As baby boomers look to retirement, where are they likely to move to? Georgia may offer the best prospects, according to a new study by Bankrate. The state’s overall affordability is a big draw to retirees, offering a low cost of living and light tax burden. Those same reasons helped Florida and Tennessee nab the number two and number three spot, respectively, on Bankrate’s retirement locales rankings.Besides affordability, retirees are often
Seventy-seven percent of consumers say it’s a good time to sell a home—a record high, according to Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index, a survey of 1,000 adults on their views of the housing market.They have plenty of reason to feel so upbeat: Existing-home sales prices were at a record high in May and up nearly 24% compared to a year earlier ($350,300), according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The higher home p
Home flipping is declining across the country, but some investors are banking on fast flips. They hope to turn properties around quickly to take advantage of the hot housing market.The gross profit on a typical U.S. home flip fell in the first quarter to $63,500, or about a 38% return on investment compared to the original acquisition price, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q1 2021 U.S. Home Flipping Report. The gross flipping ROI reached its
Widespread shortages on building materials continue to prompt home builders to raise their prices. Material prices have increased by 26% over the past year for building the same house, according to National Association of Home Builders data. That’s put pressure on new-home prices: In May, the median price of a newly built home was 18% higher than a year ago, at $374,400.Material shortages have increased for appliances, paint, lumber,
As home listing prices break another new record, more homeowners are looking to take advantage and list their homes for sale. New listings in June rose 5.5% year-over-year and are up 10.9% over the prior month, according to a new report from realtor.com®.The uptick in new listings may give buyers more homes to choose from and could offer a hopeful sign for the real estate market.Still, the inventory challenges in the housing market are far from
Home buyers had another chance to snag lower rates this week. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.98%, Freddie Mac reports.“Economic growth remains steady and is bolstering more segments of the economy,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Although low and stable mortgage rates have kept the housing market booming over recent months, a deterioration in affordability and for-sale inventory has led to a market slowdown.
Homes with solar panels tend to list 56% above the average home price, according to a new analysis from Porch.com, a home improvement resource. Solar paneled homes tend to cost an average of $680,000—about 48% more than the average home in a given area, the study shows.Solar homes tend to be more attractive in certain markets. For example, solar-powered homes tend to come at the highest premium in Pensacola, Fla., in which they tend to be three
Pending home sales bounced back strongly in May and surged to the highest reading for the month of May since 2005, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday.NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings, climbed 8% in May compared to April. Contract signings are up 13.1% compared to a year earlier.“May’s strong increase in transactions—following April’s decline, as w
Rising prices in new-home construction have mostly shut out buyers in the lower end of the market, shows a new analysis from the National Association of Home Builders. Buyers in the bottom one-fourth of the market have had to look exclusively at the stock of existing homes. However, fast-rising prices in the existing-home market may soon price out buyers as well.The median price of a newly built single-family home that was started in 2020 was $33
The pandemic fueled a remodeling boom as more homeowners sheltered in and looked to redo their home as a new hobby. But the costs of remodeling projects have soared over the past year.Some house projects have seen prices jump by more than 50% in 2020 compared to 2019. Also, the average spending on a remodel increased from about $9,000 in 2019 to more than $13,000 in 2020, according to a new report from Angi and HomeAdvisor.“It was a pretty sign
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