About a quarter of first-time home buyers surveyed by realtor.com® in December said the top delay in buying was a lack of funds for a down payment. However, many first-time buyers don’t necessarily need a 20 percent down payment to move forward on a home purchase.In fact, the average down payment is 11 percent, according to realtor.com®’s research of loan record data from Optimal Blue. On an average purchased house in 2016 at $290,000, that
JPMorgan Chase will pay $55 million in a settlement over claims the bank giant charged thousands of African American and Hispanic borrowers higher interest rates on mortgages than white counterparts.Federal officials say the bank charged Black and Hispanic borrowers, on average, $1,000 more than similar mortgages issued to whites. The mortgages were reportedly issued by third-party independent brokers, but then funded by JPMorgan. Such a practice
A judge has granted a postponement to next week’s scheduled execution of a man who was convicted of killing a real estate agent in a McKinney, Texas, model home more than a decade ago.Kosoul Chanthakoummane, 36, was set to die by lethal injection on Jan. 25. A court found him guilty of stabbing a real estate agent to death in 2006. State District Judge Ben Smith granted Collin County prosecutors requested to move the date to allow more time to
The obvious password you use for your devices may be making you vulnerable to a data breach. Keeper Security, a password management software firm, analyzed more than 10 million login details leaked online through data breaches that occurred in 2016.The most popular password that continues to be used: “123456,” which the firm’s analysis showed was used 17 percent of the time by hacked accounts. The next most common password was the similar
Airplanes buzzing overhead, trains roaring by, or that bustling 24-hour supermarket can all take a toll on your property value. But, by how much?Realtor.com®’s data team analyzed nine major noise factors and then calculated the price difference between homes within a certain radius of the source. It then factored in the median price of homes in that ZIP code to gauge which noises are making buyers the most jittery. (Note: Noisy neighbors could
Banks continue to clean out the pipeline of loans that were originated during the housing boom days that have since turned sour.Most of the homes that are still being foreclosed on are from loans originated between 2004 and 2008, known as “legacy foreclosures,” according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ 2016 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.The following markets are seeing the biggest cases of backlogs with legacy foreclosures: District of Columbia:
Open floor plans continue to reign. Eighty-four percent of builders say that in the typical single-family home they build, the kitchen and family room arrangement is at least partially open. Fifty-four percent say it’s completely open, according to responses from a September 2016 National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.“Completely open” essentially means the two areas are combined into the same room. Partially
Have you heard from clients who want to delay listing their home until the season begins? Because sales and prices tend to peak in the spring and summer, it's a common request in many markets.However, this year is different. Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com®’s chief economist, stresses in his latest column that the conventional wisdom isn't correct this winter.Here’s why: At the beginning of 2017, inventory levels plunged to multiyear lows. Selle
There were plenty of new ideas, features, and designs of interest to the real estate community at the 2017 International Builders’ Show and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, both held in Orlando, Fla. last week. We were there to gather the top trends and buzzwords you need to know about now.Modernity in Moderation It turns out designers, home builders, and consumers have different ideas of the meaning and salability of the term “modern,"
Total mortgage applications – including for refinances and home purchases – were essentially flat last week, rising just 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, despite mortgage rates at their lowest averages in a month. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday that applications are now 14 percent lower than a year ago.Refinance applications have been falling significantly over the last few weeks as interest rates have edged hi
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