The Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to raise interest rates for the second time this year and indicated that it will step up the pace of interest rate hikes if economic growth continues to boom. It changed its outlook to a total of four likely increases this year. Eight Fed policy makers said they expected four or more quarter-point rate increases for the full year.“The committee expects that further gradual increases in the target range for th
With home prices up in most markets, homeowners aren’t being shy about tapping into their newfound equity. Home equity lines of credit were up 18 percent in the first quarter, and up 14 percent from a year ago, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ First Quarter U.S. Residential Property Loan Origination Report.“Putting home equity to work is the name of the game in the 2018 housing market,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATT
Generation Z is still mostly comprised of kids, but analysts in the housing market are already expecting big things about this generation’s future appetite for real estate.Generation Z, born in 1997 and beyond, is a cohort of about 65 million to 75 million who are expected to start buying homes on a large scale within five to 10 years. The oldest members of Gen Z are in their early 20s. Millennials are currently the largest group of homebuyers.
Rising interest rates and the economy are the top two current issues to watch in real estate, according to the Counselors of Real Estate’s Top Ten Issues Affecting Real Estate 2018-2019, a list of the biggest threats to the housing market. For the first time, CRE broke its annual list down into current and longer-term issues to watch during the industry’s next year.Top Current Issues to Watch1. Interest rates and the economy: As interest ra
If your clients are looking for not just a new home but a new neighborhood, you can help them find the information they'll need to consider their decision. Along with the usual sources for statistics, consider pointing them to social media so they can learn about neighborhoods from the people who live there.Nextdoor specializes in connecting neighbors and providing a hyperlocal site for recommendations and news. While the site requests a local a
Millennials aren’t turned off by home improvement projects. They are more likely than any other generation to remodel any part of their home, according to a HomeAdvisor’s 2018 True Cost Survey. Millennials are twice as likely as baby boomers to complete bathroom and kitchen remodeling projects. They are also more likely to build a deck or porch and paint a home’s exterior than other generations too.Millennials, those born between 1980 an
Cities with the highest proportion of non–owner-occupied properties are most likely to be found in the South or West, according to a new analysis from the online lender LendingTree.“Southern cities may be attracting investors due to low prices and growing populations,” the report notes. Also, some “residents in Southern cities may not be able to access homeownership due to lower median salaries, creating a ready pool of renters.”The rep
Many homebuyers face a tough decision: To live in the city or commute from the suburbs. In some city centers, the cost of living is actually not as high as the outlying metro area, while in other cities homeowners will find more purchasing power in the metro area.SmartAsset, a personal financing resource, broke down the costs of commutes near major hubs to find the areas where it pays off the most to commute. The survey compared metro areas acros
The recent drop in interest rates appears to be short-lived. Mortgage rates inched higher last week, prompting loan demand to soften.Total mortgage application volume, which includes home purchases and refinancings, dropped 1.5 percent last week compared to the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. Applications are now 15.4 percent lower than a year ago.Refinance volume, which tends to
Social listening is sometimes confused with social monitoring. They sound similar, but understanding the difference may help you build and strengthen your brand’s reputation online.According to the social analytics firm Netbase, 42 percent of business complaints lodged by customers in the U.S. are done so on a public website like social media sites and review-based websites. Additionally, 82 percent of customers say they’ve stopped doing bus
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