Borrowers saw a little relief from recent increases. Mortgage rates dropped slightly this week, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 4.59 percent, Freddie Mac reports.“This stability is much needed for home sales, which have crested because of the multiyear run up in prices, tight affordable inventory, and this year’s higher rates,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Going forward, the strong economy will support
The IRS on Wednesday published proposed rules on the 20 percent business income deduction that was created as part of last year’s tax reform law. The rules are a win for real estate because they make clear that broad limitations included in the law will not apply to real estate professionals.Under the new law, individual owners of sole proprietorships, including independent contractors and owners of S corporations, LLCs, or partnerships, can ta
You may be able to judge a neighborhood by its name. Some neighborhoods containing certain names tend to attract the wealthiest residents and boast the highest home values, according to a new study by Porch.com, a home improvement resource.Neighborhoods that include names like “Hills,” “Island,” and “Village,” for example, tend to report some of the highest average household incomes in the country. On the other hand, the lowest home v
The iconic home depicted in the 1970s family sitcom, "The Brady Bunch," has a new owner and is likely headed back to television. Home design channel HGTV triumphed in a bidding war, revealing itself this week as the new owner of the Studio City, Calif., home.The network is quiet on its plans for the 2,500-square-foot home, but David Zaslav, CEO of HGTV’s parent company Discovery, said HGTV intends to restore the home to its “1970s glory.”
The median price nationwide for existing single-family homes broke another record in the second quarter of the year, reaching $296,000 and increasing 5.3 percent year over year, the National Association of REALTORS® reports. Low inventory and high buyer demand continue to put upward pressure on home prices.“The ongoing supply crunch affecting much of the country worsened for most of the second quarter, as the growing number of interested buyer
Similar to the concept of rent control, Freddie Mac announced a new program to incentivize rental property owners to ease their continuous rent hikes. The mortgage giant is offering discounted financing to owners who agree to cap rent increases for the life of their loans. Owners who take part in the program must limit rent increases on 80 percent of their units. “Maybe there’s a way we can help change incentives,” says David Brickman, an e
Media reports are increasingly focused on whether a major home sale slowdown, or maybe even a crash, is in the making, in part because many hot housing markets are seeing slackening buyer demand, and nationally 2018 is expected to end with fewer home sales than 2017. But the possibility of a crash is unlikely, says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®.In a piece he contributed to Forbes, Yun says hot markets
Your most eager customers for homeownership are likely young adult renters at the moment, but reality bites as they try to shop for a home. Young millennial renters (those under the age of 29) are significantly more likely to want to buy a home in the next 12 months than older millennials or Generation X renters. However, affordability from rising home prices is proving a major barrier, according to a new study released by CoreLogic and RTI Resea
Homeowners who love supersized homes may want to head to Scranton, Pa. Realtor.com® ranks Scranton as the top city to find the biggest bargains on big homes in the country.Nationwide, a home of over 3,000 square feet will cost $589,700, or about $147 per square foot, according to realtor.com®. In Scranton, however, the median list price of a home over 3,000 square feet is $379,900, or $94.99 per square foot.Realtor.com® researchers analyzed li
United Wholesale Mortgage, one of the country’s highest-volume lenders, is allowing borrowers an escrow-free option with their mortgage, at no extra charge. Even borrowers with less-than-perfect credit histories or who made small down payments may be eligible to bypass having an escrow account with the bank.Escrow accounts are typically required with banks for conventional home mortgages. They require borrowers to deposit money in advance for a
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