Real Estate

lvcandy | DigitalVision Vectors | Getty Images Sales of real estate in the metaverse topped $500 million last year and could double this year, according to investors and analytics firms. Real estate sales on the four major metaverse platforms reached $501 million in 2021, according to MetaMetric Solutions. Sales in January topped $85 million, the

Next to Netflix, home renovation may have been the biggest stay-at-home play of the pandemic. From new home offices to expanded decks to basement gyms, homeowners have been upgrading and expanding their spaces at record rates for the past two years. That trend appears to be slowing down.  After big projected jumps in the first

Citigroup is offering its vision for the future of flexible work with the release of new plans to transform its London headquarters. The Wall Street bank is to overhaul its iconic Canary Wharf Citi Tower — home to its U.K., Europe and Middle East operations — in a major bet on the continued relevance of

Buyers head into an open house in Waldorf, Maryland. Lisa Rizzolo | CNBC The nation’s housing market has never been this tight, which is frustrating enough for house hunters, but now they have another problem. Mortgage rates, which have hovered around record lows since the start of the pandemic, are now rising. It’s what one

A home for sale in Susanville, CA. Gary Coronado | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images Rising interest rates are causing big headaches for mortgage lenders, especially those who depend most on refinance business. Demand is simply drying up. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less)

The Federal Reserve laid the groundwork for interest rate hikes Wednesday. At the conclusion of its two-day meeting, the central bank said it will aggressively unwind last year’s bond buying after a variety of inflation reports reached their highest levels in decades. Although interest rates will stay near zero for now, Fed officials set the stage

Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Alex Edelman/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday signaled a broad crackdown on hidden and excessive fees charged by banks, mortgage lenders and other financial entities. The federal agency, created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, is seeking consumers’ input

A “For Sale” sign is seen outside a home in New York. Shannon Stapleton | Reuters Even as the housing market entered its traditionally slower season in November, home prices showed big gains from a year ago. Prices rose 18.8% year over year on the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index. Yet that was

Demand for office space is likely to rebound from depressed Covid pandemic levels long before retail properties, property billionaire Sam Zell told CNBC on Tuesday. “Everything between the top mall and the corner grocery anchor mall …  [there’s] a serious question as to its viability,” Zell said in a “Squawk Box” interview. “I think retail

The past year may have been a wild ride for potential homebuyers, but reports indicate that the housing market in 2022 could be even more competitive. New listings are currently at a record low, according to Redfin and Zillow. In fact, at the end of 2021, there were 19.5% fewer homes listed than at the

In this article BKI jayk7 | Moment | Getty Images The number of borrowers who could benefit from a mortgage refinance just dropped dramatically thanks to fast-rising interest rates. The average rate on the 30-year fixed loan has jumped more than 50 basis points since the start of this year, cutting the number of refinance

In this article ABNB Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky told CNBC on Friday that a post-Covid pandemic future of flexible living and working arrangements will be a boon to the company. Chesky, who is on a nationwide tour of Airbnb stays in an effort to “improve the experience” for customers, said he expects sustained

Jobless claims took an unexpected turn higher last week in a potential sign that the wintertime omicron surge was hitting the employment picture. Initial filings for the week ended Jan. 15 totaled 286,000, well above the Dow Jones estimate of 225,000 and a substantial gain from the previous week’s 231,000. The total was the highest

A “Sold” sign stands outside a home following a snow fall in Geneseo, Illinois. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images Closed sales of previously owned homes in December fell 4.6% to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 6.18 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were down 7.1% year-over-year. Still, December

There’s a “big risk” of real estate companies filing for insolvency when interest rates rise, according to a partner at consulting firm Kearney. Nils Kuhlwein pointed out that the global financial crisis of 2008 started with a real estate and housing price bubble and mortgage defaults in the United States. “What we are now seeing

An ‘Open House’ sign is displayed as potential home buyers arrive at a property for sale in Columbus, Ohio. Ty Wright | Bloomberg | Getty Images Mortgage rates are rushing higher, and last week that caused a major divergence in mortgage demand. Refinancing continued to dry up, but homebuyers appear to be rushing into the

Potential home buyers walk past an ‘Open House’ sign displayed in the front yard of a property for sale in Columbus, Ohio. Ty Wright | Bloomberg | Getty Images The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage hit 3.7% Tuesday morning, according to Mortgage News Daily. That is the highest since early April 2020

Workers install roofing on an apartment complex under construction in Lehi, Utah, on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. George Frey | Bloomberg | Getty Images Builders in the single-family housing market are facing growing expenses, which is causing a turnaround in sentiment to start the year. Builder confidence fell one point to 83 in January, according

A home in Breckenridge, Colorado. Michael Robinson | Corbis Documentary | Getty Images Ever since the Covid pandemic began almost two years ago, weary Americans hankering for a fun, but still safe, getaway have rejiggered their travel habits to jibe with the new normal. Domestic road trips, national park visits and vacation home rentals and

The Central St Giles building in London. DavorLovincic | iStock Unreleased | Getty Images Google has bought a colorful office space in London for $1 billion while it waits for building work on its heavily-delayed U.K. headquarters to be completed. The internet giant announced Friday that it has acquired all of the Central St. Giles