General News - Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips

Manhattan Real Estate Sales Plunge 38%, but Cash Deals Hit All-Time Record

Manhattan real estate sales fell 38% in the first quarter, as buyers and sellers battled over prices and mortgage rates remained volatile, according to new reports.Total sales volume fell to $4.4 billion in the quarter, with 2,242 apartments and townhouses sold, compared to 2,546 sales in the first quarter of 2022, according to a report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. The average sales price fell 5% to $1.95 million and the median sales p

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Smart Bathroom Fixtures Offer a More Sanitary Experience

From bidets to smart toilets, the bathroom is getting a tech upgrade that makes life more convenient and a little less germy.As technology continues to advance, it’s no surprise that the smart home takeover has made its way into the bathroom. Kohler, a well-known manufacturer of kitchen and bath products, has introduced a range of bidet seats and smart toilets to meet the growing demand for advanced toilet technology. This kind of tech makes fo

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Falling Mortgage Rates Add Fuel to Housing Recovery

Borrowing costs are decreasing as home sales are rising, which bodes well for a potentially active spring market.Mortgage rates continued to slide this week, adding more fuel to what appears to be a recovering housing market. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.32% for the week ending March 30, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Borrowing costs are heading down as major housing indicators, such as existing-home sales, new-home construction and

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Here are the Cities Where Housing Inventory has Increased the Most

Looking at housing inventory change in percentage terms over the course of one year, the majority of cities that have experienced the largest one-year increase are primarily in the U.S. West and South regions. Aurora, Colorado, had a 12-month average housing inventory of 332 available homes for sale from March 2021 to February 2022. One year later, that 12-month average had risen by 115.6%, to 716 available homes for sale for the 12-month period

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Falling Mortgage Rates and Home Prices Spur Homebuyer Interest

Demand for purchase loans picks up for the 4th straight week as mortgage rates continue to retreat from 2023 highs, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association survey on WednesdayHomebuyer demand for purchase loans picked up for the fourth week in a row last week as mortgage rates continued to retreat from 2023 highs, according to a survey of lenders by the Mortgage Bankers Association released Wednesday.The MBA’s Weekly Mortgage Applications S

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Baby Boomers Edge Out Millennials as Top Buying Force

Older adults who have built equity over many years are in the best position to purchase homes in today’s roller coaster market, NAR data shows.Baby boomers are proving to be the big movers in real estate, comprising the highest share of buyers and sellers nationwide, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2023 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report. Older adults may have been more insulated than other generation

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Here's the Price Difference Between Renting and Owning a Home

The cost difference between owning a home and renting an apartment has reached its widest gap in more than 15 years as home prices rise and interest rates on home loans soar, according to a recent industry analysis.On average, owning a home costs $1,176 more per month than renting from a professionally managed apartment complex, according to an analysis published this month from the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC). That's th

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West Coast Hit Hardest as US Home Prices Cool for 7th-Straight Month

Nineteen cities out of 20 tracked by the S&P CoreLogic Case-Schiller Index posted monthly declines in January, with the biggest decreases seen in San Francisco, Seattle and San DiegoU.S. home prices cooled in January, marking the seventh-consecutive month of declines, according to new data released Tuesday.The U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, tabulated by S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller, reveals a 0.5 percent month-over-

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5 Reasons this is Not a Repeat of the 2008 Housing Crash

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun draws the distinctions between today’s real estate market and that of more than a decade ago.Many homeowners are still haunted by the 2008 housing crash when property values collapsed and foreclosures spiked. The memory of a sudden catastrophe at a time when the real estate market had been riding high may help explain why 41% of Americans say they now fear a housing crash in the next year, according to a new sur

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Mortgage Rates Continue to Slide Despite Fed Hike

Rates below 6.5% are lifting home purchase demand at the start of the spring homebuying season.Mortgage rates continued to slide this week, even after recent bank failures failed to stop the Federal Reserve from hiking its benchmark interest rate for the ninth consecutive time. Mortgage rates are following the downward trend of 10-year Treasury yields, which is helping to lift homebuying demand. While the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.42

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