Finance - Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips

10 Single-Family Rental Markets Set for the Most Growth

During the pandemic, the desire for a single-family home has grown for owners and renters alike. Many builders and investors are now exploring the single-family-to-rent sector.The single-family rental market has seen some of the highest rental returns in counties located in the Midwest and South so far in 2021, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, which tracked 495 U.S. counties for its latest single-family rental market report.Researchers identifi

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Small-Business Loan ‘Lifeline’ Extended

If your real estate business continues to feel the effects of the pandemic, you now have an additional two months to apply for a loan through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. On Thursday, by a bipartisan vote of 92–7, the U.S. Senate passed the PPP Extension Act of 2021, which extends the application deadline through May 31, 2021. It also gives SBA lenders an additional 30 days, through June 30, to process

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The Top 15 Housing Markets Right Now

Smaller outlying markets are among the hottest housing markets in the nation. In particular, several California markets are seeing rising demand for housing, but it’s mostly the smaller cities within the Golden State that are seeing the most activity as affordability becomes a more pressing issue.A year ago, realtor.com®’s monthly analysis of the hottest housing markets was once dominated by large California markets like San Francisco and Sa

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36% of Homes Sold Above List Price in Feb, the Highest Share on Record

The buying frenzy continues as multiple offers become the norm and buyers offer thousands or tens of thousands above the asking price to try to get the home they want. In many cases, buyers also are increasingly waiving appraisals and even some inspections to make their offers stand out.Buyers are also feeling a greater sense of urgency as mortgage rates begin to rise, and they’re eager to lock in a low rate ahead of any further increases.

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Mortgage Rates Continue to Climb

Sub-3% mortgages are slowly fading into the rearview mirror as the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage continues to inch up. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.09% this week, Freddie Mac reports.Economists continue to remind consumers that mortgage rates are still near historical lows and are hovering around 3%. “Even though mortgage rates will likely continue to rise later this year, with the Fed keeping interest rates low, mortgage rates

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Baby Boomers are the Richest Home Sellers

Baby boomers tended to make up the majority of sellers last year—at 43%—and they also saw the highest profits, too.Overall, home sellers of all age groups who sold their homes last year saw a median gain of $66,000 more than what they originally purchased for—a $6,000 increase compared to the previous year. But for sellers ages 66 to 74, they saw a median gain of $100,000 in equity, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ “

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Mortgage Rates Continue Slow Climb Over 3%

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage continued to move higher this week, now averaging 3.05%, Freddie Mac reports.“It looks like rates in the 2% range are over while current mortgage rates will likely be the lowest,” Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecasting at the National Association of REALTORS®, writes on the association’s Economists’ Outlook blog. “Since the pandemic struck our country one year earlier, year-over-ye

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Cash-Out Refis Surge to Highest Levels Since Financial Crisis

Cash-out refinances are on the upswing, to the likes of numbers that haven’t been seen since the financial crisis. But economists say they aren’t concerned—at least yet. After all, home prices are still rising. During the financial crisis, home prices started to drop.Cash-out refis surged 42% year over year in 2020, according to Freddie Mac’s data. Homeowners cashed out $152.7 billion in home equity last year, the highest level since 2007

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Down Payments, Mortgage Loan Amounts Reach New Highs

Home prices have surged to double-digit percentage gains over the past year, which means home buyers are having to either bring more to the closing table or borrow more. They’re doing both.Down payments are at record highs, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ fourth quarter 2020 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report. The median down payment on a single-family home and condo purchased with financing in the fourth quarter of 2020

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Where Homeownership is Leading to the Largest Wealth Gains

A home often represents about 90% of the total wealth of a household. Homeownership often has long been pointed to as a way to build wealth over the long run. It also could help narrow racial income and wealth inequity gaps, writes Gay Cororaton, senior economist for the National Association of REALTORS®, at the association’s Economists’ Outlook blog.But how much wealth potential can you gain over time? Cororaton offers the following scenari

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