The dream of homeownership remains a strong one among younger renters. As the housing recovery continues, Americans are growing more confident in the housing market in general. And that confidence comes in part from a potentially surprising source: Millennial renters, who to date have been perceived by many as largely uninterested in and/or unable to [...]
There’s always a lot of news around housing numbers. Whether home sales are up or down, hot or cold, when they’re released, housing numbers grab headlines. According to the most recent numbers from the National Association of Realtors, nearly 5 million homes will be sold in 2014. That’s a lot of homes! One thing that [...]
Many of today’s new home buyers are Millennials – the generation born in the 80s and 90s – who are now getting married, starting families, and stepping into the real estate arena for the very first time. This is the same generation that grew up in a boom, followed by a bust and an insane [...]
We always hear that remodeling a kitchen is one of the most expensive home improvements. And it can be. The Remodeling 2014 Cost vs. Value Report listed the average cost of a major kitchen remodel at $54,909, and even a minor remodel came in at $18,856. But kitchen remodeling doesn't have to be that expensive. [...]
When you make the decision to sell your home, it can be tricky to know which changes would make your home sell more quickly or boost the sale price — and which would just be a waste of your time and resources. Each home (and each homeowner) is different; that’s why we’ve come up with [...]
Falling in love can be wonderful—and finding the perfect house can make a house-hunter weak in the knees. As Valentine’s Day approaches, a survey by Realtor.com shows that falling head-over-heels for a house is fairly common—69% of respondents reported that they have had a home crush. House-hunters with a “home crush,” as defined in the [...]
To the surprise of virtually no one, the Federal Reserve kept its cheap-money policy in place, but markets interpreted language in the decision to mean that the end may come sooner than expected. Wall Street had expected the Fed to refrain from tapering its so-called money printing operation. Economic data, particularly in employment and consumer confidence, has [...]
WASHINGTON -- Average U.S. mortgage rates rose modestly this week, a move that makes home-buying a bit less affordable. Still, rates remain near historically low levels. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate on the 30-year loan increased to 4.29 percent from 4.22 percent last week. The average on the 15-year fixed ticked [...]
The average down payment for 30-year fixed rate mortgages dropped to 15.73 percent of the home's value in the third quarter this year, down 2.74 percent from the second quarter, according to a report from LendingTree. A news release about report, which detailed the average down payment percentages by state, highlighted the relationship between down [...]
