The Federal Reserve is picking up the pace, voting on Wednesday to raise its key interest rate just three months after its last rate hike. The Fed announced that short-term interest rates will increase by one-quarter of a percentage point and suggested that two similar increases likely will occur later this year. Mortgage rates aren’t directly tied to the Fed’s short-term interest rates but tend to follow them.“If you think it’s been hard
Right now, there are more Spanish speakers in the United States than in Spain, and by 2050 we’ll have the largest Spanish-speaking population in the world. To meet the needs of this growing market and the agents who serve it, the National Association of REALTORS® recently launched the Spanish-language edition of At Home With Diversity, an online certification course encompassing topics of diversity, fair housing risk reduction, and sustainable
Don’t assume your clients need a high income to avoid a mortgage. The Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS®' Welcome Home Survey for the first quarter of 2017 shows older people with lower incomes are paying in cash in higher numbers than most would assume.“While is seems counterintuitive that one in three buyers with incomes under $50,000 reported buying homes in cash, age may be driving a higher share of lower-income respondents reportin
Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion announced they will soon remove tax lien and civil judgment data from some consumer credit records. The reason for this change is that many liens and most judgments fail to include vital pieces of information. Beginning on July 1, the public records data the firms use must include these data points: the consumer’s name, address, and either a social security number or a date of birth. Existing reports that fail
The gap continues to widen between what homeowners say their home is worth and appraisers' valuations. Homeowners’ estimates of values were, on average, 1.69 percent higher than appraisers’ home value opinions in February, according to Quicken Loans’ National Home Price Perception Index. The gap has been detected every month since February 2015.A few metros are running counter to national trends with appraiser opinions actually higher than
Single-family builders are beefing up their use of green products and services. On average, single-family builders report using 10.2 green products or practices per new house they construct.What’s more, 22 percent of builders say they always or almost always have their homes certified to a green standard, according to a new survey of 337 single-family builders conducted by the National Association of Home Builders. Every builder who responded t
Rising home prices are boosting homeowners’ equity across the country. Nationwide, owners saw home equity rise, on average, by $13,700 during 2016, according to CoreLogic’s latest “Homeowner Equity Report.” States like Washington and Oregon saw some of the largest home-price appreciation last year, up $31,000 and $27,000, respectively.Take a look at this map to see the average equity per owner in your state.Of the largest metros by popula
Entering real estate’s traditionally busiest time of year, the housing market is being buoyed by a stronger economy and consumer confidence. Job creation is 30 percent stronger this year compared to a year ago, unemployment is near a 9-year low, and wages and incomes are growing at the largest levels in about eight years, notes Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com®’s chief economist.Some buyers are in more of a hurry this season too. In the last two
Just how large a house really is may depend on whom you ask, The Wall Street Journal reports. That’s because appraisers, developers, builders, real estate professionals, tax assessors, and architects all measure spaces differently. No universal standard exists for calculating a home’s square footage. Further, it can also vary regionally.For example, some calculate space on only the interior dimensions of finished living spaces. Some industry
Do your agents know how to answer the buy-versus-rent question from clients? Essentially, what people are asking is what’s the best way to accumulate wealth, says Ken Johnson, a real estate economist, associate dean of graduate programs, and professor at Florida Atlantic University College of Business. “Historically, housing has won,” he says.Of course, that changed with the onset of the housing bubble in the early 2000s. But brokers can br
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