Unexpectedly strong home sales at the start of this year just reversed a sharp, several-month decline in home prices. Mortgage rates are behind the swing. Home prices nationally rose 0.16% in February, when seasonally adjusted, according to Black Knight. That is the strongest one-month gain since May of last year. Home prices are now 2.6%
Real Estate
The client approached my desk, clearly unhappy. Her new granite countertops didn’t look as handsome in her kitchen as she had expected. She thought maybe the fabricator had installed the wrong slab. I sent our project manager to the job site, paperwork in hand, to check. He confirmed that she did get the Santa Cecilia
Every modern commercial real estate transaction, or other business transaction, takes place largely through email. If it’s a major or complicated transaction, it will involve dozens of email recipients and senders – business people, lawyers, brokers, title companies, other service providers, and so on. Each email will beget a stream of additional emails as each
An ‘open house’ flag is displayed outside a single family home on September 22, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Allison Dinner | Getty Images Stress in the banking system turned out to be a boon for the U.S. mortgage market. As investors hid in the relative safety of the bond market, yields moved even lower
A “For Sale” sign outside of a home in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. Dustin Chambers | Bloomberg | Getty Images Home prices cooled in January, up only 3.8% nationally than they were a year earlier, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index. That is down from 5.6%
Global warming has already caused irreversible damage to the earth’s ecosystems and communities, according to a critical report just issued from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The damage is extending to the U.S. housing market, which just saw unprecedented snow and flooding in California, as well as unusual winter tornados in the
This architectural home in Breckenridge, Colorado, is a standout with distinctive steel truss construction and metalwork accents. A pivoting front door and custom cold-poured steel walls set the dwelling’s design further apart in the resort town. Outshining the mountain contemporary itself, however, is the location. “Second to none,” says listing agent David Levinson of Slifer
A For Sale sign displayed in front of a home on February 22, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images Mortgage demand has increased for three straight weeks now, as interest rates dropped in response to the recent bank failures. But rates are rising again, and that could put a damper on application
A “For Sale” sign outside of a home in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. Dustin Chambers | Bloomberg | Getty Images Sales of previously owned homes rose 14.5% in February compared with January, according to a seasonally adjusted count by the National Association of Realtors. That put sales at an annualized rate of
Two U.S. bank failures sent Wall Street investors scurrying for the perceived safety of the bonds markets this week, providing the real estate industry with an unexpected boon on the brink of its busiest season: the lowest mortgage rates in three weeks. The average U.S. rate for a 30-year fixed-rate home loan fell to 6.6%
Solar can be intrusive. Many of the current systems have bulky equipment that takes up a lot of space and that can be considered unattractive even to the point that some homeowner associations actually ban them. But it isn’t just vanity driving that call, it’s also the use of space. In many cases there isn’t
Demand for mortgages increased for the second straight week, despite some volatility in mortgage rates. Total application volume rose 6.5% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. related investing news ‘Big Short’ trader Danny Moses warns Silicon Valley Bank collapse will expose more trouble Stephanie Landsman
A residential neighborhood in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, May 22, 2022. Jordan Vonderhaar | Bloomberg | Getty Images The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to 6.57% on Monday, according to Mortgage News Daily. That’s down from a rate of 6.76% on Friday and a recent high of 7.05% last Wednesday. Mortgage
Close on the heels of Donald Trump’s idea to build up to 10 “freedom cities” on federal land come reports that Elon Musk is planning a “Texas Utopia”—his “own town” says the Wall Street Journal. But although America has a long history of company towns, the plans for what some are calling “Muskville” so far
A “For Sale” sign outside of a home in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. Dustin Chambers | Bloomberg | Getty Images After dropping to a 28-year low the previous week, mortgage demand recovered slightly, even though interest rates marched higher. Total mortgage application volume rose 7.4% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers
Topline As fears of inflation push mortgage rates back toward multi-decade highs, economists are warning the resurgence in borrowing costs will deal another blow to the precarious housing market, driving home sales to new lows and proving the recent recovery many hoped would mark a turning point may instead be a short-lived “mirage.” Key Facts
With strong horizontal lines and a harmonious blend of wood, stone and steel, this newly built home at the Gray’s Crossing Golf Course community in Truckee, California, takes contemporary mountain design to the next level. In snow or sun, the sprawling single-story delivers as a primary or secondary residence with nearly 3,500 square feet of
The number of residential mortgages originated in the fourth quarter tumbled to a nine-year low as inflation drove home-loan rates above 7%, according to a report on Thursday from ATTOM. Americans signed 1.5 million mortgages in the closing three months of 2022, including purchase loans and refinancings, down 55% from a year earlier, as interest
The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage jumped back over 7% on Thursday, rising to 7.1%, according to Mortgage News Daily. Growing fears that inflation is not cooling off are pushing bond yields higher. Mortgage rates loosely follow the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury. related investing news El-Erian says the Fed should go
The supply of homes for sale rose at a record annual pace for the sixth month in a row, up 67.8% year over year in February, signaling the housing market’s continued rebalancing, according to a recent housing trend survey. Despite the significant increase in inventory over last year’s record lows, home prices are still growing,