Smart Homes Not in Sight for 2020. Technology may seem to be rushing forward, but it isn’t ready to make all our homes, smart homes. That’s the view of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which collaborated with Elon University in North Carolina recently to assess the state of Smart Homes in America. Lee Rainie, …
Category: News
Jul 26
4 Home Showing Tips in the Hot Weather
4 Home Showing Tips in the Hot Weather. Sizzling 100 degree temperatures have been blanketing the country in recent weeks, but some potential buyers may be more reluctant to go house shopping in the heat. How can you still draw the buyers out? “Even though buyers have air conditioning in their cars, you have to …
Jul 24
Older Adults at Higher Risk for Foreclosure
Older Adults at Higher Risk for Foreclosure. More than 1.5 million older adults have lost their homes to foreclosure and millions more are at risk, according to a new AARP report. The risk appears to be greatest among Americans 75 years and older, as well as minority home owners. About one in 30 adults 75 …
Jul 24
Commercial real estate continues to Lead Rebound
Commercial real estate continues to Lead Rebound. Two recent reports highlight the strength of the commercial market. Morningstar reports that commercial real estate is much stronger than housing as evidenced by real estate funds, which have recorded an average annualized return of 33 percent over the past three years. Through June, real estate funds have …
Jul 20
New Home Building at Highest Levels
New Home Building at Highest Level in 3 Years. The New Home Building industry continues to dig out of its slump as the pace of construction posts big jumps for single-family and multifamily houses. Builders had a level of starts in June not seen since October 2008, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. New Home Building starts in …
Jul 20
Luxury Homes Linger Longer
Luxury Homes Linger Longer Than Lower-Priced Houses. While the market for lower-priced and entry-level homes is showing signs of momentum, the Luxury Homes market seems to be stagnant. The average days on the market for Luxury Homes — houses selling for more than half a million dollars — is 186 days, according to the Institute for Luxury Homes …
Jul 18
False Housing Recovery or for Real This Time?
False Housing Recovery or for Real This Time? Deutsche Bank says that there have been seven false housing recovery reports with the housing market in the last six years. But housing analysts and economists are more optimistic that this time around a residential housing recovery will finally stick. The signs analysts point to for a …
Jul 18
Home Owner Insurance Deductibles on the Rise
Home Owner Insurance Deductibles on the Rise. Home owners beware: “Your home owner insurance now probably covers less while costing more,” The Wall Street Journal reports. Home owner insurance deductibles have been rising the last few years, as home owners who may have once seen $250 to $500 a claim soar to $1,000 to $2,500 a …
Jul 16
Mortgages Continue Record-Breaking
Mortgages Continue Record-Breaking. Record-reaching rates have practically become a weekly mainstay the last few weeks for 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages. For the past 16 weeks, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage alone has averaged below 4 percent, increasing affordability by cheapening the costs of borrowing. In its weekly mortgage market survey, Freddie Mac reports that average …
Jul 16
Home Owners Gain Equity
Home Owners Gain Equity. Rebounding home prices are lowering the number of home owners who are considered “underwater” on their mortgage, according to a new report by CoreLogic. More than 700,000 home owners are no longer considered “underwater,” owing more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth. At the end of March, 23.7 …
Jul 13
Housing Crisis Over?
Housing Crisis Over? It’s official: The Housing Crisis market has reached bottom, at least according to 44 forecasters surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. Only three economists surveyed said they didn’t think the market had reached bottom yet. The recent momentum in housing has plenty of economists and forecasters convinced that the worst is behind. According …
Jul 12
Hidden ‘Second’ Foreclosure Crisis?
Hidden ‘Second’ Foreclosure Crisis? An unpaid tax bill of just $400 could cost you your entire home in some states. A new report is calling such growing cases a second “foreclosure crisis.” Local governments are stepping up their efforts to collect unpaid taxes from home owners, facing shortfalls in their budgets to pay for services …
