What happened to home sales in December? Sales are typically down during the holidays, but December’s seasonally adjusted monthly decline of 6.4 percent left reporters scratching their heads—and calling the National Association of REALTORS® for the trade organization’s insight.NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun told CNBC’s “Nightly Business Report” on Tuesday that such a wide monthly swing is usually accompanied by some big news, like
As the longest federal government shutdown in history drags on, more than 800,000 government workers and an estimated 4.1 million federal contractors will soon face their first mortgage or rental payment due since last receiving a paycheck. As of Wednesday, the partial government shutdown has stretched 33 days and counting. Many lenders and property management firms are stepping in with help for unpaid federal workers.Several of the nation
Following two consecutive months of increases, existing-home sales dialed back at the end of 2018 and economists pointed to higher mortgage rates for most of last year as one of the main culprits. However, they’re optimistic a turnaround will be in sight for home sales in the spring season, particularly given that mortgage rates have started to decrease in recent weeks.Total existing-home sales—which are completed transactions that include si
A surge in retirees is coming, but where will they decide to live? Nearly 1.2 million people 55 or older relocated out of state last year, which was a record high.“Baby boomers are so hard to pin down,” Rodney Harrell, director with the AARP Public Policy Institute, told realtor.com®. “There are so many of them, and they’re choosing a wider range of options than previous generations. … There’s no one size fits all.”Researchers at r
Microsoft has announced it is committing $500 million to advance affordable housing solutions in the booming Seattle area, where its headquarters are located.Microsoft first made the Seattle area’s Puget Sound region its home in 1979. Since then, as Microsoft became one of the world's leading software companies, the city has seen explosive growth. But the housing market has failed to keep up.Since 2011, jobs in the region have increas
The real estate industry will soon see what kind of impact weeks of declining mortgage rates have had on home sales. Will it provide the boost some experts are predicting?Since early November, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has fallen nearly half a percentage point, from 4.94 percent to 4.45 percent, where it stood at the end of this week. This could provide an important incentive for potential home buyers to make a move. The 30-year rate, which
High student loan debt is one main culprit for the lower rate of homeownership over the past decade, a new study from the Federal Reserve shows.Homeownership of all Americans has fallen 4 percentage points from its peak of 69 percent in 2005. It has dropped the most—from 45 percent to 36 percent—among those 24 to 32 years old.“In surveys, young adults commonly report that their student loan debts are preventing them from buying a home,” F
Police have one of two suspects in custody that they believe were involved in an armed robbery of a real estate office in Kirksville, Mo. Two masked men reportedly robbed Wayman Realty last Thursday afternoon at about 4:15 p.m., holding a gun to owner Frank Wayman’s head and a large knife to his throat.The two armed men forced Wayman to open a safe at the business and fled with more than $3,000 in cash as well as gold coins that were kept
The National Association of REALTORS® has asked the Trump administration to jump-start the Rural Housing Loan Program, which has been unable to process mortgage applications since the partial federal government shutdown began nearly a month ago.After learning that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which operates the loan program through the Rural Housing Service, had decided to temporarily recall employees of the Farm Service Agency to provide
Investors who were planning to move quickly in the new year to take advantage of opportunity-zone tax incentives are putting on the brakes. They’re waiting for the U.S. Treasury Department to finalize guidance on precisely how the tax benefit will work before they proceed, and a timeline for that to happen has been thrown into doubt during the partial government shutdown, The Wall Street Journal reports.Opportunity-zone provision
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