From interest rate hikes to climate change, shifts in the physical, political, and economic worlds are having effects on the real estate industry. Some of these developments affect the residential and commercial sides of the business differently, while others are common challenges all practitioners will face. As 2019 approaches, here are a few short-term and long-term hurdles you should know.Short-term Issues 1. Interest rates and the economy: T
Airbnb is moving beyond helping people rent out space in their homes. Now it wants to start providing the actual houses, too. The company has announced plans for a new venture that will design and build homes, called “Backyard.” Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia describes it as “an endeavor to design and prototype new ways of building and sharing homes.”Airbnb officials say they want to combine the use of smart-home tech and sophisticated man
Congress has approved a one-week extension of the National Flood Insurance Program, which was set to expire Friday, preventing a lapse in federally provided insurance critical to homeowners who live in or near flood zones. The House on Thursday night approved the extension in a 350-46 vote. The Senate also passed a seven-day extension by unanimous consent. The legislation is expected to be signed Friday by President Donald Trump, who has signed
Sales of new homes plunged to a more than 2 1/2-year low in October, as all four major regions of the U.S. posted sharp declines, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.Sales of newly built, single-family homes dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 544,000 units in October—the lowest pace since March 2016.Higher borrowing costs are pushing homeownership out of reach among more potential buyers, which has been playing out in the sa
The colder months can make selling tougher. The home’s exterior can look dreary against a gray sky backdrop and buyers may want to go into hibernation rather than shop for homes in the chilly weather. But real estate and staging professionals say there’s still plenty you can do to make your listing stand out in the wintertime. Realtor.com® spotlighted a few of their ideas, including:Pay attention to curb appeal.Don’t let the colder month
Seniors are being targeted in a new real estate scam that tries to get them to sign over their home for far below market value.Mary Ann Welch, 70, shared with Capital Public Radio how she received a letter in her mailbox that offered to buy her Sunnyvale, Calif., home for $750,000. The letter included paperwork for her to sign and consent to sell. Welch had not put the house up for rent or for sale. The two-bedroom home is within walking distance
When asked about life priorities, millennials name homeownership as their second-highest goal behind retirement—and before marriage and having children, according to Bank of America’s 2018 Homebuyer Insight Report. Seventy-two percent of millennials say owning a home is their top priority, while 50 percent pointed to marriage and 44 percent to having children.“Millennials are redefining life’s priorities by placing homeownership above ne
To draw more attention to a languishing listing, a Houston real estate professional hired two fitness models to pose half-nude in the property photos, depicting everyday household tasks such as cooking or changing a light bulb. But even though the marketing ploy exponentially increased buyer interest, public complaints about the risqué listing prompted a local real estate portal to remove it.“After 40 days on the market and several open hou
The rise of housing affordability concerns is sparking a slowdown in new-home construction. Single-family housing starts fell 1.8 percent in October compared to the previous month, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday."This month's decrease in single-family starts isn't a surprise given the drop in our builder confidence index," says Randy Noel, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. "Builders are showing caution as mount
Homeowners are getting older. Provo and Ogden, Utah, are the only two metros of 100 analyzed that had an average homeowner age below 50 years old, finds a new study by LendingTree, an online loan marketplace. LendingTree sought to find out which metro areas had the oldest and youngest homeowners.The average age of a homeowner across the 100 largest metros in the U.S. is 54.Florida homeowners are older than homeowners in most other states, accordi
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