Contract signings to purchase a home fell in July, marking the seventh consecutive month that pending home sales have dropped on an annual basis, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday.NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, fell 0.7 percent to a reading of 106.2 in July. Contract signings are down 2.3 percent year over year. Declines in the South and West weighed down overall a
Home buyers want the mortgage process to be less onerous and faster. But they also want more personal interaction as they navigate a transaction and very big decision in their life, according to Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey, a survey of about 3,000 recent home buyers.“As the Amazons and Ubers of the world continue to raise the bar for ‘consumer-grade’ experiences, home buyers have made it clear that it’s also time for the home p
It’s been a decade since the onslaught of the Great Recession, and the housing market has healed and changed drastically since then. Home prices in many markets have hit record highs—beating their pre-recession levels—and foreclosure rates are historically low, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.Stronger lending and regulatory reforms in recent years also have prevented the formation of another housing bubble, says NAR Chie
Rising sea levels are putting more homes at risk of flooding and leaving a long, expensive trail of destruction. In eight states alone, flooding has caused nearly $14.1 billion in lost value to homeowners, according to a new study by the First Street Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for solutions to rising sea levels.In an earlier study, researchers had found that $7.4 billion in potential home value appreciation had been swept away i
A smaller home doesn’t always come with a smaller mortgage. In an effort to trim housing costs, some homeowners may be looking to switch to a smaller house, but economists say that’s not always a cost-saving move. “There are times when [moving to a smaller home] could have the opposite effect,” David Mele, president of Homes.com, told U.S. News & World Report. He points to a possible increase in taxes, moving expenses, insurance, and
Airbnb is suing the city of New York over a new law that allows local officials to collect data on Airbnb hosts, including names and addresses. Airbnb claims such an ordinance violates users’ constitutional rights. The law, which aims to institute stricter checks and balances on short-term rentals in the city, is set to take effect this winter. “The ordinance is an unlawful end-run around established restraints on governmental action and viol
Americans are spending the most money in nearly a decade on mortgage payments as a share of their household income, according to data from Morgan Stanley. “If there’s a boogeyman in the housing market today, it’s affordability,” James Egan, Morgan Stanley’s co-head of U.S. housing strategy, wrote in a note last week. “As home prices and mortgage rates have risen, it logically follows that homes have become less affordable.”Egan says
Police are looking for two men and a woman who worked together to rob a real estate office at gunpoint in the New York area last Tuesday. Police say they stole expensive jewelry, a security system, and $8,000 in cash, and several credit cards. and thousands of dollars. According to the police report, a woman entered the office of Expert Homes Real Estate Group in the Bronx around 5:30 p.m. to inquire about a listing. While the woman served as a d
Federal aid intended to subsidize housing costs for Puerto Ricans who were displaced by Hurricane Maria is set to expire Friday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is still paying for hotel rooms for about 2,436 Puerto Ricans who fled to the U.S. mainland. Unless a federal court intervenes, they may be left with nowhere to go by the end of the week.The aid program has been extended several times. If it lapses Friday, the U.S. government will
Colorado may offer buyers the best prospects for steady home appreciation over the long term, according to a new analysis from SmartAsset, a personal finance website. Three Colorado metros landed in SmartAsset’s 2018 list of the top 10 places for growth and stability in housing. (The city of Boulder ranked number one.) Colorado’s northern neighbor, Wyoming, also saw several housing markets in this year’s rankings. Researchers note that half
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