5 Markets Where the Middle Class Can Still Afford a Home
If your real estate strategy relies on middle-class buyers being able to afford your properties, then you might want to take a closer look at these metro areas. As the housing affordability crisis...
View ArticleConsumer Buying Patterns Continue to Hurt Traditional Shopping Malls
Vacancy rates in large U.S. shopping malls are rising, prompting some analysts to speculate that a shift in shopping mall space usage is coming. As an increasing number of “anchor stores,” such as J.C....
View ArticleStock Market Volatility Could Stall Loan Demand
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), total mortgage application volumes are falling. Those applications, which include applications for home purchases and refinancing, fell 3.3 percent...
View ArticleThe New York Real Estate Market Already in a Correction
In a city renowned for skyscraper-high real estate prices, property values in many of those skyscrapers are falling. According to a report from Stribling & Associates, median sales price for a New...
View ArticleA Surprising New Trend in New Construction
Apparently, no one is calling them “ranch homes” anymore, but that’s what they are. Furthermore, one-level homes are gaining popularity in the homebuying market once again, and developers are taking...
View ArticleNew York Mayor Proposes Fine for Retail Landlords with Vacancies
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio is worried about storefront vacancies in his city, and he believes a “vacancy tax” on the property owners might solve the problem. “I am very interested in fighting...
View ArticleGinnie Mae Cracks Down on Lenders “Targeting” Veterans
In early 2018, federally owned Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or Ginnie Mae) threatened a small group of lenders with expulsion from its primary mortgage bond program if the lenders did...
View ArticleYounger Homeowners May Overestimate Their DIY Abilities
It is not surprising a study of homeowners of all ages indicated older homeowners have more experience with home repairs. What is surprising, however, is the high degree of confidence younger...
View ArticleMillennials Will Spend Nearly $100,000 on Rent Before Turning 30
According to a new study from RENTCafé, Millennials will not only spend more on rent in their first decade as adults; they will also spend nearly half their income on their rental housing. “Many...
View ArticleFloodplain Codes to Change in Houston, Texas
The Houston City Council is hoping to prevent a repeat of the damage the city’s infrastructure suffered in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and the changes to municipal codes could affect some real estate...
View ArticleMississippi Investors Plead Guilty to Bid-Rigging
Mississippi real estate investors who agreed not to bid against each other at foreclosure auctions are now facing fines and even jail time. Last week, three more investors pled guilty to designating a...
View ArticleTop 3 Hottest Luxury ZIP Codes in the United States
New data from Realtor.com indicates that luxury home prices in certain markets around the country are spiraling through the roof, and the trend does not appear to be cooling anytime soon. Researchers...
View ArticleChinese Investors Still Buying U.S. Real Estate
Although the rhetoric has been heated on both sides as President Trump and President Xi trade threats about various tariffs and taxes to potentially be imposed on each other’s respective countries,...
View ArticleActivists Express Concern Over Amazon HQ2 and Housing
Shortly after naming 20 cities to its “short list” as finalists for its second headquarters, Amazon.com issued a demand for confidentiality on all offers and negotiations between those cities and...
View ArticleJFK Airport in New York No Longer in the “Top 20” for World’s Busiest Airports
New York’s JFK Airport is, according to the International Air Transport Association, no longer among the world’s 20 busiest airports. The reason, the ATA speculated, is likely “explosive growth of...
View ArticleZillow Makes Waves with Pilot of Home-Sales Platform
This week, Zillow announced it will begin both buying and selling properties directly from and to homeowners, meaning that it will purchase homes directly from sellers, then resell those properties to...
View ArticleMetro Detroit Home Prices Set to Rise
Thanks to relatively low unemployment, rising interest rates, a dearth of new construction, a large population of new metro residents, and tight housing inventory, Detroit, Michigan’s housing market...
View ArticleDetroit Resident Makes Over Neighborhood, Builds Rental Portfolio
Jeff Cowin moved into Detroit’s Virginia Park historic district in 2010 when the area was still full of abandoned homes, blighted buildings, squatters, and crime. At the time, neither Cowin nor the...
View ArticleSmart Wallpaper is Flame-Retardant, Alerts Homeowners in Event of Fire
Researchers at Shanghai’s Institute of Ceramics have developed a wallpaper that not only delay the spread of a fire but might call the fire department for you as well. The paper consists of...
View ArticlePrice-Gouging Charges Leveled Against California Landlord
When wildfires destroyed thousands of homes in California last fall, tens of thousands of residents were displaced. As those households began to seek new places to live and to rebuild, many investors...
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