News

First Year-Over-Year Sales Gain in 3 Years Based on new data from the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales rose in October 2024. Sales improved in all four major U.S. regions. Year-over-year, sales increased in three U.S. regions but were unchanged in the Northeast. Total existing-home sales – completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes,…

Competition for buying homes easing fastest in Louisiana, Florida and Texas According to Zillow’s latest market report, U.S. homebuyers are finding more leverage in negotiations nationwide as competition eased in October 2024. The company’s market heat index shows that conditions are gradually shifting toward a buyer’s market as activity slows heading into winter. “We’re seeing…

Based on new data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) shows a 7.7% month-over-month increase in home sales activity through Canadian MLS Systems in October 2024, marking the highest level since April 2022. “The significant jump in October sales was unexpected but likely tied to the surge in new listings we saw in September,”…

According to new data from the Miami Association of Realtors, residential sales in Palm Beach County dropped by 19.7% year-over-year, decreasing from 2,028 to 1,628 units. This decline is attributed to limited inventory at key price points and consistently high mortgage rates, even after the Federal Reserve’s first rate cut in four years in September.…

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending October 25, 2024, U.S. mortgage applications decreased 0.1 percent from one week earlier. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the…

U.S. homebuyers lose $33,000 in purchasing power in last 6 weeks of election cycle According to national property broker Redfin, a U.S. homebuyer on a $3,000 monthly budget has lost $33,250 in purchasing power over the last six weeks, with the daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rising to 7% on October 28, 2024. This…

With the 2024 Presidential election fast approaching, you might be wondering what impact, if any, it’s having on the housing market. Let’s break it down. Election Years Bring a Temporary Slowdown In any given year, home sales slow down slightly in the fall. It’s a typical, seasonal trend. However, according to data from BTIG, in election years there’s…

According to Redfin, the typical U.S. home seller pays a 2.55% commission to the real estate agent hired by their home’s buyer. That’s down from an average of 2.62% in January 2024. Commissions have been gradually declining over the last few years, from an average of 2.89% in 2013 to 2.66% in 2023. But news…

The Brickell area of downtown Miami’s office market has seen rental prices soar to new heights due to intense demand from blue-chip companies based in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Latin America seeking premium office locations, surpassing the available supply. Brazilian bank Banco Master has secured the final 26,000 square feet in the prestigious…

Hotel investments account for 40 percent of all commercial transactions in Japan Global property consultant CBRE reported this week that Japan’s commercial real estate transaction volume for Q2 2024 decreased by 25% year-over-year to JPY 663.0 billion. Significant hotel transactions boosted the sector’s acquisition volume to JPY 280.0 billion, which is about 2.6 times the…

Marking 8 consecutive months of growth says CoreLogic’s S&P Case-Shiller Index Like many economic metrics, the journey toward stabilizing the U.S. housing market is fraught with challenges. Although there has been a modest recovery in home sales and inventories from last year’s lows, elevated mortgage rates continue to hamper affordability, deterring many potential buyers. Despite…

According to the latest U.S. Rental Report from Realtor.com, residential rents in March 2024 continued to fall for the eighth month in a row, with a year-over-year decrease of 0.3% across various unit sizes. Despite this trend, the median rent stood at $1,722, just $36 below its peak in August 2022, yet $313 higher than…

Around 40 percent of U.S. renters also believe homeownership is out of reach According to a recent survey by national property broker Redfin, almost 58% of U.S. homeowners feel they probably couldn’t afford to repurchase their current homes at today’s prices and mortgage rates. This insight comes from a survey carried out in February 2024…

According to new data from CBRE, commercial real estate lending in the U.S. demonstrated signs of stabilization at the end of 2023, with borrowing costs appearing to have peaked, even as transaction activity remains subdued. The CBRE Lending Momentum Index, which tracks the pace of CBRE-originated commercial loan closings in the U.S., increased by 1.0% from…

(Miami, Fl and Irvine, Ca) Newly formed World Property Ventures was created with one purpose in mind: “Build better mouse traps for the global real estate industry”, says company founder and CEO Michael Gerrity. Michael Gerrity To that end, Gerrity points out the global property industry is a massive $300+ trillion-dollar addressable marketplace that at…

According to the American Institute of Architects latest AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index, the ABI remained below 50 for December 2023, indicating soft business conditions in the U.S. to close out 2023. The score of 45.4 remained essentially flat from November 2023. Any score below 50.0 indicates decreasing business conditions but there are encouraging signs of…

We are getting ready to list our house and search for a new home. The buyers agent I used to buy our first house has kept in touch over the years (it’s been almost 5) with cards, events, newsletters, etc. We have mutual acquaintances but we are not friends, just a professional relationship. I’m thinking…

According to AAA, two months following the devastating wildfires in Maui, most of West Maui will begin to reopen to visitors on Sunday, October 8, 2023. The tragic wildfires killed 97 people and destroyed much of the historic town of Lahaina. The loss of life, property, cultural and historic sights, and livelihoods has led to…

