Striking down a growth of ordinances in municipalities across the country attempting to make homelessness illegal, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that it’s not a crime to sleep outside on city streets when not enough shelters are available. Several cities had been fining or arresting people who slept on city sidewalks or in parks. In the decision, the court defines such legal action as “cruel and unusual punishment” and said it
In some places in the U.S., bad credit doesn’t have to be a deterrent to scoring a mortgage and buying a home. Researchers from realtor.com® analyzed metros to find where a less-than-perfect credit score—even those well under 650—can still land buyers a home.To get a mortgage without top-notch credit, government loan programs may be key, researchers say. Such programs may be more available in some areas of the country than others. For exam
Low home prices along with affluent buyers, more investors, and those wanting to bypass appraisals are prompting all-cash transactions to surge in Detroit. Eighty-seven percent of all single-family home and condo purchases in the city during the first half of 2018 were cash deals compared to 28 percent nationwide, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm. “The city of Detroit has an absurdly low share of financed home purchase
Homeowners who have children tend to be in more of a hurry to sell. A new survey from the National Association of REALTORS® shows 26 percent of sellers with children under the age of 18 responded saying that they needed to sell “very urgently” and claimed they needed their home sold as quickly as possible. Respondent sellers claim they’re looking for an agent who can sell their home within a specific time. On the flip side, 14
Lots may be getting smaller, but they’re also getting more expensive, according to analyzed data taken from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction. Single-family lot prices reached a new record high in 2017—half of the lots were priced at or above $47,400.While this is a new nominal record, when adjusted for inflation, lot values have still not reached their peaks from the housing boom days, the National Association of Home Builde
Mortgage rates rose slightly for the second consecutive week, and economists warn that more rises are likely to come.“Borrowing costs may be slowly on the rise again in coming weeks, as investors remain optimistic about the underlying strength of the economy,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.Mortgage rates are now up three-quarters of a percentage point from last year. Home prices have been rising too—although at a slower p
Today’s affordability pressures are holding back the most eager would-be home buyers. In a recent study by CoreLogic and RTI Research, young millennial renters under the age of 29 are the most enthusiastic demographic wanting to purchase a home in the next 12 months. However, one-third of millennial renters said they can't afford the down payment required to do so.If the down payment is your potential clients’ biggest hurdle to buying, share
The rate of home flipping in the U.S. plunged almost to a four-year low in the second quarter as the number of distressed or low-priced homes dropped, according to a new report by real estate data firm ATTOM Data Solutions. A flip is defined as a home that has been sold more than once in a 12-month period.A total of 48,768 single-family homes and condos were flipped in the second quarter, comprising about 5.2 percent of all sales. That is down f
Generation Z is being categorized as optimistic when it comes to real estate investments, and it's showing a lot of interest in homeownership despite their young age, according to a new generational survey of more than 2,000 renters, owners, and those living with families conducted by PropertyShark.com, a real estate website. Generation Z includes those who were born after 1995.Eighty-three percent of Gen Z respondents surveyed say they plan to b
Having a Starbucks open near a neighborhood could increase nearby home values, potentially by a few thousand dollars, a new study from Harvard Business School finds. The study’s authors focused on gentrification of neighborhoods using Yelp data, but discovered the “Starbucks effect” during their research.Using Yelp data to find the entry of each Starbucks in a ZIP code, researchers found a 0.5 percent increase in housing prices within a yea
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