While housing affordability has been getting a hand from lower mortgage rates, it wasn’t enough to lift new-home sales last month.Sales of newly built single-family homes underperformed in what is traditionally the busiest time of year in the housing sector. New-home sales dropped 7.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000 units in May, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday. The number represents signed contracts, not closings
Government officials in some cities want to make it easier and less expensive to raise homes near coastal areas that suffer from repeated flood threats.Flooding is a threat to low-lying coastal communities. Federal flood insurance premiums are rising, and many believe they will continue to do so over future years.“The seas are rising … The flood maps continue to get updated, and more homes are in coastal high hazard areas,” Brandi Gabbard,
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the sponsored government enterprises that support the bulk of U.S. mortgages, are making it easier to buy a manufactured home, but observers say not enough of the public may be enticed.A year ago, Fannie Mae debuted a program that essentially regards high-end manufactured homes the same as on-site homes when it comes to financing. Freddie Mac followed suit in the spring. Fannie and Freddie hope that by offering more re
Metros that were once overlooked are proving to be popular places for LGBTQ consumers to live in, according to a new survey from realtor.com®. San Francisco continues to take the top spot, but members of the LGBTQ community are increasingly choosing places that also have strong antidiscriminatory laws and policies in place.“The LGBTQ community will identify a town or neighborhood and will turn it into a safe haven for thems
More U.S. adults are getting on the internet via their smartphone, and you may want to put more focus on how your website looks on mobile devices to make sure the experience isn’t a turnoff.Thirty-seven percent of U.S. adults typically tend to reach for their smartphone to access the internet, a significant increase from the 19% of Americans who reported doing so in 2013, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Younger adults betwee
In about a dozen nondisclosure states, the home purchase price isn’t made public. Sales prices can still be found by looking at publicly recorded transfer tax information, but to most of the general public, housing sales data can seem secretive, The Wall Street Journal reports.A couple in Houston had offered to pay $700,000 to buy a home, but were alarmed to see it listed on a real estate site under an estimated home value that fell s
For the first time in two months, existing-home sales rose in May as consumers rushed to take advantage of lower mortgage rates and greater inventory. Total existing-home sales—completed transactions including single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops—jumped 2.5% month over month in May, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.34 million, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Friday. All four major regions of the U.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that property owners can challenge government access to their land, which some view as a major victory for property rights.The court’s ruling stemmed from a case involving a Pennsylvania woman, Rose Mary Knick, whose land the town of Scott Township used in 2013 to access an old burial ground. Knick didn't grant the town permission to come on her property, and she sought damages in court for what she viewed
The era of real estate-focused reality television is encouraging too many homeowners to put aesthetics before function in their remodeling projects, industry experts note in a recent Forbes.com article. For example, the trend toward no-door kitchen cabinetry, which has been made popular by home improvement shows, isn’t a smart choice for a homeowner who isn’t a neat freak or who doesn’t have matching dishes.“Everyone wants a kitchen or ba
Knowing the lifespan of appliances and home fixtures can help home buyers get a realistic look at replacements or repairs they may need to make. It can also be a point of negotiations between a buyer and seller: If the buyer expects that an aging appliance will need to be replaced soon, they may want that factored into their offer.Some of the priciest components of a house for replacements or repairs tend to be the roof, electrical, plumbing, fur
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