While pending home sales were on the rise in June, closed sales of existing and newly built properties dropped. Home prices, too, showed signs of slowing growth, though they are still increasing. Some housing experts say the fall in sales may be tied to the rapid run-up in home prices.In Southern California, for example, new- and existing-home sales dropped sharply in June compared to a year ago, and more listings there are undergoing price redu
New-home buyers now rank all-white kitchens—once the most in-demand aesthetic—as their second choice, below natural wood cabinetry, according to a new survey from homebuilder Ashton Woods. Respondents to the survey, who are prospective buyers planning to purchase in the next 10 years, picked distressed wood cabinetry as their third most popular choice.They also said living space is more important to them than bedroom size. Sixty-one percent s
Many would-be move-up buyers are staying put in their current homes, unable to afford the increasing prices of larger properties. But they're learning a strategy to save for their next home—by becoming “accidental investors.“ More investment property owners today are everyday homeowners renting out their current home to take advantage of rising rental rates and save for a bigger home, CNBC reports.Some real estate professionals are recommen
More homeowners are staying put in their residences longer, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. In 2008, the median time homeowners stayed at the same address was six years; in 2014, that surged to 10 years. “I’m seeing people bottled up in their homes because they have nowhere to move to,” says Dowell Myers, an urban planning and demography professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “We have burge
The U.S. homeownership rate posted another increase, reaching 64.3 percent in the second quarter, up a tenth of a percentage point from the first quarter, the Commerce Department reported this week. The rate has increased 0.6 percentage points over the past year.Younger Americans, specifically those under the age of 35, are behind most of the recent increases in the ownership rate. The homeownership rate of this younger buyer group increased to
More often than not, people choose to communicate with each other through text or email as opposed to having a conversation over the phone. While text and email can be more efficient for some types of communication, certain nuances are lost without having a verbal conversation, says marketing strategist and customer service expert Marc Gordon.“The fact is that the telephone allows us, as a species, to communicate in our most natural form,”
Mortgage rates reversed course this week, rising slightly over the past week and reaching their highest level since late June, Freddie Mac reports.“The next few months will be key for gauging the health of the housing market,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Existing sales appear to have peaked, sales of newly built homes are slowing and unsold inventory is rising for the first time in three years.”Affordability pressur
Consumers who make efforts to raise their credit scores from “fair” to “very good” may see big payoffs. LendingTree researchers analyzed loan request and average loan balance data to see how a lower credit score can increase borrowing costs for the average consumer. They compared the impact across several types of debt: mortgages, student loans, auto loans, personal loans, and credit cards.Overall, raising a credit score from “fair”
Ongoing housing shortages and rising home prices are prompting international buyers to pause in their recent homebuying sprees in the United States. International sales in the U.S. totaled $121 billion from April 2017 to March 2018, a 20 percent decline from a year ago, the National Association of REALTORS® reports.Foreign buyers and recent immigrants accounted for 8 percent of existing home sales, a decrease from 10 percent during the 12-month
The home’s garage, large backyard, and updated kitchen may not be as important to home shoppers as the school district, according to a new survey released by realtor.com® of more than 1,000 people who closed on a home in 2018. Seventy-eight percent of buyers surveyed say they’re willing to give up home features to get their school district of choice, and home shoppers are willing to give up their most desired home features to get that.“Mo
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