Some real estate pros are having their best year ever for home sales, despite the pandemic. Existing-home sales in November climbed 25.8% compared to last year, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Tuesday.Existing-home sales—completed transactions on single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops—did dip down by 2.5% in November compared to October’s unseasonably high levels, however. The slight decrease last month ended a f
Housing providers can breathe a sigh of relief. After months of political gridlock, Congress passed a series of measures Monday night to provide financial relief for Americans struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the provisions benefiting real estate: $25 billion in rental assistance to states and clarification that business owners can deduct business expenses on their federal tax returns that were paid using a forgivable Paycheck Prote
Create a sparkling light display this holiday season with our top tips, tricks and product picks for bringing envy-worthy curb appeal to your front yard.Source: hgtv.com
This week marked the 15th record low for mortgage rates this year. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped further to an average of 2.67%, the lowest rate ever recorded by Freddie Mac, with records dating back to 1971.“The housing market continues to surge higher and support an otherwise stagnant economy that has lost momentum in the last couple of months,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Mortgage rates are at record
Tout those smart-home features in listings. More than a third of young Americans say they’re more interested in smart-home tech for safety and security, energy efficiency, and entertainment and relaxation since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new survey from realtor.com®.Overall, a quarter of Americans say they’re more interested in smart-home technology now that they’re spending more time at home. Forty-one percent of smart-home tec
The stress of 2020 is causing an overhaul in home design. For example, open floor plans are now being considered too open as households seek privacy for work and school while everyone is at home. As a result, home offices are growing in demand in buyers' home search.Real estate and design experts recently shared with realtor.com® some of the biggest home design trends likely in the new year, including:Separated spaces.Open floor plans
Fewer investors are taking on home flips during the pandemic. But many of those who’ve stayed with it are seeing profits rise.The number of home flips dropped again in the third quarter, comprising only 5.1% of all home sales, ATTOM Data Solutions reports. Home flipping reflects a transaction in which the property is bought and sold within 12 months.The gross profit on a typical home flip nationwide—which is the difference between the median
The Federal Reserve left borrowing costs at record lows on Wednesday, while acknowledging there’s still a long way to go as the nation’s economy heals from the COVID-19 outbreak.The key rate acts as a benchmark for borrowing and savings. Interest rates will remain at 0% to 0.25%, which they have since March. The Fed’s benchmark rates do not have a direct influence over mortgage ratesbut can influence them. Mortgage rates have been reaching
2020 marks the biggest year in the history of lending at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Chris Birk, director of education at Veterans United Home Loans, told Bankrate.com.The volume of mortgages backed by the VA has drastically increased: VA loan volume nearly doubled from 2019 to 2020. This also marks the first time that the VA has issued more than 1 million loans in one year.“This was truly a historic year,” Birk says.VA loans onc
Renters who desire more space as they ride out the pandemic are increasingly looking to upsize into single-family homes. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, single-family rental prices have for the first time outpaced their pre-pandemic growth rate.National rent increases for single-family rental homes increased 3.1% year over year in October, according to CoreLogic’s latest reading, published in its new Single-Family Rent Index.This spring and
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