General News - Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips

An Unexpected Investment Gold Mine

Trailer parks have emerged as one of the top-performing real estate investments in the decade since the housing crash, The Wall Street Journal reports. Shares of stocks for major operators of mobile home parks, such as Sun Communities Inc., have climbed 4,137% since March 2009. “They’ve been rocket ships,” John Pawlowski, an analyst at real estate research firm Green Street Advisors, told the Journal. “It’s baffling how g

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Credit Scores Nationally Surge to Record High

Americans’ credit scores are improving, particularly among millennials. The average FICO score in the U.S. surged to a record of 703 in 2019, Experian reported in a new analysis. The share of Americans who had FICO scores above 700 increased to 59%, the highest on record. “Millennials ages 24 to 39 now outnumber baby boomers and are finally hitting their credit stride,” according to the Experian report. “Their economic emergence is r

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Cities Where Residents are More Likely to Move

New neighbors are more common in certain areas of the country, particularly in the north Dallas suburbs.Frisco, Texas, is the fastest-growing city in the U.S., and the Dallas suburb also has the least tenured homeowners, according to a new analysis by 55Places.com. Nearly half—or 43%—of homeowners in Frisco have moved into their homes within the last decade. The neighboring city of McKinney, Texas, ranks number three on the list with 42% of i

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Salary Needed to Afford Home Payments in the 15 Largest U.S. Cities

Home values vary considerably across the country, and that means aspiring buyers will need more—or less—money depending on where they’re putting down roots. For example, the median home value in San Francisco is nearly $1.2 million, compared to $170,000 in Philadelphia.Researchers with SmartAsset, a personal finance website, sought to find out how much consumers need in order to afford home payments in different areas of the country. They a

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Mortgage Rates are ‘Deal of the Century’

Borrowing costs continue to head lower, enticing home shoppers and refinancers to lock-in.“Given the recent volatility of the ten-year Treasury yield, it’s not surprising that mortgage rates again have dropped,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “These low rates combined with high consumer confidence continue to drive home sales upward, a trend that is likely to endure as we enter spring.”Freddie Mac reported the followi

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New-Home Sales get Early Start on Spring, Soar to 2007 Levels

Sales of newly built single-family homes saw a large jump in January, as warm weather in many parts of the U.S. prompted an early start to the homebuying season, says Jing Fu, director of forecasting and analysis at the National Association of Home Builders.New-home sales rose 7.9% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 764,000 units, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Sales are 18.6% higher than a year ago, and are at t

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Debt Levels are Surging Among Older Americans

Total debt for Americans over the age of 70 has jumped 543% over the last two decades. Mortgages are a big part of that debt, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.Americans in their 60s also saw debt significantly increase in that time, rising 471%, the report shows.Other age groups have also seen debt increases over that period, but the report authors note they haven’t been as pronounced as that seen by seniors.

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‘Zombie’ Foreclosures are Rising Again

More vacant foreclosures are appearing in some markets. But while pockets of property distress continue to haunt those areas, economists say there’s no need for panic.Vacant homes in foreclosure limbo—labeled “zombie foreclosures”—rose 3.1% in the first quarter, according to a newly released report from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm. About 282,800 homes are in the process of foreclosure, and 8,700 are sitting empty as zo

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Contract Signings Surge, but they could be Even Higher

Real estate pros are having a busy winter, and with buyer demand high, it could be even busier if it wasn’t for a lack of inventory continuing to plague many markets. Pending home sales rebounded in January, rising 5.2% month over month, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Thursday. Contract signings are up 5.7% over year-ago levels.“This month’s solid activity—the second-highest monthly figure in over two years—is due to th

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The Share of Single Homeowners is at Record High

Even as home prices rise, more Americans are heading into homeownership alone. The share of U.S. homeowners who are single reached a record 38.4% in 2018, the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau. A separate report says 48.5% of singles aged 18 to 34 owned a home in 2018, the highest level since 2009.The numbers are higher because more Americans are single, analysts say. Also, an improving economy and strong job market is fuelin

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