Housing affordability is the talk of the town in the current real estate climate. Home prices surpassed their peak at the end of the last housing boom. Since 2012, prices have increased, on average, 6 percent per year. However, per capita incomes have risen only 2.4 percent, on average, per year, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Insight report for July.In areas like Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties, the median-income household is
Threats of rising mortgage rates may have spooked borrowers last week and prompted them to quickly lock in rates. Total mortgage application volume for refinancings and home purchases jumped 6.3 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.Even though mortgage rates remained steady during the week, refinance volume, which had been dropping in recent weeks, surged 13 percent last week.The 30
Here are some sobering stats from the FBI: A robbery occurs every 1.6 minutes in the U.S., a burglary every 18.2 seconds, and a larceny theft every 5.4 seconds.SafeHome, a home security systems reviews resource, analyzed FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data from 2015 to determine the items thieves most commonly target.The most stolen items were classified as miscellaneous valuables, jewelry, and precious metals, according to the report. In some state
Foreign investment in U.S. real estate has surged to a new high, with property expenditures skyrocketing 49 percent over the past year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2017 Profile of International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate.Nearly half of all foreign sales were in three states: Florida, California, and Texas.Between April 2016 and March 2017, foreign buyers and recent immigrants purchased $153 billion of res
Programs aiming to reduce and eliminate homelessness can apply for the grants through September 28Key Takeaways The Continuum of Care Program provides funding for nonprofit organizations and state and local governments "to quickly re-house homeless individuals and families to minimize trauma and dislocation." The program will make $2 billion in funding available to those organizations and governments in order to continue to tackle homelessness.Ho
California has a severe lack of affordable homes and apartments for middle-class families, The New York Times reports. The median cost of a home in the state has surged to $500,000—double the national cost.A booming economy, home construction, and apartments that haven’t kept up with demand have all fueled a housing crisis throughout the state, The New York Times reports. Home prices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, and San Die
Texas is good for first-time home buyers, according to a new study by WalletHub, a personal finance resource. The Lone Star State boasts four of the top 10 locations for first-time home buyers in 2017; McKinney, Texas, ranked first on WalletHub’s list.“Cities in north Texas have very healthy housing markets and a high percentage of homes sold in the past year,” WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez told realtor.com®. “Construction is flouris
The Motley Fool recently featured a range of mortgage tips to help educate first-time buyers, including:Know their credit score. The credit score can be a big key to knowing how much buyers can afford and how much interest they’ll be paying. Home shoppers should be encouraged to check their credit report and FICO score before even starting the homebuying process.Estimate how much can be borrowed. Lenders generally don’t like to see a mont
College towns have earned a reputation as being a great real estate investment. “In the same way that department stores serve as anchors in shopping malls, colleges and universities operate as anchors within a city,” Michael Harris, director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, told realtor.com®. “Cities with colleges receive tremendous benefits, from a better-educated workforce to improved arts
Many mortgage lenders are phasing out physical paperwork in favor of electronic documents. While that may make organization easier for consumers, they still find an element of peace of mind in physical documents, according to a new survey.Digital Risk, a mortgage outsourcing solutions firm, surveyed about 1,000 homeowners and 509 renters and found that while borrowers say they seek a more streamlined process to buy or refinance a home, they are l
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