Home buyers and homeowners are taking advantage of some of the lowest interest rates in a year. Mortgage applications for refinancings and home purchases jumped 9.9 percent higher last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. Still, the MBA reports the weekly index remains about 19 percent lower the same week a year ago, which is mostly attributed to a decrease in refinancing applications.The 30-ye
A growing number of renters is sparking an entire community of single-family homes for lease. AHV Communities and Bristol Group have teamed up to break ground on a new single-family home rental community in the San Antonio, Texas, area.Pradera, which is expected to open to the public in the second quarter of 2018, will consist of 250 single-family detached three- or four-bedroom homes. The homes will have a two-car garage and front and back yards
Commercial real estate price growth in large markets is expected to flatten over the next year. But the sector is expected to continue on solid footing, with strong leasing demand and a strong investor appetite in smaller markets, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ latest quarterly commercial real estate forecast.“A very healthy labor market and stronger confidence and spending from both consumers and businesses boosted econ
Video promotion—specifically on YouTube—is an integral part of many real estate professionals' marketing, and smartphone videos are a quick, easy way to capture shareable content for your business. But vertical videos can look lost in YouTube's player, which is formatted for horizontal shots so it ends up with black bars on the sides. That’s about to change.YouTube is planning an update that will allow its player to seamlessly change shape
What do we really mean when we say a house has great bones?It’s a feature that all buyers want, but few can define. Understanding how to identify qualities that add up to the coveted “great bones” feeling can help you set your listing apart. Recently, Architectural Digest’s Lindsey Mather asked a handful of designers to get specific about the qualities that give a home this elusive quality. Here are a few distinct items to look for:G
Millions of homeowners are getting ready to rebuild damaged property now that Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have moved out of Florida, Texas, and other affected areas. But media reports warn of a new threat: storm scammers.“We’ve seen it after every significant disaster, and we don’t expect anything different once the Harvey-induced floods recede,” Frank Scafidi, spokesman for the nonprofit National Insurance Crime Bureau, told CNN.Indeed,
Homes sold quickly across the U.S. this summer. Properties that sold between May and July typically were on the market less than 31 days in 29 states and the District of Columbia, according to the July 2017 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey.Fifty-one percent of properties that sold in July were on the market for less than a month. Only nine percent of properties were on the market for six months or longer, according to the report.Properties sol
The Houston Association of REALTORS® has launched a housing section on its website to help victims of Hurricane Harvey find a temporary place to live. It allows real estate professionals, property owners, landlords, and property managers to post homes they will make available.Some of the homes posted may be available for free or reduced rent, depending on the owner, HAR notes. The HAR.com site will display properties for sale or lease across th
More home buyers have co-signers on their mortgage loans in order to help defray the rising costs of real estate, according to a new report released by real estate data firm ATTOM Data Solutions. In the second quarter of this year, 22.8 percent of mortgage applications involved a co-borrower, up from 20.5 percent a year earlier, the report shows.Dozens of programs and private companies are emerging to act as co-borrowers for consumers by offering
Homeowners who have decided to stay put in their current properties may soon be ready for a move, helping to relieve stubbornly tight housing inventory. The evidence is in Fannie Mae’s latest Home Purchase Sentiment Index, in which the number of consumers who say now is a good time to sell a home neared an all-time high. The index—which is a measure of about 1,000 consumers’ attitudes toward housing—rose 1.2 points in August to a reading
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