First-time buyers are finding the housing market challenging to break into. On average, they have to put in 3.8 offers before their offer is accepted, which is higher than the 2.5 offers that repeat buyers typically make, according to a new survey of about 2,000 U.S. adults from NerdWallet, a personal finance website.Further, 56 percent of first-time buyers say they offered more than the asking price before they were successful in their home purc
Fewer new homes are being built across the country, despite desperate calls from the housing industry to build more. New-home starts plunged to the lowest level in more than two years in December, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday.New-home construction dropped 11.2 percent in December and is now at the slowest pace of construction since September 2016. Housing starts have dropped 10.2 percent over the past year, with decreases in both
The cap on property taxes will have widespread impact on millions of filers this year. Tax filers will no longer be able to deduct more than $10,000 in state and local taxes from their federal income taxes. An audit released on Tuesday from the U.S. Treasury Department shows that 11 million tax filers, of 150 million income tax returns, will face limits on their property tax write-offs.Parents are increasingly helping their adult children buy the
Pending home sales rebounded in January as all four major regions of the U.S. saw an uptick in contract signings. The largest increase was in the South.The National Association of REALTORS®’ Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 4.6 percent to a reading of 103.2 in January. Nevertheless, contract signings are still down 2.3 percent year over year. This is the thirteenth consecutive month for ann
Foreclosures are not nearly as prevalent as they were during the housing crisis in 2008. But they are still occurring.In fact, some states are seeing an uptick in foreclosure starts compared to last year, notably Montana (up 48 percent), Minnesota (up 29 percent), Nebraska (up 28 percent), Texas (up 15 percent), and Florida (up 13 percent), according to a year-end foreclosure report released recently by ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data fi
In the last few years, student loan debt and rising housing costs have been cited as the chief reasons why many young adults are moving back in with their parents. But a new Homes.com study suggests the real trigger may be a broken heart.Since the Great Recession, which thwarted many millennials’ plans to move out on their own, an improving labor market has not done much to lure these young adults out of their parents’ houses. Why are they st
Countries around the world are cracking down on money laundering schemes in the luxury real estate sphere. “Real estate has always been a favorite asset for criminals, through which they would launder their money,” Brigitte Unger, a professor at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and an expert in global money laundering issues, told Mansion Global.Real estate money laundering schemes are estimated to reach $1.6 trillion a year
Chase Home Lending is promising to get customers to the closing table for a home purchase within 21 days or give the borrower $1,000 in cash.The average time to close on a home loan is 45 days, according to January data from Ellie Mae. But Chase believes it can make it to closing in less than half of that time through its new “Closing Guarantee" program.Chase officials say the program could give customers a competitive advantage when
Mortgage rates inched lower for the third consecutive week. Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater says the lower rates bode well for the spring home buying season, typically the busiest time of the year for home shopping.“Mortgage rates … [are] continuing the general downward trend that began late last year,” Khater says. “Wages are growing on par with home prices for the first time in years, and with more inventory available,
Young adults are now taking on more mortgages than any other generation and increasing their purchase power in the housing market. Millennials represent 42 percent of all new-home loans, higher than both the baby boomers and Generation X, according to a new study from realtor.com®.“Millennials are getting older, with better jobs and deeper pockets, allowing them to expand their collective purchase power and hence, their footprint in the market
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