General News - Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips

It’s the ‘Best Week of the Year’ to Buy a Home

Your buyers likely will see the most housing options, least competition and lowest prices of the year this week, according to new realtor.com® research.Home buyers may want to be in the market this week: It’s the time of year with the most favorable conditions for purchasing a property, a new study shows.Historically, the week of Oct. 1–7 brings the strongest balance of market conditions, with greater home listings, less buyer competition an

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Contract Signings Dive as Higher Mortgage Rates Sideline Buyers

Pending home sales fell last month as house hunters struggled against rising costs. Read more from NAR’s latest home sales report.The National Association of REALTORS® reported Thursday that contract signings tumbled 7.1% month over month in August as mortgage rates float above 7%, pushing many aspiring home buyers to the sidelines. All four major U.S. regions saw monthly decreases, according to NAR. Pending home sales are down 19% from a year

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Mortgage Rates at 23-Year High

The higher borrowing costs are disappointing to home buyers and sellers who expected a lower rate environment this fall, NAR economist says.As mortgage rates continue to rise, more Americans are feeling stuck in their current homes, unwilling or unable to move at today’s higher borrowing costs. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to a 7.31% average this week—the highest level since 2000, Freddie Mac reports.“However, unlike the turn of the

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11 Home Landscaping Rules you Should Never Break

Whether your focus is on natural beauty or outdoor living, by sticking to these rules you can grow your home's curb appeal.Whether you like to admire the garden from your living room window, host regular backyard barbecues or line up a youth soccer practice out front on the weekends, your home’s exterior appearance is important. Planning the right landscaping – purely for aesthetics or utility – is imperative to help you

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Mortgage Rates Barely Budge, Remain Over 7%

The higher rates, combined with high home prices, are creating a housing market of “haves and have-nots,” says NAR’s deputy chief economist.Home buyers are being forced to adjust to what is becoming a new norm: Mortgage rates above 7%. At this week’s average of 7.19% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, as reported Thursday by Freddie Mac, the typical monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home of $413,500 would translate to $2,243, sa

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Home Values Fell in 21 of the 50 Largest US Metros in August

Home values are now 11.4% lower in Austin, Texas, than they were in Aug. 2022, Zillow said. Nationally, prices were up slightly from July to August, and there was a small inventory uptick Home values have fallen by more than 10 percent in Austin, Texas, as the nation’s housing market continued cooling down from pandemic-era highs, according to an August market report from Zillow.Nationwide, home values grew 0.2 percent from July to August, 

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Stock Market Drives U.S. Households to Record Wealth

A surging stock market powered U.S. household wealth to a record high of more than $154 trillion in the second quarter, aided by a rebound in property values, Federal Reserve data out on Friday showed.Household net worth rose 3.7% to $154.28 trillion in the period from April through June from $148.79 trillion at the end of the first quarter, the Fed said in its quarterly snapshot of the balance sheets of households, businesses and federal, state

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Apartment Building Construction on Track to Hit Record High

Data: RentCafe; Note: Includes buildings with 50 or more units; New York metro numbers do not include the Bronx or Staten Island; Table: Kavya Beheraj/AxiosNew apartment construction is on track to top a 50-year high, with nearly 461,000 units expected to be built across the U.S. this year, according to a new report.Why it matters: A housing shortage in the U.S. has contributed to the rising cost of both renting and buying.What's

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Generative AI Helps Designers, Architects and Realtors Work Smarter, Not Harder

While artificial intelligence can't replace the human brain, tools like Midjourney are supercharging the home design process.These days, there's no shortage of news about artificial intelligence. Some industries are dominated by praise and excitement for how AI can make life easier, while other professional sectors lament the loss of jobs and human touch. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle, and the world of home design is no exception.S

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Mortgage Rates Dip but Remain Above 7%

“The lack of movement is discouraging to home buyers who are also facing higher home prices,” says NAR economist.Mortgage rates backed away slightly from last week’s two-decade high but remain above 7%. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.18%, Freddie Mac’s latest weekly mortgage indicator shows.“The lack of movement is discouraging to home buyers who are also facing higher home prices,” says Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economi

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