Existing-home sales finished out 2016 as the best year since the housing boom days, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Tuesday.Total existing-home sales – which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops – closed 2016 at 5.45 million sales, surpassing 2015 (5.25 million). It was the highest total for existing-home sales since 2006 (6.48 million), NAR reported.“Solid job creation t
In the late 1980s, many residents were moving out of Charleston, S.C.,’s Eastside neighborhood due to a lack of job opportunities. The area became depressed. But things are changing there and throughout America, as many cities are undergoing rapid gentrification due to escalating home prices. But modern urban gentrification can get complicated, urban planners say.“It’s a trade-off,” says David Fiorenza, an urban economics professor at Vil
Do you have the “it” factor to move your real estate business? Travis Bradberry, author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and co-founder of TalentSmart, recently highlighted at Forbes.com some of the qualities that make people more fascinating to others.Here are some characteristics you may want to focus more on projecting so that others will find you more engaging:1. Demonstrate passion. “Interesting people don’t just have interests; they ha
What makes a healthy housing market? According to SmartAsset, it is one that shows stability, affordability, and in which homeowners are able to easily sell their homes with a low risk of losing money over the long run.The healthiest housing market in the country: Edgewood, Ky., a suburb of Cincinnati. Homes in Edgewood spent an average of 56.3 days on the market, significantly less than the national average of 169.6 days.Indeed, seven of the top
Home buyers along coastal housing markets are being impacted the most by rising mortgage rates over the past few weeks, according to an analysis by the National Association of REALTORS®.The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage went up from 3.5 percent in November to about 4.12 percent in January.Home buyers in San Francisco County, Calif., have felt the pain of that jump the most, with nearly a $375 increase to their average monthly mortgage paym
Just hours after being sworn in, President Donald Trump moved to suspend a plan to reduce the Federal Housing Administration’s mortgage insurance premiums that was set to go into effect on Jan. 27. The plan had been announced just a few days ago by the outgoing Obama administration and Housing and Urban Development head Julian Castro.The reduction in premiums by 25 basis points, or a quarter percentage point, “has been suspended indefinitely,
Homeowners are finding that as they renovate and walls are removed, they’re uncovering tokens from the home’s past. They’ve found everything from ritual objects placed behind the walls to ward off evil spirits to time capsules with notes enclosed for future owners to find.Michelle Morgan Harrison, an interior designer, recently found a skull buried beneath an old white oak beam while renovating her 1816 New Canaan, Conn., home. She was reli
The White House is getting a makeover as a new president moves in and calls 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. home.When Donald Trump moves into the White House on Jan. 20, his suits will be hanging in the closet, personal photos will be placed throughout, and everything from the rugs, furniture, and wallpaper will be just the way he’s requested, just as presidents before him find upon move-in day."The entire house has to be just the way the incoming famil
For the third consecutive week, fixed-rate mortgages edged down, lowering borrowing costs for buyers and refinancers.Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Jan. 19: 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.09 percent, with an average 0.5 point, dropping from last week’s 4.12 percent. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.81 percent. 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.34 perce
A recent survey from realtor.com® reveals the following:1. Low inventories: There aren’t enough homes for sale and inventory woes are expected to worsen this year. Active inventory in December 2016 on realtor.com® dropped 11 percent compared to a year ago. “As a result, the year has started with the lowest inventory of homes for sale at least since the recession, and possibly in decades,” realtor.com® notes. “Inventory was a challenge
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