As mortgage rates continue to inch higher, consumers are bracing for steeper homebuying costs this spring. Households earning the national median income of $68,000 a year could afford about 59.6 percent of new and existing homes that were sold in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The trade group’s latest report looks at home prices, mortgage interest rates, and median household income across 23
Your average buyer or seller in the high-end real estate market may not be what you’d imagine, according to Paul Boomsma. The Chicago-based president and founder of Luxury Portfolio International, the marketing program for luxury real estate companies within the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World group, presented research at the PowerHouse SMART 2018 Luxury Conference held in Chicago this week that aims to help real estate professional
At the end of 2017 properties sold at a quicker pace, despite inventory shortages and rising home prices. On average, homes sold in December were on the market for 40 days, down from 52 days a year ago, according to the December 2017 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey.Since 2011, the median number of days on the market has been decreasing. In May 2011, properties were typically listed for three months. For all of 2017, properties were on the mar
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that starting Monday it will accept public comments on their enforcement process. Among its many oversight areas is the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, known as RESPA.Mick Mulvaney, currently the acting director of the CFPB, announced the public comment period in an effort to help improve the bureau’s overall efficiency and effectiveness in its enforcement of federal consumer financi
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached its highest average since December 2016, Freddie Mac reports. This is the fifth consecutive week that mortgage rates have been on the rise, increasing borrowing costs for home shoppers heading into the spring buying season.“Following a turbulent Monday,financial markets settled down with the 10-year Treasury yield resuming its upward march. Mortgage rates have followed,” says Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s
When you see cranes in the sky, you know development is on the rise. San Francisco saw the largest increase nationwide in cranes dotting its skyline between July and October 2017, according to Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), a property and construction consulting firm. RLB’s most recent quarterly report shows an 18 percent jump in the city by the bay’s crane count, putting it at 26. Largely driven by job growth in the tech industry, constructi
A shut-down has been averted, and there's good news for real estate in the budget agreement, which President Trump signed this morning. The government had temporarily closed after Congress failed to pass a government funding bill before midnight Thursday, but an agreement was reached Friday morning. The two-year, $400 billion spending deal came as a result of a bipartisan group of lawmakers supporting the agreement. Congress now has until March 2
City officials in Denver want to stop “slot houses” from being built. Some community members have bashed what they call the homes’ ugly architecture, which has grown prominent in a few neighborhoods within the city. The city’s Land Use, Transportation, and Infrastructure Committee voted this week to place a moratorium on slot home construction. The full city council must still approve the moratorium for it to become law.Slot homes are box
Utility companies will pay less tax from a recent tax overhaul, and many are planning to pass those savings on to customers. Rate changes may shave a few dollars off the average customer’s bill in the coming months, The Wall Street Journal reports.The federal government slashed its corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Regulated gas and electric utilities will have to pay less tax, and some state authorities may give regulated ut
Millennials faces high student debt, soaring rents, and increasing property prices. But a new study shows they aren’t the generation who is dealing with the greatest hardships when it comes to breaking into the housing market. Instead, Generation X—those born between the mid-1960s and early 1980s—is the age segment that is having the toughest time saving up to buy a new home, a report from the National Association of REALTORS® sho
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