Jul 16
What First-Time Buyers Are Willing to Sacrifice A new survey shows that consumers saving for a home are willing to forego modern conveniences in order to secure a down payment. That may even mean giving up phones, Internet, cable TV, or Starbucks, according to a newly released survey by the business advisory firm the Collingwood …
Jul 15
Obama Lauds HUD’s New Fair Housing Rule President Obama says the Fair Housing Act and the latest final rule issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will help ensure all Americans get an “equal shot in life.” Obama devoted his latest weekly address to talking about the Fair Housing Act and …
Jul 14
The 10 Most Stable Housing Markets Housing markets where home values grow too rapidly can quickly turn sour. That’s why many home owners may prefer moderate, steady price growth. “Housing market stability isn’t only good for financial health, it’s good for a home owner’s mental health too,” notes a new analysis by SmartAsset. SmartAsset evaluated …
Jul 10
This Isn’t Your Dad’s Retail Land Ownership Buying real estate is perhaps the most common way for average people to build wealth, but if they’d like to try to take that another step, one of America’s oldest department chains is ripe for real estate investment. Seritage Growth Properties, the real estate investment trust spun off …
Jul 09
Realtor.com® Debuts First-Time Buyer Videos In new campaign efforts to bring millennials into the homebuying pool, realtor.com® is launching a five-part online video series that gives first-time buyers a humorous look at the stages of the purchase cycle. The “webisodes” feature Emmy-nominated actress Elizabeth Banks and are dubbed “The Home-Buying Process in Plain …
Jul 08
What 6.5 Million Borrowers May Be Missing About 6.5 million borrowers could likely qualify for and benefit from a traditional refinancing or the HARP program, according to a new report released from the Black Knight Financial Services Inc. About 3 million borrowers alone could save at least $200 a month via traditional refinances. About 500,000 …
Jul 07
Fewer Home Buyers Pay All-Cash The share of home buyers using all-cash to pay for their real estate transactions dropped to the lowest level since November 2009, according to a new report by RealtyTrac. Nearly 25 percent of all single-family home and condo sales in May were all-cash purchases, down from 30 percent a year …
Jul 02
Amenities That Jack Up Sales Prices Americans will dig deeper in their pockets and shell out more cash to live near top-notch schools and in safer neighborhoods with access to retail and “artificial amenities,” according to a new study published in the Journal of Urban Economics. In analyzing 2,000 neighborhoods across the country, researchers found …
Jul 01
5 Issues That Will Impact Real Estate Demographic shifts from retiring baby boomers and the increase of millennials buying homes will have the most profound impact on the real estate industry in the coming years, according to a new survey of real estate professionals from the Counselors of Real Estate. CRE’s survey identifies the issues …
Jun 30
Study Questions Home Efficiency Upgrades A new study makes a controversial finding: Home efficiency upgrades don’t equate to much energy savings over the long run. The University of Chicago study analyzed a random sample of 30,000 low-income Michigan households that were eligible for an Energy Department home weatherization program. The study found that projected …
Jun 29
More Renters May Be Stuck Millions of Americans may be unwillingly stuck in rental housing. The nation’s home ownership rate has plunged for eight years, currently down to 63.7 percent in the first quarter of this year from a peak of over 69 percent in 2004. As the home ownership rate has fallen, the amount …
Jun 26
Housing Outlook Remains Healthy Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Chicago were singled out as the major housing markets with the healthiest outlooks in the nation, according to the latest reading of the Leading Index of Healthy Housing Markets (LIHHM), a report released by Nationwide that evaluates the healthy housing outlook of the U.S. and 400 metro areas. …
