Mar 10
Rising Rates Will Impact Home Prices Americans have, so far, stood resilient to rising mortgage rates, but a bigger impact will come soon, say Goldman Sachs economists. Housing’s share of the economy rose above normal levels from November to January, despite mortgage rates surging 60 basis points at the time. Still, economists caution that …
Mar 09
If Pets Could Pick a Home, They’d Pick Here Pet owners in some states do a better job than those in others creating a thriving home for their furry friends, according to a new survey by Care.com. Care.com recently looked at a variety of data about pet care to rank the states based on …
Mar 08
Social Networks Influence Home Buyers Social networks can carry a lot of weight in people’s lives, even having an impact on their real estate decisions. In a recent REALTOR® University Speaker Series presentation, Dr. Johannes Stroebel presented research about the influence of social networks on buyers’ home purchase decisions. Housing investment is a regular …
Mar 07
Homeowners Turn to Their Equity Again As home values rise fast, homeowners are starting to realize they have a lot of wealth tucked into their homes, and it’s become enticing to tap into it. Since the housing crash, homeowners have been shy about accessing any of their home equity, even those who still had money …
Mar 06
How Do Your Property Taxes Stack Up? The average American household spends $2,149 on property taxes for their homes each year, according to U.S. Census data. But depending on where you live, that can vary drastically. For the third consecutive year, New Jersey ranks as having the highest property taxes in the nation, according to …
Mar 03
What Home Buyers Wish They’d Known Nearly half of American homeowners recently surveyed said they would do something differently if they were to go through the home buying process again, according to the NerdWallet’s Home Buyer Reality Report, which analyzed the steps more than 2,200 Americans took to home ownership. If you want …
Mar 02
All-Cash Sales Falling Nationwide All-cash sales are on the decline, accounting for 32.4 percent of total home sales in November 2016, down 4.5 percentage points year over year, according to CoreLogic’s most recent housing data. That’s a significant drop from January 2011, when cash sales were at their peak: a whopping 46.6 percent of …
Mar 01
Parents May Need a New Mortgage Perspective Parents are having a tough time saving money. Fifty-one percent of parents recently surveyed say their mortgage was having a “major impact” on their ability to save, according to Bankrate’s Money Pulse survey for February. “It’s probably not as much about the mortgage as it is …
Feb 28
Contract Signings Would Be Higher If… Pending home sales weakened in January as insufficient supply levels of homes for sale continues to press on many markets, particularly in the Midwest and West, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Monday. NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, dropped 2.8 percent …
Feb 27
What Threatens Your Closings the Most The majority of contracts settle on time, but more than a quarter of practitioners are citing delays due to common culprits. In the latest REALTORS® Confidence Index report, 29 percent of real estate professionals say they faced a delay to settlement and 5 percent reported a contract that was …
Feb 24
Where FHA Loans Are the Most Popular In 2016, 15.5 percent of home purchases were completed using Federal Housing Administration loans, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. For many borrowers, the FHA requires a down payment of just 3.5 percent of the purchase price of a home. The following are the eight metros with populations …
Feb 23
Existing-Home Sales Reach Decade High Existing-home sales in January reached their fastest pace in nearly a decade, with all major regions except the Midwest posting gains last month, the National Association of REALTORS® reports. Sales By Region Here’s how existing-home sales fared across the country in January: Northeast: Rose 5.3 percent to an annual …
