Finance - Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips

Where Home Prices are Outpacing Wage Growth—and Where they’re Not

The median home prices of single-family homes and condos in the second quarter was less affordable than historical averages in 61% of U.S. counties, according to a second-quarter report from ATTOM Data Solutions. That is the highest level in two years as home price increases continue to race ahead of wages in the majority of the country.Homeownership costs have comprised about 25.2% of the average national wage of $63,986 in the second quarter, a

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Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate in 2021

Remote work and mobility are expected to have the most significant impact on real estate over the next year, according to The Counselors of Real Estate’s list. The group identified current and emerging issues expected to have an influence over real estate in the 2021-2022 cycle. Remote work and mobility and its influence over commercial buildings globally was named as the top issue, followed by technology and ESG (Environment, Social, and Gover

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Amid Shortage of Homes for Sale, Rental Demand Surges

Single-family rents have climbed at the fastest rate in nearly 15 years. Further, renters are making their preferences known: Rent growth for detached properties is more than three times the rent growth for attached properties, according to CoreLogic’s Single-Family Rent Index.As inventory remains limited, some Americans are turning to rentals to buy time, but they still desire a single-family home. “While rent growth dipped significantly las

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7 Budget-Friendly Beach Towns for Buyers in 2021

Buying a vacation home is the in thing to do since the pandemic. The National Association of REALTORS® reported last week that vacation home sales have posted double-digit growth over the past year, climbing 57% annually in 2020.But vacation homes can be pricey. Realtor.com®’s research team analyzed 1,300 towns nationwide to pinpoint the best affordable beach towns, offering not only easy ocean access but plenty of activities too. Most o

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Mortgage Payments are Increasing, Despite Low Rates

gage payment has jumped to $1,184. A year ago, it averaged $1,020, marking a 16% increase year over year, NAR notes. Also, the annual mortgage payment as a percentage of income rose to 16% this April from 13.7% a year ago due to higher home prices and a decline in median family incomes.The West has the highest mortgage payments to income, according to NAR’s data. Home prices in the West recently climbed to a record high of $509,400.View the ful

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30-Year Rates Average 2.93% This Week

Mortgage rates have remained at or below 3% for nine consecutive weeks. “Many home buyers can benefit from these low rates while home prices are reaching record highs,” Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecasting at the National Association of REALTORS®, says at the association’s Economists’ Outlook blog.Mortgage rates can make a big difference to what home buyers can afford. The following chart from NAR shows how much

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Higher Prices Cause Home Flipping Rates to Fall

Investors are growing concerned that it may be more difficult to make money in flipping homes amid a frenzy of home buying activity lately that has sent home prices climbing.Home flipping profit margins dropped in the first quarter. Only 2.7% of all single-family homes and condos in the first quarter were considered a house flip—transactions that occurred within 12 months of one another. That is down from 4.8% during the fourth quarter of

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Lumber Prices are Dropping Fast

Lumber prices are falling quickly from record highs, and that may be happening at the right time for the new-home market. Home builder sentiment sank to its lowest level since August 2020, with builders blaming increasing material supply challenges for their outlook, according to a newly released report from the National Association of Home Builders. Builders said that declining availability for softwood lumber and other building materials i

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Rental Prices Climb to Highest Level in 2 Years

U.S. median rental prices have surpassed pre-pandemic growth and are now at their highest point in two years, according to realtor.com®’s latest Monthly Rental Report.Monthly rents rose 5.5% year over year and averaged $1,527 in May. One-bedroom and two-bedroom rentals climbed to the highest levels since May 2019 at $1,718 and $1,422, respectively. Rents for studio apartments rose for the first time in the last 10 months, reaching a median of

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More than 8 of 10 Homes Sold at or Above List Price

With a low supply of homes for sale, sellers are finding quicker sales and fetching higher offers. Eighty two percent of homeowners who sold in the last six months accepted offers at list price or above, according to a new survey of about 1,600 homeowners conducted by Homes.com.What’s more, homes are selling fast too: A quarter of home sellers said they had five or fewer showings before finding a buyer. Twenty-six percent had between six and 10

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