The Great Recession still has a lasting impact on how many consumers shop for homes today, builders say. Even consumers who did not lose a home to foreclosure during the housing crisis are still shopping for homes more cautiously than they did during the early 2000s and the height of the housing boom.“Buyers became more cautious in the homebuying process,” says Dennis Webb of Fulton Homes. “If they were not directly affected, then they cer
In a competitive housing market, some buyers are increasingly losing out to those who are willing make an all-cash offer to close the deal. All-cash offers are attractive to sellers since they tend to close quickly and aren’t contingent on any potential hang-ups from a buyer’s financing. Now, a new startup is making headlines with an offer to turn nearly any buyer’s offer into an all-cash one to better compete.The company, Ribbon, is launch
For years, a real estate professional in Edmond, Okla., has told his sellers that even if you price your home for just a dollar, the market would determine what the sales price would be. “This time, I had some sellers who were bold enough to take me up on trying that theory out,” says Ryan Hukill, the listing agent on a four-bedroom, four-bathroom home that was listed for just $1.In less than a week, the home was under contract and fetched
The affordability crisis is growing in San Francisco, and home buyers are desperate to find a place that they can afford. An affordable housing development in downtown is offering 95 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. But the development recently made headlines when 6,580 people applied for the homes in just three weeks. Developers turned to a lottery to decide who would get the units.Developers and cities are increasingly turning to lotte
Some college grads are choosing to stay put in the town where they attended school. College towns can be attractive to younger generations. They tend to offer walkable areas, abundant restaurant and music scenes, and plenty of employment hubs. Homeownership also tends to be a strong investment since there’s plenty of ongoing demand from young and old buyers."People go [to college towns] with the intention of pursuing a degree ... but find these
More aspiring home buyers are increasingly turning to crowdfunding to drum up money for a down payment.Several new crowdfunding platforms have debuted, such as HomeFundMe and Feather the Nest, to help potential home buyers raise funds to purchase a home or make home repairs. Online registries like HoneyFund include the option of gifting a down payment contribution.“The number one challenge that we hear from millennials in terms of their ability
With inventory levels at record lows, strong buyer demand prompted home prices to rise at a faster pace in the first quarter of this year, according to the latest report by the National Association of REALTORS®.The national median existing single-family home price in the first three months of this year was $245,500. That is up 5.7 percent compared to a year ago.Further, single-family home prices rose in 91 percent of the measured markets in the
Single women are purchasing homes and condos at more than double the rate of single males. The trend is expected to keep growing, too.Last year, single women comprised 18 percent of all home purchases, while single men accounted for 7 percent, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Single women are the second largest segment of home purchasers, behind married couples. Single women purchasers include never-married individuals, widows
The general housing market is not the only one facing a housing shortage and rising home prices. Several luxury markets are now seeing prices skyrocket too from the limited number of homes for sale. Reno, Nev., is seeing some of the fastest price growth in the U.S. in its luxury market, according to newly released realtor.com® data.In the Reno metro area, the average sales price of a luxury home has surged 53.3 percent in February compared to a
Mortgage rates have mostly taken a pause after a series of rises in April. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.55 percent last week, unchanged from a week ago.“The minimal movement of mortgage rates in these last three weeks reflects the current economic nirvana of a tight labor market, solid economic growth, and restrained inflation,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “As we head into late spring, the demand for purc
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