Real Estate

Unexpectedly strong home sales at the start of this year just reversed a sharp, several-month decline in home prices. Mortgage rates are behind the swing. Home prices nationally rose 0.16% in February, when seasonally adjusted, according to Black Knight. That is the strongest one-month gain since May of last year. Home prices are now 2.6%

Scores of luxury homes are coming to major cities across the United States. Analysts at Yardi Matrix projected that more than 400,000 units were completed in 2022, and they expect another strong showing in 2023. Experts believe much of this new stock is built with upper-tier customers in mind. “You often see new housing branded as

A for sale sign is posted in front of a home for sale on February 20, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images It might seem like a great time to list your home for sale. Buyers are flooding back into the market, mortgage rates have fallen off their recent highs, and

An ‘open house’ flag is displayed outside a single family home on September 22, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Allison Dinner | Getty Images Stress in the banking system turned out to be a boon for the U.S. mortgage market. As investors hid in the relative safety of the bond market, yields moved even lower

A For Sale sign displayed in front of a home on February 22, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images Higher mortgage rates took some of the juice out of the housing recovery in February. After a sharp gain in January, pending home sales rose just 0.8% month to month, according to the

A house is available for rent on March 15, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama | Getty Images Apartment rents have increased slightly for the past few months, as the seasonally stronger spring activity kicks in. But in March they were only up 2.6% from March of 2022. That’s the smallest annual gain since

Even when they don’t buy a fixer-upper, most people will end up doing some amount of repairs on a new home. About 95% of homeowners said they plan to take on a major home improvement project in the next five years, according to a recent report by Real Estate Witch. However, only 50% said they

A For Sale sign displayed in front of a home on February 22, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images Mortgage demand has increased for three straight weeks now, as interest rates dropped in response to the recent bank failures. But rates are rising again, and that could put a damper on application

Global warming has already caused irreversible damage to the earth’s ecosystems and communities, according to a critical report just issued from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The damage is extending to the U.S. housing market, which just saw unprecedented snow and flooding in California, as well as unusual winter tornados in the

Amid turmoil in the financial sector and uncertainty ahead, the Federal Reserve will likely approve a 0.25 percentage point increase at this week’s policy meeting.  That will mark one year since the central bank began the current rate-raising cycle.   Over the last 12 months, inflation spiked to a 40-year high and only recently started

Commuters make their way along a street amid smoggy and foggy conditions early in the morning in Lahore on January 3, 2023. Arif Ali | AFP | Getty Images About 90% of the global population in 2022 experienced unhealthy air quality, and only six countries met the World Health Organization’s recommendations of safe air pollutant

Catherine Delahaye | Getty Taking a loan against your 401(k) savings is generally a bad idea — but using the money as a short-term “bridge loan” may be an exception, according to Blair duQuesnay, a certified financial planner based in New Orleans. “I’ve always been very anti-401(k) loan,” duQuesnay said. “However, I have found there

Demand for mortgages increased for the second straight week, despite some volatility in mortgage rates. Total application volume rose 6.5% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) decreased to 6.71%

In December 2022, $1,981 was the typical monthly rent in the United States — a 7.4% increase from the year prior. But while rent has begun to stabilize nationwide, rent affordability remains difficult for many Americans.  “There’s literally nowhere in the country where a tenant is not burdened by their rent,” according to Leah Simon-Weisberg,

Construction workers work on a home, as a subdivision of home is built in San Marcos, California, January 31, 2023. Mike Blake | Reuters Mortgage rates are high and volatile, homes are still pricey, and inflation is not in check, but, even so, the nation’s homebuilders are starting to feel better about their business. A

Grady Hendrix Albert Mitchell After Louise’s parents unexpectedly die in a car accident, she returns home to Charleston, where her plans to get her childhood home ready for sale are soon complicated. There’s her parents’ endless stuff, including the hundreds of dolls her mother owned. There’s her estranged brother, Matt, trying to cheat her out

Homes at Rivo Alto Island in Miami Beach, Florida, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty Images The U.S. housing market is taking a hard hit from higher mortgage rates, and luxury home sales are seeing the worst of it. Sales of luxury homes dropped 45% during the three

Aerial view of the Dubai Marina. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Demand for property in the United Arab Emirates’ glitzy commercial capital of Dubai hit a record high for the first two months of 2023, real estate services firm CBRE revealed in a report published Thursday. In February alone, Dubai’s residential market saw 8,515 transactions

This $22.5 million condo in Miami spans 6,200 square feet with four bedrooms and five and a half baths. But perhaps more impressive than what comes inside those four walls is the mind-blowing list of over-the-top amenities that comes with it. The luxury condo is situated on the 48th floor of the Turnberry Ocean Club

A “For Sale” sign outside of a home in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. Dustin Chambers | Bloomberg | Getty Images After dropping to a 28-year low the previous week, mortgage demand recovered slightly, even though interest rates marched higher. Total mortgage application volume rose 7.4% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers