General News - Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips

Appraisal Valuation Gap Uncovered in Minority Areas

A new analysis from Freddie Mac alleges appraisal values are more likely to fall below the contracted sales price in Black and Latino neighborhoods than in predominantly White areas. The research is based on an evaluation of 12 million appraisals for purchase transactions on single-family homes that were submitted to Freddie Mac from 2015 to 2020.Nearly 13% of properties in Black census tracts received appraisal values lower than the contract pri

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Modular Homes Building Splendor into Prefabs

When you hear “prefab,” you may think double-wide mobile home. It’s a misconception the industry has long been trying to clear up.Prefab, a type of construction method, can be found at the luxury home level. More prefab options are stretching into the high-end market, combining quicker construction timelines with ultra-luxury touches.Prefab homes are built offsite in a factory, delivered to a home site, and assembled faster than a trad

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10 Areas with the Most Homebuilding Activity

Even though builders have been saddled with higher material costs and labor and lot woes, home building has been on the rise over the past year. Single-family permits, a gauge measuring future construction, have jumped about 30% from July 2020 to July of this year. The permits have increased in all four major regions of the U.S., led by the Northeast and the South, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ analysis posted on its E

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Ultra-White Paint Could Cool Homes Better than Air Conditioning

Scientists at Purdue University have created the whitest paint in the world, and their research, published in April, shows that the ultra-white color could drastically reduce or even eventually eliminate the need for air conditioning.The stark white paint works by reflecting 98.1% of sunlight away from the building. It also emits infrared heat, which means it absorbs less heat from the sun than it emits. “A surface coated with this paint is coo

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30-Year Mortgage Rate Inches Down to 2.86% This Week

Mortgage rates followed the trend of the 10-year Treasury yield this week and inched lower. But these historically low rates—averaging 2.86% this week for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage—are expected to rise over the course of the next few months.The National Association of REALTORS® predicts that mortgage rates will rise to 3.5% by mid-2022 as the Fed will likely start reducing its bond purchases before the end of the year. Expect interest

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America is Short 5.24M Homes

More real estate listings are coming to the market, but that won’t be able to make up for the fact that America is short millions of homes based on population needs. That likely means home buyers will continue to face inventory shortages and a dearth of homes for sale in the future.The U.S. is short 5.24 million homes. That is an increase of 1.4 million homes from 2019, according to research from realtor.com®.“The pandemic has certainly

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Rising Demand Pushes Rents to Double-Digit Growth

Rents are rapidly rising across the country. The U.S. median rental price jumped 11.5% year over year in August to $1,607 per month. That is the first time in two years that the rental market has reached double-digit growth, according to realtor.com®’s Monthly Rental Report.More than half of the 50 largest metros posted double-digit annual gains. The highest increases were in Tampa, Fla. (up 30.6% compared to a year ago), Riverside, Calif. (up

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Mortgage Demand Climbs to Highest Level Since April

Just when the housing market was starting to fall into a seasonal pattern, mortgage demand takes off. Mortgage applications to purchase a home—a gauge of the housing market—rose 7% last week compared to the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. That marks the highest level since April of this year.Housing inventories have increased slightly, which may be opening up more possibilities to home buyers who had felt s

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Welcome to the Team Bernardo Monzon Dealing the San Diego Area

iPro was founded on the idea of building a better living with champion real estate services. We focus on incorporating and mastering the latest technologies and perform all types of real estate transactions. Our team of professionals set a stronger standard of business and give superior results.Click here for information on becoming a salesperson.

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New Owners Fazed by ‘Hidden’ Costs of Homeownership

The price of entry to homeownership involves more than just the down payment. About 44% of homeowners say they were unaware of the other costs associated with buying a home, like home inspection, document fees, property taxes, home insurance, and title fees, according to a realtor.com® survey of nearly 3,000 adults. About 11% of respondents also failed to factor in moving expenses.“Unlike most big-ticket consumer purchases, for which most peop

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