There was a hint of smoke in the air on the morning of Nov. 8 in Paradise, Calif. Aubrey Pruis, in his first year as an association executive at the Paradise Association of REALTORS®, was at the office for a meeting with his colleagues when they spotted ember and ash falling from the sky onto the parking lot. They instantly knew this wouldn’t be an ordinary day.At the time, flames from a wildfire raging nearby hadn’t yet reached Paradise. Bu
Home buyers looking for the best deal of the year on housing may want to wait until the day after Christmas to close on a home. ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm, analyzed the best days and months for advantageous pricing at state and metro levels.Only 10 days of the year offer discounts below estimated market values—seven in December and one each in October, November, and February, according to the study.ATTOM Data Solutions“Peop
The streak of sluggish home sales finally came to an end in October. Following six consecutive months of decreases, existing-home sales reversed to post a rise last month, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday. Three of the four major regions of the U.S. reported gains in October.Total existing-home sales—which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops—increased 1.4 percen
The rise of housing affordability concerns is sparking a slowdown in new-home construction. Single-family housing starts fell 1.8 percent in October compared to the previous month, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday."This month's decrease in single-family starts isn't a surprise given the drop in our builder confidence index," says Randy Noel, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. "Builders are showing caution as mount
Homeowners are getting older. Provo and Ogden, Utah, are the only two metros of 100 analyzed that had an average homeowner age below 50 years old, finds a new study by LendingTree, an online loan marketplace. LendingTree sought to find out which metro areas had the oldest and youngest homeowners.The average age of a homeowner across the 100 largest metros in the U.S. is 54.Florida homeowners are older than homeowners in most other states, accordi
Seventy percent of prospective home buyers say they expect house hunting to get harder or stay about the same in the months ahead. It’s a sentiment shared among buyers of all ages, according to new findings from the National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Trends Report for the third quarter of this year.Housing costs are also higher and could price out some prospective buyers. Mortgage rates are on the rise and, combined with higher ho
Young adults who are given financial help from their parents to live independently instead of living rent-free at their parents’ home tend to do better professionally, according to a study published in August in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.Sociologist Anna Manzoni, the study’s author and an associate professor at North Carolina State University, studied about 7,500 young adults between the ages of 18 to 28. College graduates who rec
Tom Ferry’s detailed agenda to schedule your day for maximum impact One of the benefits of being a real estate agent is the freedom that this business gives you. There’s no time clock to punch or strict hours to abide by. You have the freedom to work whenever and wherever you choose.This, however, can also be a recipe for disaster.If you’re not careful before you know it, an entire day will slip through the cracks and you’ll have nothing
Inflated home appraisals are partly responsible for what the Federal Housing Administration expects to be a $14.4 billion loss in mortgage insurance over the next few years—a cost that likely will be passed on to borrowers, according to an agency analysis. If the losses continue, the FHA may be forced to raise insurance premiums on its mortgages, The Wall Street Journal reports. The FHA insures about 11 percent of single-family residential mo
Homeowners appear to be spending more on property improvements while waiting for the right time to sell. In October, expenditures on existing homes, including renovations, additions, and alterations, rose 2.9 percent year over year, according to a new report from BuildFax, a firm that provides property condition and history data.Home prices are outpacing wage growth significantly, and along with rising mortgage rates, more homeowners are feeling
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