What makes a state great for homeowners? According to SmartAsset, a personal finance site, home price growth as well as affordability, and low foreclosures, property taxes, closing costs, and low burglary rates are among the characteristics that make homeownership an attractive investment.To find all of that, you may want to look in the Midwest, according to the analysis. But Western regions also hold quite a few spots on SmartAsset’s “Best S
Home prices are increasing at a faster rate than wages in 64 percent of U.S. markets, according to a new analysis released this week by real estate data firm ATTOM Data Solutions.Median home prices nationwide have risen 75 percent since the first quarter of 2012, while average weekly wages have risen just 13 percent over the same time period, according to the analysis. The counties where median home prices require the highest share of average wag
Borrowers found lower mortgage rates again this week, marking the third decrease in rates in the past four weeks.“After a sharp run-up in the early part of 2018, rates have stabilized over the last three months, with only a modest uptick since March,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “However, existing-home sales have hit a wall, declining in six of the last nine months on a year-over-year basis.”The National Association
The Trump administration has proposed ending the government’s long conservatorship of mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which was among a sweeping proposal for reorganizing the government unveiled Thursday. Under the proposal, which still requires congressional approval, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be converted to “fully private entities.”Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been under U.S. conservatorship since 2008.
Commercial real estate practitioners stand to benefit from a Supreme Court ruling Thursday giving states the authority to make online retailers collect sales tax. The decision, stemming from online retailer Wayfair Inc.’s lawsuit against South Dakota over such a state law, potentially erases internet sellers’ advantage over brick-and-mortar stores, which are legally required to charge sales tax to customers. Without this advantage, both conve
The number of Americans considered to be “cost-burdened” by rising housing costs has grown by nearly 14 million households over the last 30 years, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies’ 2018 State of the Nation’s Housing report. Nearly a third of all households—or 38.1 million—paid more than 30 percent of their incomes for housing in 2016, which financial experts say is too much.Renters, in particular, are facing h
Home prices are climbing across the country, and that has made homeowners more bullish when it comes to the prospects of selling. Seventy-five percent of more than 2,700 households recently surveyed say it’s a good time to sell a house; 68 percent say it’s a good time to buy, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ second quarter Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey.“Hopefully this strong seller optimism
Homeowners and appraisers continue to close the gap between perceptions over home values in their area. Quicken Loans’ National Home Price Perception Index shows that appraised values were just 0.34 percent lower than what homeowners expected in May. A year ago, the gap between the appraiser and owner’s home price opinions was five times larger.Still, home value perceptions vary quite a bit from city to city. Homeowners in San Jose, Calif.,
An audit from the Office of the Inspector General shows that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had inadequate oversight of lead-based paint reporting and remediation in its public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs.The OIG audit accused HUD of failing to make sure that public housing agencies completed required lead-based paint inspections. For homes built after 1977, the OIG says HUD did not require public housing age
Homebuilders report that some of their attempts to add new homes are being blocked by local zoning boards and neighboring owners who are trying to stop new development.“A lot of cities are reaching a crisis of affordability and supply of housing,” Rachel Meltzer, an urban policy professor at The New School in New York, told realtor.com®. “But cities can really use [zoning] to direct how housing is built.”Growing groups of neighborhood ac
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