping to buy in 2024? If you’re well prepared with a budget and a mortgage preapproval, you might not even need to knock on wood. Let’s look at the good news, the challenges and the wild cards that remain for home buyers this year.

Good news: Mortgage rates drop to a one-year low

Finally, some relief: In the week ending Aug. 15, 30-year mortgage rates dropped to an average 6.28%, their lowest weekly average since February 2023. That’s welcome news for shoppers who have felt burned by high rates — or maybe even put their house hunt on ice until the cost of borrowing cooled down.

Over the past two years, buyers have been at the mercy of mortgage rates’ meteoric rise, holding on as the average 30-year fixed rate climbed from 3% to nearly 7% in 2022. In October 2023, rates topped 8% for the first time since 2000 — a surprise even many top economists didn’t predict. Higher interest rates make it more expensive to get a mortgage. read more