After falling for three months, the pace of existing-home sales rose in December, pushing 2013’s tally to the highest level in seven years, according to data from the National Association of Realtors . For 2013 sales hit 5.09 million, the most since 2006, and up 9.1% from the prior year. “The data are consistent with…
Once their grown children had moved away from the family home, John Goodman, 65, and his wife, Donna, realized they were ready to move on as well. “We had an old 1940s, beautiful home, but we just didn’t need it anymore, and we didn’t need the taxes and the maintenance that went with it,” says…
After year of struggles, the housing market roared back to life in 2013. The rebound will continue in 2014, but the pace will slow. Experts say 2014 will be a year of continued growth and stabilization in the housing market with rising home prices, fewer foreclosures and greater activity among underwater homeowners. But this year’s…
Think again. They have nothing on reluctant thirty-somethings. Much of America is probably tired of articles about generational battles. After all, life is an individual experience, and in every age category there is always someone willing to buy a home or sell a home. But from an economic standpoint, today’s environment makes it almost essential…
You’ve looked at dozens of homes. Your REALTOR® is about to tear her hair out with frustration. You are paralyzed, letting one great home after another pass you by. Why can’t you make a decision? Buying a home can be an overwhelming process. There are so many decisions to make and any of them can…
According to the latest report from Fannie Mae, a pullback in economic policy uncertainty regarding fiscal and monetary policy issues is forecasted to lay the foundation for improved private sector activity and accelerated growth in 2014. For all of 2014, economic growth is expected to rise 2.9% from an estimated 2.6% in 2013. Read the…
Search-engine giant Google wants to help make homes smarter and more connected, and took another step at that by by announcing its acquisition of connected device maker Nest Labs. Google announced it will pay $3.2 billion in cash to acquire Nest Labs, a company that develops “smart” home appliances such as thermostats and smoke detectors…
First-time home buyers who want affordable homes may want to take a hard look at fixer-uppers, smaller homes and cheaper commutes to work to save on the costs of buying and owning a home. Real estate brokers say many home buyers expect more than they can afford in a home and once they start pounding…
Some housing experts are trumpeting changes that allow foreclosure sufferers to buy back into the American Dream sooner than they probably imagined, calling 2014 the year of the “boomerang buyer.” Revisions made over the summer to Federal Housing Administration guidelines and technical updates in November to Fannie Mae loan approval systems have opened the door…
The U.S. real estate market made a robust comeback in 2013, surpassing expectations of many economists, as the combination of low inventories and historically low-interest rates caused home prices to rise and even helped fuel bidding wars in some markets, surpassing the expectations of many economists. Looking back at some 2013 data can give us…
The new regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Wednesday he was delaying planned fee increases by the seized mortgage finance giants because he wanted to assess the impact on the housing market. Melvin L. Watt, who was sworn in as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Monday, quickly showed there would…
The big “will-they or won’t they” ended last month with the Fed’s mid-December announcement that it would begin tapering its economic stimulus efforts. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s decision to scale back on Bond and Treasury purchases by $10 billion signaled that the economy has showed sufficient ability to play on its own, albeit, on…