Nov 24
A More Efficient Home This Thanksgiving Consumer home ownership site HouseLogic has a whole list of ways you and your clients can avoid gobbling up more energy than necessary this Thanksgiving. They’ve mapped out ways to save on energy before Turkey day as well as during the cooking and cleanup processes. Keep these tips in …
Nov 21
Smaller Homes Mean More First-Time Buyers The size of the typical home is shrinking, which may be a sign that a wider array of buyers, including first-timers, are returning to the market. The median size of a single-family home has decreased for the past two consecutive quarters, and it will likely continue to go down …
Nov 20
Mom, Dad Are Moving in … Many reports have centered on the upswing in adult millennial children moving in with their parents. But as these young professionals finally move out and form their own households, they may find that their baby boomer parents may soon coming knocking with moving bags in hand. The American Institute …
Nov 19
5 Real Estate Predictions for 2015 Expect the home-purchase market to strengthen along with the economy in 2015, according to Freddie Mac’s U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for November. “The good news for 2015 is that the U.S. economy appears well-poised to sustain about a 3 percent growth rate in 2015 — only the …
Nov 18
Credit Unions Step in to Fill Lending Void The number of mortgage originations issued from credit unions in the first half of 2014 has climbed 10 percent year-over-year. This has elevated credit unions to having more than 8 percent share of the home loan market—about triple their share prior to the recession—making them a growing …
Nov 17
Mortgage Rates Still Near Yearly Lows The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is hovering around 4 percent. This has been keeping borrowing costs low for refinances and home buyers for the last few weeks, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. Freddie Mac reported the following national averages for mortgage rates for the week …
Nov 14
Home Remodeling Activity Falls as Rents Rise Markets where rents are rising rapidly are seeing less home-improvement activity, translating to rental properties that aren’t being upgraded or properly maintained, suggests a new study. In many ZIP codes where rents have climbed by some of the highest amounts, remodeling and other home-improvement activity are at their …
Nov 13
Stage for Home Buyers’ Return Home buyers are reportedly returning to the market after nearly a year, as mortgage rates mostly stabilize and federal regulators offer up rules that promise to make it easier to get a loan, Reuters reports. Home building giants D.R. Horton Inc. and Toll Brothers Inc. reported this week a sharp …
Nov 12
Financing Barriers Stifle Condo Resurgence Demand for condo units is rising in urban areas nationwide, but mortgage financing continues to squeeze out entry-level buyers, the Los Angeles Times reports. List prices for condos in major markets are rising faster than prices for single-family detached homes in many areas. Condos are surging in popularity as boomers …
Nov 11
Renters Face Affordability Crisis With increased competition for units, rents are shooting up, and the increases are biting renters’ wallets as they find themselves increasingly getting priced out of the market, with wages failing to keep pace. Nationwide rents have risen about 6 percent from a year ago, due to rising demand and still-limited supply, …
Nov 10
Building Reality Into the American Dream It wasn’t quite real until she saw it firsthand. Quenetria “Que” Harris had just dropped her three-year-old son Ja’kyi off at school when she drove up to thank a few of the more than 100 REALTOR® volunteers working to make her new home a reality. “It hit me because …
Nov 07
Home sales down because of: Down Payments or Debt? Debt — like student loans and car payments — can create the biggest barrier to home ownership, more so than saving for a down payment, according to a new analysis by RealtyTrac. RealtyTrac analyzed affordability in 500 counties and found that one of the biggest obstacles …