Yet home and condo prices hold steady last month Las Vegas Realtors are reporting this week that prices for local Southern Nevada homes and condos are holding steady, matching prices from one year ago. LVR reported that the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) during September…

According to a new Redfin-commissioned survey, nearly two-thirds of recent U.S. homebuyers (59%) think purchasing a house is more stressful than dating. Daryl Fairweather “Getting ghosted by your date is stressful, but purchasing a home in today’s market comes with its own unique set of anxieties,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “Buyers are increasingly…

A RE/MAX agent who appeared on the popular home search show shares his takeaways for those starting their real estate journeys. Anyone who has watched HGTV’s longtime hit show “House Hunters” understands the suspense it brings – will the buyers choose the rural roomy craftsman? Or will they compromise on space to live in their…

Slowdown forcing Hong Kong developers to reduce prices or delay projects According to JLL’s latest Hong Kong Residential Market Monitor released this week, amongst Hong Kong projects completed in the first half of 2023, only 55% of units were sold as of the end of June 2023, lower than the average sell-through rate of 78%…

Based on ATTOM’s newly released third-quarter 2023 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, 1.3 million (1,277,612) residential properties in the United States are vacant. That figure represents 1.3 percent, or one in 79 homes, across the nation – the same as in the second quarter of this year. The report also reveals that 315,425 residential…

Measurabl, the world’s most widely adopted ESG (environmental, social, governance) platform for real estate, has secured a significant partnership to provide sustainability due diligence (DD) on all commercial real estate (CRE) loans issued by Voya Investment Management (Voya IM). This is a notable milestone for Measurabl’s new due diligence offering, as it demonstrates its ability…

Based on CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index for May 2023, annual U.S. single-family home price growth slowed for the 12th straight month in May, falling to 1.4% increase year over year. The last time CoreLogic’s Home Price index saw annual growth fall to less than 2% was in early 2012, but U.S. appreciation still remained…

According to national property broker Redfin, listings of homes for sale in the several Southwest Florida cities like the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area have recovered after plunging in the wake of Hurricane Ian last fall, and sales have begun to bounce back. In the two months after the devastating September 2022 storm, there were…

Cash home buyers in NJ are clamoring for homes throughout the state, so now is a great time to request a cash offer. This guide will help you navigate the nuances of New Jersey’s cash-buying real estate market and give you the information you need to find the right New Jersey cash buyer for your…

Facing the task of selling your house fast can seem daunting, particularly when every tick of the clock counts. If you’re a homeowner in Washington confronted with the urgency to sell your home, you have options. Whether you’re facing a financial deadline, a life transition, or the responsibility of an inherited or distressed property, a…

You’ve been searching online and found a few homes that meet your criteria of three bedrooms and two bathrooms. But as you read the listing descriptions that indicate one house is on 0.23 acres and another has a lot size of 8,730 square feet, you’re baffled by what these numbers actually represent. Your digital assistant…

When the time comes to move, some tenacious homeowners in North Carolina are eager to take over the reins of their home sale and figure out how to sell a house by owner. With millions of homes sold each year, a modest portion of sellers — about 7% in 2021 and 10% in 2022 —…

According to national property broker Redfin, new listings of homes for sale fell 22.4% nationwide from a year earlier during the four weeks ending April 23, 2023, one of the biggest declines since the start of the pandemic. Homeowners are staying put because they want to hang onto their low mortgage rates–this week’s average 30-year…

According to a new report from CBRE, lab vacancies increased across the top 13 U.S. life sciences markets in the first quarter of 2023, providing relief for companies that had found little available space in recent years. Average vacancy of 6.7% in the first quarter marked an increase of 170 basis points from a year…

Observations, rants, theories, speculation on future market movement, experiences, offer heartbreak, buyer fatigue, seller drama, mortgage drama, appraisal drama, anecdotes, new construction builder shenanigans, rate predictions, frustration with seller listing price strategy, crystal balls, and so on, that you may not feel warrant their own threads, but you want to get it off your chest.…

I have a small house (around ~$100k value) that I’ll be selling shortly. My neighbor has asked me on numerous occasions to let him know if I will be selling because he wants to buy it for his daughter, etc. (Unrelated, but said neighbor has also helped out a lot by doing things like mowing…

The housing market has gone through a lot of change recently, and much of that was a result of how quickly mortgage rates rose last year. Now, as we move through 2023, there are signs things are finally going to turn around. Home price appreciation is slowing from the recent frenzy, mortgage rates are coming down, inflation is easing, and…

Last Thursday, Freddie Mac announced that their 30-year fixed mortgage rate was over 3% (3.02%) for the first time since last July. That news dominated real estate headlines that day and the next. Articles talked about the negative impact it may have on the housing market. However, we should realize two things: The bump-up in rate should not…

There have been a lot of headlines reporting on how homeowner equity (the difference between the current market value of your home and the amount you owe on your mortgage) has dramatically increased over the past few years. CoreLogic indicated that equity increased for the average homeowner by $17,000 in the last year alone. ATTOM…

