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Holiday Gift for Home Buyers, Big Drop in Mortgage Rates

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage posted a big drop this week, falling to a 3.05% average, Freddie Mac reports.“The market volatility resulting from the COVID-19 omicron variant is causing mortgage rates to decrease,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “As the year comes to a close, the housing market is proceeding steadily. However, rates are expected to increase in 2022 which will impact home buyer demand as well as refinance

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How to Prevent Seasonal Property Damage

Take steps to protect the house during the colder months. A lot of times that starts with the gutters. Unkept gutters can wreak havoc on a home during winter. Leaf Home, a company that offers home solutions, offers the following winter checklist to help homeowners prevent seasonal damage to their home.Check your gutters for seasonal debris.Make sure to remove leaves that have fallen into your gutters and check that pests or small animals did not

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Multifamily Owners Stand to Earn Record Profits in 2022

In a new report, the real estate firm Walker & Dunlop calls it “the golden age for multifamily.”High rents in the apartment sector are expected to continue in the new year as demand remains strong. Potential home buyers who have been shut out from the competitive housing market are turning to rentals in swarms. Property owners are expected to see record profits in 2022, predicts Green Street, a commercial real estate analytics firm.Strong

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Sales Up as Buyers Rush to Lock in Mortgage Rates

Home buyers may have felt more determined in November to purchase before 2021 comes to an end and mortgage rates and borrowing costs increase, as largely is forecasted to happen.Existing-home sales, which include completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops, rose 1.9% in November compared to October, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday. Sales, however, are down 2% compared to a year ago.

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50 Most Competitive Rental Markets in 2021

The nation’s hottest rental market in 2021: Eugene, Ore., according to a new end-of-the-year report from RentCafe. The city has been attracting new residents and boasts a rapidly growing tech sector. San Diego, Calif., and Knoxville, Tenn., were number two and number three on RentCafe’s list.In 2021, the most competitive rental markets tended to be smaller metros that are within close proximity to nature and allow for a more affordable lifest

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Mortgage Rates Climb After Fed’s Rate Announcement

Mortgage rates rose this week after the Federal Reserve announced it would accelerate its bond tapering and that three rate hikes would come in 2022. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.12% this week, Freddie Mac reports.Rates are largely expected to continue to rise due to the Fed’s recent announcement. But National Association of REALTORS® Senior Economist Nadia Evangelou says home buyers shouldn’t panic. By historical standards

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Housing Starts Pick Up as 2021 Comes to a Close

Buyers have been drawn to new-home construction as existing housing inventories remain lean. Builders have struggled to ramp up construction even more due to the high demand as building materials, labor, and lot shortages loom.However, builders say they’re building as much as they can and as quickly as they can given such challenges.Housing starts for both single-family and multifamily homes rose 11.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.

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Top Priorities of First-Time Buyers

More first-time buyers hope to transition from renting to owning in 2022. After a challenging 2021, many are looking ahead to the new year for an opening in the market—one where competition may not be as tight as it has been this year.Aspiring first-time buyers are already actively looking: 40% say they’re researching home values in their target neighborhood, 34% say they’ve researched the real estate process, 30% have talked to family and

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10 Markets Called ‘Hidden Gems’ for Real Estate in 2022

Many of the housing markets to watch in the new year are located in the South, says the National Association of REALTORS®, which released its top picks for the markets that likely will see some of the strongest price appreciation in 2022—the “hidden gems,” as the association says.NAR released its top 10 list during its third annual year-end Real Estate Forecast Summit on Wednesday, where economists weighed in on the trajectory for the 2022

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Misconceptions about a Seller’s Market

The housing market is hot, but some homeowners may overestimate just how hot it is when they go to sell. Real estate professionals shared with realtor.com® a few unrealistic expectations that some of their sellers have had, such as that their home has doubled in value since they bought it or that they shouldn’t have to make any repairs before closing.“One of the biggest mistakes sellers can make is going with aspirational pricing just becau

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