One in four homes with a mortgage in the U.S. were considered equity rich in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to newly released data from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm. That means the loans on those properties are 50% or less of the home’s estimated market value.The Northeast and West saw the highest amounts of equity among homeowners. California led, with 42.8% of its homeowners considered equity rich, followed by Ver
Housing shortages abound in markets across the country and that could set home shoppers up for a challenging spring. The nation’s housing supply saw the steepest year-over-year decrease in January in more than four years, dropping 13.6% annually, realtor.com® reports. The supply for homes for sale is now at its lowest level since realtor.com® began tracking such data in 2012.The housing shortage shows no signs of easing in the coming months e
The U.S. housing market is feeling the impact of the new coronavirus outbreak from China. Mortgage interest rates have dropped because of it, and the luxury sector has seen Chinese buyers, who had been propelling that market, quickly vanish from it.“China has been the most important source of foreign demand for real estate,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of REALTORS®, told realtor.com®. “The upper-end market ca
Co-living is breaking out from being a niche real estate fad and becoming more mainstream, CNBC reports. The practice is serving as a way to get young adults out of their parents’ house and branch out on their own.“Many of us thought that during the recovery, as the job market improved, the share living with their parents would peak and start falling,” says Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew Research Center. “That has not happen
The gas stove is increasingly coming under attack by some cities who are seeking more ways to fight climate change. A rising number of municipalities want to eliminate natural gas lines from homes and move solely to electricity. That would include swapping out popular appliances that run on gas for cooking and heating.California started the movement. In July, Berkeley became the first municipality to sign a law banning the installation of na
Eighty-three percent of commercial real estate professionals say they expect stable to improving business in 2020, according to the Commercial Real Estate Market Trends & Outlook Report for February. Last year’s performance in the commercial sector may be a big factor in what’s driving their optimism heading into 2020. Commercial dollar sales volume increased 4% in 2019 in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago. New leasing d
Fixer-uppers have long had their fans. Some investors love the idea of making major repairs to a home that increase its value and then resell the property for profit. Others are looking for a low-priced starter home and might not mind making gradual improvements over time.But anyone who’s seen the 1986 movie “The Money Pit” knows that if due diligence isn’t adequately performed, that theatrical storyline involving a barrage of proble
The National Association of REALTORS® is accepting applications for this year’s Good Neighbor Awards, recognizing real estate professionals who have made an impact through volunteer service in their communities.Nearly 70% of REALTORS® volunteer in their community each month, according to NAR’s Community Aid and Real Estate report. NAR each year recognizes those local, state, and international volunteer efforts made by real estate
Lower mortgage rates are drawing out more prospective buyers to look at properties, but house hunters are taking their time in committing.In the final quarter of 2019, 60% of actively engaged buyers reported spending at least three months searching for a home. That is up from 58% a year earlier, according to the Housing Trends Report from the National Association of Home Builders.This is the fourth consecutive annual gain in the share o
Home prices plunged during the Great Recession, with some areas seeing prices drop by 33% between April 2006 and March 2011. But most markets have seen major recoveries since.Western housing markets have seen the strongest recoveries, according to a new analysis from SmartAsset, a personal finance site. All five of these market metro areas have seen their home prices more than double since they bottomed out during the recession. The markets with
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