Homeowners should be feeling richer. At the end of the second quarter, more than 14 million U.S. properties were considered equity rich. (That means the combined loan amount secured by the property was 50 percent or less of the estimated market value of the property.)Nearly 320,000 properties joined the “equity rich” category during the second quarter over the first quarter. Further, the number of equity rich properties is now up more than 1.
Contradicting previous research, new study finds FSBOs sell at discountKey Takeaways Agents tend to achieve higher sales prices for properties than comparable FSBO listings, enough to offset their commission fee, according to a recent analysis.Academic research has often cast doubt on the value of real estate agents, but a new study will come as music to their ears.It suggests that homeowners will net roughly the same proceeds whether they sel
Housing shortage in America might intensify, says NAR chief economistKey Takeaways In July, new residential construction starts slipped down to a rate of 1,223,000 units -- a 4.1 percent month-over-month decrease.June’s housing starts report was heralded as “welcome news” by National Association of Realtors (NAR) Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, who said increasing residential construction was the key to lowering home prices.This month, howeve
3 housing solutions that could impact global problemsHomelessness, lack of affordable housing, natural disaster damage — these are all global problems that can be alleviated through creative housing solutions.Three types of homes that problem-solvers such as Brad Pitt and Patrick Kennedy are employing to help are tiny houses, micro-units and shipping container homes.Brad Pitt’s NOLA tiny home In 2007, Brad Pitt founded the Make It Right Foun
Turns out a big yard gives homeowners the extra 'breathing room' they wantKey Takeaways Fifty-six percent of buyers would sacrifice square footage for more outdoor space.Smaller homes with more outdoor space seem to be all the rage lately as homebuyers are abandoning the motto “bigger is better” when it comes to square footage.According to a consumer survey by Wakefield Research commissioned by residential construction company Taylor Morris
National family median income rose to $71,529, but it's still not enough to keep up with rising home pricesKey Takeaways Home prices rose 6.2 percent quarter-over-quarter to $255,600 -- a new peak.The housing market saw a series of ups and downs in Q2 2017, the majority of which were largely driven by low inventory unable to meet the demand of would-be buyers. This imbalance drove home prices to rise 6.2 percent, easily eclipsing the previous Q3
HomeLight.com, which matches consumers with real estate professionals, is rapidly growing and nabbed $40 million this week to further enhance its process for locating agents based on performance metrics. The site, founded in 2012, connects sellers with real estate agents based on the practitioners’ sales performance data.HomeLight culls data from more than 100 different sources and evaluates nearly 30 million transactions across the country. It
Kitchen remodels don’t come cheap. The average cost to update a 200-square-foot kitchen—including installing new flooring, semicustom wood cabinets, and standard appliances—is a whopping $62,000, according to Remodeling Magazine. Homeowners who want to add in more luxurious touches, such as stone countertops, a commercial-grade cooktop, designer faucets, and top-of-the-line custom cabinets, may pay as much as $123,000.Before your clients
Starter homes are harder to come by as builders struggle to offer more entry-level real estate options amid higher construction costs, a new study shows. Just 16 percent of new homes are selling for under $200,000, down from 44 percent in 2010, according to an analysis by research firm John Burns Real Estate Consulting.The share of new homes priced between $200,000 and $400,000 has increased to 55 percent from 43 percent in 2010, and the share ab
Nearly two-thirds of renters—about 64 percent—say they plan to move to a different city before settling down, according to rental website ApartmentList.com. So where are they leaving from and going to?Apartment List surveyed about 24,000 renters and analyzed data from 50 of the largest metros across the country. Renters in the priciest cities, such as New York, San Francisco, Denver, and Austin, Texas, indicated the most eagerness to move. Th
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