Homeownership is on the goal list for many young adults, but sometimes it’s hard to know exactly how to get there. From understanding the homebuying process to pre-approval and down payment assistance options, uncertainty along the way can ultimately hold some buyers back. Today, there are over 75 million Millennials and 67 million Gen Z’ers in the…

In a year when we’re learning to do so much remotely, homebuying is no exception. From going to work to attending school, grocery shopping, and even seeing our doctors online, digital practices have changed the way we live. This year, rather than delaying their home purchases, buyers – alongside their trusted real estate professionals –…

If you’ve been working from home this year, chances are you’ve been at it a little longer than you initially expected. Businesses all over the country have figured out how to operate remotely to keep their employees healthy, safe, and productive. For many, it may be carrying into next year, and possibly beyond. While the pandemic…

Earlier this year when the nation pressed pause on the economy and unemployment rates jumped up significantly, many homeowners were immediately concerned about being able to pay their mortgages, and understandably so. To assist in this challenging time, two protection plans were put into place to help support those in need. First, there was a pause placed…

The 2020 housing market has surpassed all expectations and continues to drive the nation’s economic recovery. The question is, will this positive trend continue throughout the rest of the year, especially given the uncertainty around the current health crisis, the upcoming election, and more? Here’s a look at what several industry-leading experts have to say.…

As we enter the final months of 2020 and continue to work through the challenges this year has brought, some of us wonder what impact continued economic uncertainty could have on home prices. Looking at the big picture, the rules of supply and demand will give us the clearest idea of what is to come.…

Current data doesn’t reflect negative fallout, but the industry remains cautious The real estate market was dealing with its own challenges heading into 2020 – including affordability and limited inventory – but there are concerns the coronavirus crisis may deal a heavy blow to the sector. In March, preliminary data showed the situation has begun to negatively affect both…

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) — The Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors released the March 2020 market report. Global Real Estate Advisor for Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty Dave Johnson says the strong housing market numbers in northern Nevada amid the COVID-19 pandemic tells a deeper story, “The fundamentals of real estate are quite strong and we still have quite…

Love the idea of some retro design in your home, but don’t want to fully commit? We understand where you’re coming from. Going all in with an avocado- or orange-splashed “Brady Bunch” look can just be a bit toogroovy to live with in your home. But the good news is you can try a touch of…

Buying a home with someone you love is exciting, but you know what’s not? Having your partner’s pingpong table wedged in your otherwise Hollywood-glam home, or making room in your sparse, minimalist space for your partner’s massive collection of kitschy figurines. If you and your partner have different tastes in home decor, we feel your…

By: HouseLogic These 10 money- and time-saving steps can help you craft a winning bid. Ah, the offer! Know Your Limits | Learn to Speak “Contract” | Set Your Price | Figure Out Your Down Payment | Make an Earnest Money Deposit | Review Contingency Plans | Read the Fine Print | Make a Date to Settle |  Write a Fan Letter to the Seller |  Brace Yourself for a Counteroffer Cinematically speaking, this…

By: HouseLogic Sign that paperwork. Write those checks. Get those keys! The closing. It all comes down to this. The grand finale. Once you have the keys, the house is yours. (Cue: Air horn sound!) Nice work getting this far. You’re almost a homeowner! Let’s run through some questions you may have as you cross the…

Preparing your house for winter may not be on the top of your to-do list right now. After all, most of us wouldn’t rather spend their down time doing home maintenance tasks when they could be enjoying the fall foliage, going apple picking, or sipping pumpkin-spiced lattes instead of winterizing their house. But, here’s the…

Your house gives you so much: security, pride, shelter. With all that on the line, it’s easy to assume the costs of keeping it up just are what they are. But wait. There are plenty of expenses you probably make to keep your home in good order that are simply a waste. Here’s how to…

Taking on a home improvement project can increase your property’s value, address small issues before they become large problems, and make your house more livable. But while small projects may require only sweat equity (e.g., grabbing a hammer and scheduling out a few hours of your time), big changes typically require big bucks. Something like…

(NewsUSA) – Sponsored by GAF – Mark your calendars. Come April, we’re looking at the start of peak home buying season – the four months that generally account for more than 40 percent of annual housing transactions. The reasons are pretty obvious: The weather is (cross your fingers) nicer, the holidays are a distant memory,…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is set to eliminate a regulatory loophole that made getting a mortgage more feasible for thousands of Americans. The consumer watchdog agency announced this month that it will allow a temporary provision commonly known as the “qualified mortgage patch” to expire in January 2021 as originally planned or shortly thereafter.…

WASHINGTON—Home-buyers bought more new homes in June, a bright spot in the beleaguered housing sector. Purchases of newly built single-family homes increased 7% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 646,000 in June, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The increase follows two straight months of declines. Economists surveyed by The Wall…

(NewsUSA) – Sponsored by GAF – How many houses have you been outbid on? And if you’re an owner who can’t even get a nibble out of buyers – if some barely even bother stepping inside – are you starting to feel like screaming? Yes, times are tricky for both buyers and sellers. “Rising demand…