News / Features
The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University (JCHS) recently released its annual State of the Nation’s Housing report for 2019. For more than 30 years now, JCHS has put out a comprehensive report on trends in the
The median sales price for single-family homes and condos sold in May broke $400,000, with condo prices hitting a new all-time high, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. Single-family home sales across the state were up 6.2 percent
In March, the luxury home market saw the largest drop in sales since 2010 with an 8.3 percent year-over-year decrease in closings, according to data gathered by Realtor.com. There were just 8,343 sales in excess of $1 million across
There is a recipe for disaster involving agents, buyers and sellers that every agent aims to avoid. Chicago real estate attorney and first-time homebuyer instructor Ranj Mohip calls it “Post-Close Nightmares.” When the seller doesn’t disclose history, the buyer
Approximately 450 members of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors convened at the Massachusetts State House in Beacon Hill earlier this month as part of an annual “lobbying day.” Members came prepared with a packed agenda for their meetings and
MA housing costs among nation’s highest compared to wages The minimum wage needed to afford the median two-bedroom apartment in Massachusetts is the third-highest in the country at $33.81 an hour according to a report from the National Low
Existing-home sales finally grew in May after two months of downbeat reports, according to the latest monthly snapshot of U.S. housing activity from the National Association of Realtors. Closed sales of previously-owned homes increased by 2.5 percent over April’s
Investors claim growing share of US home sales Despite still-growing prices that have exceeded their pre-recession peaks in some markets, more single-family homes around the U.S. are being purchased by investors rather than owner-occupants. According to a report from
Optimism struck in the second quarter of 2019 with 73 percent of Americans saying they believe now is a good time to sell a home, an increase from 65 percent in the first quarter based on a consumer survey
The Federal Reserve announced June 19 that it would not make changes to targets for its key interest rate, the federal funds rate, which influences what banks charge for consumer loans including mortgages. However, in line with some projections,
Numbers released June 18 by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development show that housing starts fell during the month of May, although building permit issues increased. Privately-owned housing starts dropped by 0.9
Newly appointed mortgage finance regulator Mark Calabria has made no secret of his goal to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government-controlled corporations with enormous sway over the U.S. mortgage market. However, it remains unclear exactly what the
Back when chatbots first gained traction in 2016, most people thought they’d never engage with a virtual assistant to get the information they needed, let alone try to use one in their own business. But now it’s 2019 and
The trend toward lower mortgage rates doesn’t appear to be a short-lived phenomenon, and has already boosted loan application activity to historically high levels. As a result, lending industry executives are responding with their most optimistic outlook on the
In every decision they make, parents tend to make their children their top priority. And according to new research from Zillow, the same goes for the considerations they make when shopping for a new home More than the life
Boston rent growth approaches 9 percent A report from real estate listings site Zumper found the median rent for one-bedroom apartments in Boston was up 8.7 percent as of April (to $2,500 per month) compared to the same month
