Sprucing up the home has become a favorite pastime during the pandemic. Home renovation spending has increased by 15% over the last year, reaching a median outlay of $15,000, according to the 2021 Houzz & Home report, an overview of renovation in 2020 and 2021.The main motivation to renovate over the past year, cited by 44% of survey respondents, is that they “wanted to do it all along and finally have the time.” The second driver, cited
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
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
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
Side-by-side double sinks and walk-in pantries are the most desirable and among the most essential features in a kitchen, according to the What Home Buyers Really Want, 2021 Edition report, produced by the National Association of Home Builders. The survey was based on responses from more than 3,000 recent or prospective home buyers.More than four of every 10 buyers said the double sink is so essential in the kitchen that they would be unlikely to
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
Extra space for extended family and pets and a home office have risen to the top of wishlists among house hunters. And that desire for more space is driving many home buyers’ decision to purchase a new home in the coming year, according to a new realtor.com® survey of 1,200 home shoppers.Also, the eagerness for greater outdoor space is prompting terms like “fenced yard,” “acres,” “backyard,” “front porch,” “garage,” and “
Builders can’t build fast enough as home buyer demand continues to surge. But rising material costs are proving a challenge, making it more difficult to keep new homes within buyers’ and builders’ budgets.Still, the construction of single-family homes rose 4.2% in May, despite the rising costs. But they are poised to slow again as single-family permits—a gauge to future construction—declined to the lowest pace since September 2020, the
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
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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