Low rental vacancies nationwide, coupled with continued strong demand for single-family rental properties, could prompt landlords to increase rents even more. But housing analysts caution that further rent hikes could overburden tenants, many of whom already are struggling to stay afloat financially as housing costs rise.The nation’s largest landlords of single-family rentals, Invitation Homes and Tricon American Homes, say their occupancy rate
The frenzy of the summer real estate market has cooled by the seemingly very same breeze sweeping leaves off the trees across much of the country. But now may be a better time than ever for your buyer clients to do their house hunting.According to RealtyTrac and realtor.com®, October is the best time to snag a deal on a house. RealtyTrac analyzed more than 32 million sales of single-family homes and condos between 2000 and 2015, finding that t
Mortgage rates surged to their highest averages since 2011 following the Federal Reserve’s announcement Wednesday that it is raising its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 4.72 percent, up from 4.65 percent last week.“The robust economy, rising Treasury yields, and the anticipation of more short-term rate hikes caused mortgage rates to move up,” says Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater.
The Internal Revenue Service is working on guidance that would clarify the deductibility of expenses for client meals under the new tax law, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to the report, this guidance is expected to say that the cost of business meals will be 50 percent deductible, even when those meals are purchased at events defined as entertainment, such as ballgames, as long as the cost of the food is documented separately fr
Sales of newly built single-family homes eked out an increase in August, but not enough to impress economists or make up for big shortfalls in housing. Sales for new homes increased 3.5 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000 units, but the uptick was off of significantly revised downwardly reports from June and July, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Wednesday. The revised reports indicate a soft patch overall in ne
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday voted to raise its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a point to the highest point in more than a decade, and the housing market is now bracing for impact.The Fed lifted its rate to range between 2 percent and 2.25 percent. This is the third time in a year the Fed has raised its rate. The committee points to an upbeat economy that is “healthy and moving forward.”“These rates remain low,” Federal Reser
Pending home sales continued to fall last month, marking the eighth consecutive month for annual decreases, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Thursday. The drop in contracts may be a sign of a growing number of buyers who are being priced out of the market, economists warn.NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index—a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings—fell 1.8 percent to a reading of 104.2 in August. Contract signings ar
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has proposed a bill that sets out to make homes more affordable for low-income and middle-class Americans. The American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2018 calls for construction of new homes and more renovations of existing ones by removing some red tape for builders on regulatory costs and offering more incentives for them to build more affordable homes.For example, the bill proposes giving local government
Seventy-seven percent of consumers say they believe now is a good time to sell a house—a record high. That's according to new findings from the National Association of REALTORS®’ second quarter Housing Opportunities and Market Experience survey.Fifty-three percent of survey respondents say they believe home prices will continue to increase in their communities over the next six months. Survey respondents in the West were the most upbeat ab
In the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, a new problem is surfacing: The shrinking number of households that have flood insurance.Flood damage is not included in a standard homeowners’ insurance policy. So if a mortgage lender does not require a borrower to obtain it, the onus falls on the homeowner to seek it out. For some, the extra money to do so may make this unlikely. As of April 2017, the average annual premium for a policy through the Na
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