Category: Real Estate
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Mortgage Layoffs Surge As Rising Rates Crush Lending Activity
Stocks are in bear market territory, crypto is crashing and recession fears keep rising. Adding to 2022’s turmoil, the housing market is showing troubling signs as rising interest rates result in reduced mortgage activity and job cuts after two years of surging growth. Major brokerages, mortgage lenders, and property-tech companies have all announced varying degrees…
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Sales of existing homes fell in May, and more declines are expected
A “For Sale” sign outside a house in Albany, California, on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Sales of existing homes in May dropped 3.4% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.41 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were 8.6% lower than in May…
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Falling House Prices And The Elections In 2022 And 2024
Falling house prices tend to be bad for incumbent politicians during reelections. Take, for example, George H. W. Bush. Vice President George H. W. Bush was elected president in a landslide in 1988. The U.S. housing market had been booming for years before that election. The Northeast boomed from 1986 to 1988, and California was…
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Demand for adjustable-rate mortgages surges, as interest rates make biggest jump in 13 years
A ‘for sale’ sign hangs in front of a home on June 21, 2022 in Miami, Florida. According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes dropped 3.4% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.41 million units. Sales were 8.6% lower than in May 2021. As existing-home sales declined, the median price…
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Wellness Continues To Trend In New Residential Design Survey
Leading design and remodeling platform Houzz published its 2022 Summer Survey today and it’s chock full of wellness-related design trends. The survey measures searches on its massive site in the first quarter of 2022, with comparisons to the same period last year. Searches don’t necessarily translate to 2022 sales, but indicate strong consumer interest that…
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‘I can’t win in this market’: Why LGBTQ homebuyers say mortgage rates are hitting them especially hard
Skandar Mrad, shown here on vacation in Italy, is looking for a home in the Los Angeles area. When Skandar Mrad decided late last year to buy his first house, his top priority was location. Mrad, a gay man living in the Los Angeles area, has spent much of his adult life commuting several hours…
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Interior Designers Share The Worst Home Trends That Should Never Come Back In Style
Some interior design trends never seem to die. Or do they? There are very specific looks and trends that are often associated with a particular era. For example, thanks to the popularity of Chip and Joanna Gaines, there is nothing more definitive of the last decade than modern farmhouse style. On the other hand, there’s…
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Here’s why this housing downturn is nothing like the last one
As quickly as mortgage rates are rising, the once red-hot housing market is cooling off. Home prices are still historically high, but there is concern now that they will ease up as well. All of this has people asking: Is today’s housing market in the same predicament that it was over a decade ago, when…
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Celebrate Juneteenth From Sea To Shining Sea
Juneteenth, known as Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day and Liberation Day, commemorates the day in 1865 when the federal army reached Texas to ensure that enslaved people in the state were freed. Union General Gordon Granger brought news of the end of the war and the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been signed more than…
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Here’s what the Federal Reserve’s 0.75 percentage point rate hike — the highest in 28 years — means for you
The Federal Reserve raised its target federal funds rate by 0.75 percentage points, the largest increase in nearly three decades, at the end of its two-day meeting Wednesday in an effort to quell runaway inflation. “The motivation for all of this is that prices are going up,” said Chester Spatt, a professor of finance at Carnegie Mellon…
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Buyers Be Bold, Sellers Price Right: How To Navigate New York City’s Current Real Estate Market
2022 came in with a bang, real estate-wise. Record numbers of contracts were signed here in New York during the first couple of months of the year. But as the first quarter wore on, cracks began to appear, mostly attributable to national or world events. A decade of almost free money accelerated a stumble into…
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43% of homeowners have delayed home improvements and maintenance due to inflation. Here’s why that’s risky
Getty Images For homeowners, big projects and purchases may be another casualty of rampant inflation, new research suggests. Overall, 60% of homeowners in a recent survey are less comfortable making large purchases for their home or household because of rising prices, according to Hippo Insurance’s 2022 Homeowner Preparedness Report. And 43% either strongly (14%) or…
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A Guide To West Hollywood’s Best Home Furnishing Stores
Whether you live in California or are just visiting, West Hollywood is one of the best neighborhoods to shop for home furnishings. Known to locals as WEHO, this area is frequented by some of the top interior designers visiting the many showrooms at the world-famous Pacific Design Center. But it’s also the home of lots…
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China’s property troubles have pushed one debt indicator above levels seen in the financial crisis
Fixed asset investment data for the first five months of 2022 showed real estate investment declined at a greater scale than it did during the first four months of the year. Pictured here on May 16 is a development in Huai’an City in Jiangsu province in east China. CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images…
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$35-Million Argentina Wine Estate Produces 600,000 Bottles Annually
The province of Mendoza is at the heart of Argentina’s viticulture. Centrally located along the country’s western border, it is separated from Chile by the Andes Mountains. The bucolic region produces fruit, vegetables and honey but is known worldwide for its vineyards. Argentina is among the leading wine producing countries in the world – joining…
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Connecticut Estate Asking $18 Million Offers Sea Air And NYC Proximity
The list of reasons to want to live in Fairfield, Connecticut, is at least five miles long. For starters, that’s the number of miles of beaches the town has on Long Island Sound. Home to the quaint and historic Southport Harbor at the mouth of the Mill River, Fairfield is also just slightly more than…
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Millennial millionaires are delaying home, car purchases due to inflation
A waterfront mansion on Star Island, Florida. Jeff Greenberg | UIG | Getty Images Millennial millionaires are temporarily shelving major purchases as interest rates and inflation rise, according to CNBC’s Millionaire Survey. Nearly half of millennial millionaires say higher borrowing costs are causing them to delay buying a car, and 44% say higher interest rates…
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Four Getaway Homes For All Forms Of Leisure
From sand to sea, these four multimillion-dollar homes are the epitome of a life of leisure. For secluded oceanfront privacy Located on a 51-plus-acre gated and fully-fenced estate with nearly a mile of oceanfront, this luxury five-bedroom property offers an exceptional opportunity on the Hamakua Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii. Surrounded by manicured…
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30-year mortgage rate surges to 6.28%, up from 5.5% just a week ago
Jb Reed | Bloomberg | Getty Images Mortgage rates jumped sharply this week, as fears of a potentially more aggressive rate hike from the Federal Reserve upset financial markets. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage rose 10 basis points to 6.28% Tuesday, according to Mortgage News Daily. That followed a 33 basis…
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Considering an adjustable rate mortgage? Be sure you fully understand the risks
Lifestylevisuals | E+ | Getty Images When interest rates rise, it’s common for some homebuyers to explore whether an adjustable rate mortgage would make sense for them. With an ARM, as it’s called, the appeal is its lower initial interest rate compared with a traditional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Yet down the road, that rate can…