TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Trying to quell a bipartisan uproar, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that “half-baked” plans to bring golf courses, resort-style lodges and pickleball courts to state parks will be revamped. DeSantis said the Department of Environmental Protection will gather more public input before it could move forward with what is dubbed the […]
WASHINGTON – Pending home sales in July retreated 5.5%, according to the National Association of Realtors®. All four U.S. regions posted monthly losses in transactions. Year-over-year, the Northeast rose while the Midwest, South and West registered declines. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) – a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings […]
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) – The Treasury Department has issued regulations aimed at making it harder for criminals to launder money by paying cash for residential real estate. Under rules finalized Wednesday, investment advisers and real estate professionals will be required to report cash sales of residential real estate sold to legal entities, trusts and shell companies. The requirements […]
News & Media By Alex Veiga McLEAN, Va. – The average rate on a 30-year mortgage eased for the second week in a row and remains at its lowest level in more than a year, good news for prospective homebuyers facing home prices near all-time highs. The rate fell to 6.35% from 6.46% last […]
News & Media NEW YORK – High home prices and mortgage rates have frustrated potential home buyers, discouraging them from buying property. Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow, says that first-time buyers “are essentially renters” who saw housing costs rise 33% during the pandemic and wages stay the same. Many renters are currently […]
NEW YORK – Saving isn’t always easy, but it pays off over time. It’s especially useful to have a solid savings foundation in place to protect yourself against economic uncertainty. And with the unemployment rate surging to 4.3% in August, the road ahead looks potentially rocky. But how do you save more when money […]
GAINESVILLE – Housing policies may be becoming more pet inclusive, but housing insecurity is getting worse, finds a new study that examined the housing issues that led to owners turning their pets over to an animal shelter. “Over the duration of the study, instances of animals entering shelters due to loss of housing rose, […]
SEATTLE — The typical down payment for U.S. homebuyers hit a record high of $67,500 in June, up 14.8% from $58,788 a year earlier, according to a new report from the real estate brokerage Redfin. This was the 12th consecutive month the median down payment rose year over year. The nearly-15% jump in the […]
CHICAGO – Last July, Kristen Skebe had an agent come into her office, looking for something different. She wasn’t producing the way she wanted to, and she felt like she needed more support. She thought a team was the answer, and when she came to Skebe, who is managing broker at Sandy Springs Shop, […]
NEW YORK – Many Americans seem to have contradictory and confused feelings about the places they call home. Although 73% of Americans say they like where they live, 59% of Americans still get frustrated with their home city or state and 43% are embarrassed by their state, according to a new study from Clever […]
News & Media WASHINGTON – American consumers felt more confident in August as their outlook for the future improved. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 103.3 in August from 101.9 in July. The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their […]
WASHINGTON – U.S. house prices rose 5.7% between the second quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2024, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (FHFA HPI). House prices were up 0.9% compared to the first quarter of 2024. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was down 0.1% […]