housing market

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7 Most Affordable Cities to Buy a Home

Cleveland tops the list

(Newser) - Looking for an affordable place to live? Well, this probably won't come as a surprise to you, but don't move to California. Coldwell Banker put together its annual Home Listing Report , which looks at the average listing price of more than 81,000 Coldwell Banker listings of four-bed,...

Americans Now Wait Longer Than Ever to Buy First Home

Millennials are having trouble getting down payments together

(Newser) - Short of cash and unsettled in their careers, young Americans are waiting longer than ever to buy their first homes. The typical first-timer now rents for six years before buying a home, up from 2.6 years in the early 1970s, according to a new analysis by the real estate...

How One Woman Won the Home She Wanted: Pizza

Portlander's offer of pizza for life could easily reach $10K in pies

(Newser) - In an effort to stand out as a buyer in the competitive housing market in Portland, Ore., one woman who was helping her young son land his first home offered the sellers not only two free months of rent and $26,000 over the asking price of $249,000, but...

Meet a Family Who Lives in Mansions That Are for Sale

Company lets families live in homes on the market—but every object has a place

(Newser) - When the Mueller family hit hard times in Missouri, they packed up their baby grand piano and $10,000 Pakistani rug and moved into a $750,000 home on a golf course in Florida. It was the only affordable place where they could maintain the extravagant lifestyle to which they'...

US New Home Sales Hit Fastest Pace Since 2008

Sales of new homes increased 9.6% last month

(Newser) - US sales of new homes rebounded in January to the fastest pace in more than five years, offering hopes that housing could be regaining momentum after a slowdown last year caused by rising interest rates. The Commerce Department says sales of new homes increased 9.6% in January to a...

Foreclosures Plummet to Pre-Crash Levels

Foreclosures fall to 6-year low, 32% drop from last November

(Newser) - The number of US homes entering the path to foreclosure or winding up repossessed by lenders has fallen to levels not seen in more than six years. While foreclosures remain a concern in select states, the trend is the latest sign that foreclosures are becoming less of a national factor...

Home Prices Take Biggest Jump Since 2006

Up 12.2% in May compared with a year ago

(Newser) - US home prices jumped 12.2% in May compared with a year ago, per the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of property values; that's the biggest yearly gain since March 2006, reports the AP . The highlights didn't stop there: Bloomberg reports that each of the 20 cities in...

More Good News for Housing Market

New home sales at fastest pace in 5 years

(Newser) - Sales of new American homes rose in May to the fastest pace in five years, a solid gain that added to signs of a steadily improving housing market. The Commerce Department says sales rose 2.1% last month compared with April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 476,000,...

Home Prices Take Biggest Jump in 7 Years

20 biggest cities see gains for 2nd month in a row

(Newser) - US home prices posted their biggest year-over-year gains in February since 2006, as a growing number of buyers bid on a limited supply of homes. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index climbed 9.3% in the 12 months ending in February. That's up from an 8....

Singapore Home's Record Price: $242M

Dwarfs top US listing for $135M

(Newser) - A 85,000-square-foot property in downtown Singapore has hit the market for a record price of $242 million, Bloomberg reports. It includes a two-story home, a tennis court, and a pool, the marketing agent says—though sellers are betting developers may want to divide up the property, which is in...

White House to Banks: Loan to Those With So-So Credit

Effort to expand recovery sparks debate on risky lending

(Newser) - The White House is fighting to make it easier for people with less-than-stellar credit to get home loans, a move insiders say will spur recovery. They're joined by housing advocates who say the improving housing market hasn't reached lower-income and young people. But the plan "would open...

Feds Look to Deep-Six 'Forced' Home Insurance

Banks benefit from practice that has gouged millions

(Newser) - Since 2009, some six million "force-placed" home insurance policies have been written—expensive policies that hit homeowners if their original plans fall through, for instance, because they've fallen behind on payments. But these "forced" policies can cost up to 10 times as much as the original plans,...

Jan. Home Prices See Biggest Jump Since 2006

Case-Shiller index points to 8.1% growth year-over-year

(Newser) - Home prices jumped 8.1% this January compared to a year before, according to the 20-city Case-Shiller index. That beats economists' expectations of a 7.9% increase and marks the biggest year-over-year jump since the summer of 2006, the Wall Street Journal reports. In other words, it's "the...

Much Ado in Paris Over Man's Tinier-Than-Twin Bed Home

' Minuscule ' flat indicative of Paris' housing crunch, say advocates

(Newser) - If this is a Parisian apartment, no wonder folks there are les miserables. For the past 15 years, "Dominique" has been paying $442 a month to live in a 16.8-square-foot Parisian apartment too small to stand up in, reports NPR . (FYI, a twin-sized bed measures about 20 square...

29% of Homeowners Are Mortgage-Free
 29% of Homeowners 
 Are Mortgage-Free 
new report
Jan 11, 2013 8:07 AM CST

29% of Homeowners Are Mortgage-Free

Including 34.5% of those homeowners ages 20 to 24

(Newser) - In a country ravaged by the housing crisis, a hefty chunk of homeowners—some 29.3%—have escaped the mortgage burden entirely, a new report by Zillow finds. A great deal of the 20.6 million Americans who own their homes outright are retirees: 77.6% of people 85 and...

Home Prices Climbed 3% in September

20-city index sees jump as housing recovery continues

(Newser) - Home prices increased in September in most major US cities, more evidence of a housing recovery that is providing a lift to the fragile economy. Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller reported today that its 20-city index of home prices rose 3% in September, compared with the same month last year....

Housing Starts Soar to Highest Since 2008

Almost all of the growth comes in apartments, townhouses

(Newser) - The housing market might finally be coming around. The number of new homes that began construction last month took a surprise 3.6% leap to an 894,000 annual rate—the highest since July 2008, the Commerce Department announced today. That's well above the 840,000 economists surveyed by...

Federal Housing Agency Almost Out of Money

It may need an unprecedented bailout

(Newser) - The Federal Housing Administration is expected to announce this week that it's on the verge of running out of cash and may need taxpayer help, the Wall Street Journal reports. Rising mortgage defaults are battering the agency, which, though it guarantees fewer mortgages than either Fannie Mae or Freddie...

US Housing Construction Hits 4-Year High

Up 15% in September: Commerce department

(Newser) - US builders started construction on single-family homes and apartments in September at the fastest pace since July 2008, a further indication that the housing recovery is strengthening. The Commerce Department says builders broke ground at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000 in September. That's an increase of...

Consumer Confidence Soars Past Expectations

There's good housing news, too

(Newser) - Consumer confidence soared to a seven-month high, flying far above analyst expectations, according to a Conference Board report released today. The board's index came in at 70.3, up from 61.3 a month earlier. That's a whole heck of a lot better than the 63 that the...

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