Housing affordability is the talk of the town in the current real estate climate. Home prices surpassed their peak at the end of the last housing boom. Since 2012, prices have increased, on average, 6 percent per year. However, per capita incomes have risen only 2.4 percent, on average, per year, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Insight report for July.In areas like Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties, the median-income household is
Spending on repairs and home improvement continues to grow at a stable rate as homeowners feel more confident about starting projects as their home values increase.That said, an annual increase in remodeling expenditures may soften somewhat in the coming months, but will likely remain at or above 6 percent through the second quarter of 2018, according to the latest Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity from Harvard University’s Joint Ce
Modular housing has been praised for its potential to help communities more quickly add inventories of homes. Portions of the home are built in a factory and then assembled on site to help speed up delivery times.A U.K.-based company called Ten Fold Engineering says it’s developed a series of modular housing structures that can be unfolded in less than 10 minutes without the need for builders, cranes, or foundations. The unit gets delivered
Get more online attention for your business by creating videoKey Takeaways Real estate professionals can gain traction on YouTube by creating video consistently, adding multiple calls to action and syndicating their efforts.Many real estate agents are seeing tremendous value gained by implementing video in their business. Much of that “video following” revolves around having an active YouTube channel, which makes sense as this medium of
About 4.5 million U.S. homes are at high or extreme risk of wildfires, according to the 2017 FireLine State Risk Report released by Verisk Insurance Solutions.The state most at risk: More than 2 million households in California are at high or extreme risk of wildfire, according to the report. Texas ranks second with 715,300 homes at risk.“Wildfires have scorched nearly 3.5 million acres so far in 2017,” says Arindam Samanta, director of p
Threats of rising mortgage rates may have spooked borrowers last week and prompted them to quickly lock in rates. Total mortgage application volume for refinancings and home purchases jumped 6.3 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.Even though mortgage rates remained steady during the week, refinance volume, which had been dropping in recent weeks, surged 13 percent last week.The 30
Here are some sobering stats from the FBI: A robbery occurs every 1.6 minutes in the U.S., a burglary every 18.2 seconds, and a larceny theft every 5.4 seconds.SafeHome, a home security systems reviews resource, analyzed FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data from 2015 to determine the items thieves most commonly target.The most stolen items were classified as miscellaneous valuables, jewelry, and precious metals, according to the report. In some state
Foreign investment in U.S. real estate has surged to a new high, with property expenditures skyrocketing 49 percent over the past year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2017 Profile of International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate.Nearly half of all foreign sales were in three states: Florida, California, and Texas.Between April 2016 and March 2017, foreign buyers and recent immigrants purchased $153 billion of res
As you negotiate with the other party in a homebuying transaction, you and your counterpart are both seeking the best deal for your clients. Being flexible and entering the negotiations with a three-point plan will give you an edge as you discuss options with the other side. Lifestyle site Lifehacker.com recently shared tips to improve your position in negotiations.First, know exactly what the deal you want is. Called your "aspiration point," thi
Competition is heating up among millennials and baby boomers for smaller, more affordable homes. But builders have been slow to meet demand. That may be showing signs of changing.Home sizes are beginning to shrink, which may also, in turn, help prices edge down some too.“We are starting to see [smaller] starter homes come back,” says Rick Palacios Jr., director of research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting.The uptick started slightly in mi
Stay up to date on the latest real estate trends, valuable tips, and company news.
This website includes images sourced from third party websites including Adobe, Getty Images, and as otherwise noted.
