President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to ease or, in some cases, eliminate rules that have been blamed for blocking greater construction of affordable housing. Homebuilding is near its lowest level in 60 years, contributing to a nationwide housing shortage that has pushed home prices up and battered affordability.Trump announced that a newly created initiative called the White House Council on Eliminating Barriers to Affordabl
Many homeowners who purchase a fixer-upper say it was because they believed they’d save money. But they actually end up spending about the same or more than if they had opted for a move-in-ready home, according to a new study from Porch, a home remodeling website.Porch surveyed more than 1,000 homeowners about recent repairs to their homes. More than one-third of respondents said they lived in fixer-uppers.On average, respondents who bought a m
1. Planting trees too close to the home.Homeowners may not realize how big a tree will grow as it matures and plant it too near the property. “Plant them several feet away from your home so their limbs won’t rub against your home,” Melissa Okabe, a real estate professional at Alta Properties in Los Angeles, told Apartment Therapy. “Overhanging limbs can also damage the roof, and spreading roots might damage the foundation.”2. Failing at
Many home sellers are reaping profits, especially if they're in one of 20 hot housing markets, finds a new study from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm.To evaluate, researchers evaluated the difference between the median sales price of homes in a given market and the median sales price of the previous sale of those same homes.San Francisco homeowners are seeing the highest returns, with sellers in April netting an average 74% return.
While housing affordability has been getting a hand from lower mortgage rates, it wasn’t enough to lift new-home sales last month.Sales of newly built single-family homes underperformed in what is traditionally the busiest time of year in the housing sector. New-home sales dropped 7.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000 units in May, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday. The number represents signed contracts, not closings
Government officials in some cities want to make it easier and less expensive to raise homes near coastal areas that suffer from repeated flood threats.Flooding is a threat to low-lying coastal communities. Federal flood insurance premiums are rising, and many believe they will continue to do so over future years.“The seas are rising … The flood maps continue to get updated, and more homes are in coastal high hazard areas,” Brandi Gabbard,
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the sponsored government enterprises that support the bulk of U.S. mortgages, are making it easier to buy a manufactured home, but observers say not enough of the public may be enticed.A year ago, Fannie Mae debuted a program that essentially regards high-end manufactured homes the same as on-site homes when it comes to financing. Freddie Mac followed suit in the spring. Fannie and Freddie hope that by offering more re
Metros that were once overlooked are proving to be popular places for LGBTQ consumers to live in, according to a new survey from realtor.com®. San Francisco continues to take the top spot, but members of the LGBTQ community are increasingly choosing places that also have strong antidiscriminatory laws and policies in place.“The LGBTQ community will identify a town or neighborhood and will turn it into a safe haven for thems
More U.S. adults are getting on the internet via their smartphone, and you may want to put more focus on how your website looks on mobile devices to make sure the experience isn’t a turnoff.Thirty-seven percent of U.S. adults typically tend to reach for their smartphone to access the internet, a significant increase from the 19% of Americans who reported doing so in 2013, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Younger adults betwee
In about a dozen nondisclosure states, the home purchase price isn’t made public. Sales prices can still be found by looking at publicly recorded transfer tax information, but to most of the general public, housing sales data can seem secretive, The Wall Street Journal reports.A couple in Houston had offered to pay $700,000 to buy a home, but were alarmed to see it listed on a real estate site under an estimated home value that fell s
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