General News - Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips

Home Prices Soar and Mortgage Interest Rates Hit New Highs

The housing market is heating up again, pushing prices to record highs even after mortgage rates have spiked. Would-be buyers are in shock.In the housing market today, it feels like what goes up doesn't have to come down.It looked like home prices were finally cooling off late last year after price spikes that began during the pandemic. Nationwide, prices dipped gradually in the second half of 2022 as mortgage rates climbed in response to ri

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Interest Rates Surge Again on Surprisingly Strong Jobs Report

Employers added 336,000 jobs in September, the biggest jump since January, raising the odds that the Fed will pursue 'higher for longer' rate strategy to get inflation under control Another surprisingly strong jobs report sent long-term interest rates soaring Friday on fears that Federal Reserve policymakers will view the 336,000 jobs that employers added in September as justification for another rate hike.A selloff in long-term bonds briefly sen

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Home Buyers Press Pause as Mortgage Rates Keep Climbing

Mortgage demand for home purchases slowed to the lowest level in nearly 20 years as aspiring buyers find themselves priced out.Home buyers can’t seem to catch a break in a challenging real estate market plagued by low inventory, high home prices and rising mortgage rates. This week, buyers were dealt another blow as mortgage rates surged to 7.49%, further pressing on their budgets. “Several factors, including shifts in inflation, the job mark

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It’s the ‘Best Week of the Year’ to Buy a Home

Your buyers likely will see the most housing options, least competition and lowest prices of the year this week, according to new realtor.com® research.Home buyers may want to be in the market this week: It’s the time of year with the most favorable conditions for purchasing a property, a new study shows.Historically, the week of Oct. 1–7 brings the strongest balance of market conditions, with greater home listings, less buyer competition an

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Contract Signings Dive as Higher Mortgage Rates Sideline Buyers

Pending home sales fell last month as house hunters struggled against rising costs. Read more from NAR’s latest home sales report.The National Association of REALTORS® reported Thursday that contract signings tumbled 7.1% month over month in August as mortgage rates float above 7%, pushing many aspiring home buyers to the sidelines. All four major U.S. regions saw monthly decreases, according to NAR. Pending home sales are down 19% from a year

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Mortgage Rates at 23-Year High

The higher borrowing costs are disappointing to home buyers and sellers who expected a lower rate environment this fall, NAR economist says.As mortgage rates continue to rise, more Americans are feeling stuck in their current homes, unwilling or unable to move at today’s higher borrowing costs. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to a 7.31% average this week—the highest level since 2000, Freddie Mac reports.“However, unlike the turn of the

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11 Home Landscaping Rules you Should Never Break

Whether your focus is on natural beauty or outdoor living, by sticking to these rules you can grow your home's curb appeal.Whether you like to admire the garden from your living room window, host regular backyard barbecues or line up a youth soccer practice out front on the weekends, your home’s exterior appearance is important. Planning the right landscaping – purely for aesthetics or utility – is imperative to help you

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Mortgage Rates Barely Budge, Remain Over 7%

The higher rates, combined with high home prices, are creating a housing market of “haves and have-nots,” says NAR’s deputy chief economist.Home buyers are being forced to adjust to what is becoming a new norm: Mortgage rates above 7%. At this week’s average of 7.19% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, as reported Thursday by Freddie Mac, the typical monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home of $413,500 would translate to $2,243, sa

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Home Values Fell in 21 of the 50 Largest US Metros in August

Home values are now 11.4% lower in Austin, Texas, than they were in Aug. 2022, Zillow said. Nationally, prices were up slightly from July to August, and there was a small inventory uptick Home values have fallen by more than 10 percent in Austin, Texas, as the nation’s housing market continued cooling down from pandemic-era highs, according to an August market report from Zillow.Nationwide, home values grew 0.2 percent from July to August, 

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Stock Market Drives U.S. Households to Record Wealth

A surging stock market powered U.S. household wealth to a record high of more than $154 trillion in the second quarter, aided by a rebound in property values, Federal Reserve data out on Friday showed.Household net worth rose 3.7% to $154.28 trillion in the period from April through June from $148.79 trillion at the end of the first quarter, the Fed said in its quarterly snapshot of the balance sheets of households, businesses and federal, state

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