WASHINGTON – A new quarterly Cost of Housing Index unveiled today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo underscores the housing affordability crisis in America by revealing that in the first quarter of 2024, 38% of a typical family’s income was needed to make a mortgage payment on a median […]
MIAMI — Is Miami friendly? If you didn’t get cut off on I-95 today and the ventanita gave you a little extra cafe, sure, why not? But the Magic City didn’t make the cut of the friendliest towns in the South. And neither did any other place in South Florida. But Florida does have […]
NEW YORK – Mortgage interest rates have been headlining financial news segments for several years running. Much of that news has been met with less than open arms, as rates have risen dramatically in recent years, an increase that is related to the ripple effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. Mortgage interest rates did not […]
NEW YORK – A recent survey from Stanley Black & Decker’s Craftsman brand discovers that 75% of American homeowners believe their garage holds the potential to be the most productive space within their residence. While traditionally, a garage serves as a storage space or is left abandoned to gather dust and clutter, it could […]
News & Media By Matt Ott WASHINGTON — Consumer confidence in the U.S. rose in May following three straight months of declines, but Americans remain anxious about inflation and interest rates. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose in May to 102 from 97.5 in April. […]
TAMPA, Fla. – A year after one Florida beach nabbed the top spot in the annual Dr. Beach Top 10 beaches in the U.S. list, two other Sunshine State strips of sand found their way onto the annual ranking. Caladesi Island State Park near Clearwater came in at No. 4 while Delnor-Wiggins Pass State […]
WASHINGTON – Three Florida metro areas saw a more than 10% increase in home prices between the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (FHFA HPI), which tracks all U.S. mortgages under government-sponsored enterprises, notably Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. West […]
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Question: My neighbor has a large mango tree in her yard along the fence that separates our property. I keep the branches of the tree that come over the fence on my side pruned, and she has agreed to do this. However, the wind blows the leaves from the tree […]
News & Media NEW YORK – Assumable mortgages are one way that home buyers can obtain a lower interest rate than the current rate of nearly 7%. Startups like Roam list homes with assumable low-rate loans and helps home buyers go through the process. Realtor.com also started tagging assumable mortgage properties on its website […]
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Retailers hope Floridians will heed multiple forecasts that the upcoming hurricane season will be more active than normal. With the start of a 14-day sales tax “holiday” on storm-related items a little more than a week away, Florida Retail Federation President Scott Shalley said Wednesday it is important that residents are […]
NEW YORK – Almost one-half of all mortgaged residential property owners were considered equity rich at the end of 2023, according to the U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report from the property and real estate data company ATTOM. That means they had built up at least 50% equity in their homes, putting them in […]
CHICAGO – There’s an often-overlooked truism in the technology space that “new” doesn’t always mean new. Often, it means new to you. Take augmented reality (AR), for example. We’ve actually been using AR for fun for some time now — Instagram, TikTok, the Snapchat dog filter and Pokémon GO are just a few examples. […]