Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index surged to a new high as consumers became more upbeat about buying and selling, mortgage rates, and their jobs. Five of the six components measured by the index rose month over month.“Consumer job confidence and favorable mortgage rate expectations lifted the HPSI to a new survey high in July, despite ongoing housing supply and affordability challenges,” says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s senior vice
Overall, the majority of contracts continue to be settled on time. Seventy-six percent of contracts made it to closing as scheduled from April to June, according to the REALTORS® Confidence Survey, based on responses from more than 4,000 members. Twenty percent of contracts saw a delay, while only 4% were canceled altogether.The top contract problems causing a delay of settlements in June included:Issues related to obtaining financing: 35%Apprai
Nearly half of vacation homeowners say they feel guilty that they don’t use their home as much as they had intended, according to a new survey of 461 vacation homeowners from LendingTree. More than a third of vacation homeowners—37%—say they spend time in the home only once a year, or even less. About a quarter—26%—say they use their home more than five times each year.Forty percent of respondents say they’ve felt pressure from family
Working with professional movers doesn’t mean the homeowner can escape the entire process. Homeowners will still need to prep the house for the moving company before they arrive to pack them up. Realtor.com® recently highlighted several of the items homeowners should do before the moving company arrives, including:Protect your floors.To help avoid damage to the house, remove anything fragile that could be in the path as furniture and boxes get
Rising costs for construction materials and labor are making home improvement projects more expensive, yet too many homeowners are setting unrealistic budgets, according to the 2019 Kitchen and Bath Market Index report, which reflects second-quarter figures. The report, conducted jointly by the National Kitchen & Bath Association and John Burns Real Estate Consulting, is based on responses from 457 NKBA members.Estimated Cost of Common Interi
Landscapers say they see homeowners repeatedly making the same mistakes in yard design, whether it's using the wrong plants or not keeping up with maintenance. Landscapers recently shared with Apartment Therapy some of the most common yard mishaps they see, including:Going too big. “Don’t be seduced by showy plants you see on the internet or at the nursery,” says Jenny Jones, senior landscape designer at Terremoto Landscape Architectur
Certain grocery stores may help lift nearby home values, particularly if those stores happen to be Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, or Aldi, suggests a new analysis from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm. Home sellers who live near a Trader Joe’s earned 51% more at resale than the average seller, according to the study. Homes near a Whole Foods or an Aldi sold for 41% and 34% more, respectively.ATTOM researchers analyzed average home va
More homes are being outfitted with smart-home technology—devices that enable remote control and monitoring of household systems. A new analysis from Harvard University’s Remodeling Futures Program shows high demand for such devices and predicts the trend to only get bigger over the coming years, despite some recent security concerns and device breaches.But more than half of consumers say they find the internet of things “creepy,” an
Kitchen islands have become the focal point in many homes, and there are plenty of reasons why real estate pros are spotlighting them in their listings.Kitchens have transformed into multifunctional spaces in recent years, and the kitchen island is turning it into a social gem. “The island gives families with children the opportunity to combine cooking, homework and socializing, the latter being especially valuable,” Lene Halse Hornemann, des
Big metro cities like San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles are notably absent from realtor.com®’s latest list of the top-performing housing markets in the country. Instead, more suburban areas—like Grand Rapids, Mich., and Omaha, Neb.--are topping the list.Housing affordability has been fueling demand in smaller, more suburban housing markets, realtor.com®’s 2019 hottest ZIP codes report notes. The average home price of $272,000 in th
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