News / Features

Realtor.com Tests New Feature to Address Big Complaint

New realtor.com feature to test increased agent responsiveness, impact on leads A lack of responsiveness from agents has always been a chief complaint among buyers and sellers. In an effort to address customers’ complaints and provide brokerages with better lead

Global Economic Turmoil Halts U.S. Mortgage Rate Increases

U.S. mortgage rates were increasing at steady clip in 2015 until global economic events intervened The economic turmoil in Greece and China could possibly benefit U.S. homebuyers. That cause and effect was the chief finding in Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage

CoreLogic: Affordability Returns to Boston

CoreLogic has released its May Home Price Index, revealing another month of positive gains. Marking 39 months of consecutive year-over-year gains, national home prices, both including and excluding distressed sales, increased 6.3 percent in May compared to the same

Boston Housing Starts Up 138% in 2015

Mayor Walsh has announced that the city of Boston has reached $1.65 billion in housing starts so far in 2015, a 138 percent year to date increase. Production rates have skyrocketed as Boston works to keep up with the steadily

Fannie Mae Boasts Strong Market for June, but is it too Good to be True?

Is strong market prediction too bold to make? Fannie Mae released their June National Housing Survey results with an overall conclusion that a strong market was shaping up for the summer. However, when looking at the specific year-over-year data, the results are more

Boston Rated One of Hottest Housing Markets in U.S.

Boston joins 19 other cities on hottest housing market list Boston ranked eighth in realtor.com‘s list of the Top 20 Hottest U.S. Real Estate Markets for June. The list compared listing views on realtor.com to the number of listings

Mortgage Apps Drop Nearly Five Percent

Mortgage applications decreased 4.7 percent last week, according to the data from the latest Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey. The Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, dipped 4.7 percent. Similarly, the Refinance Index decreased 5 percent

Tyler Perry Lists Atlanta’s Second Most Expensive Home

Tyler Perry purchased his 34,688 square foot home in 2005 for $9 million. Now, Perry is ready to sell his estate, listing the property for $25 million, making it Atlanta’s second most expensive home. The house offers a number

Boston Surges in Labor Rankings

CareerBuilder releases new labor market rankings In late May, CareerBuilder released its second quarter Labor Market 150 Index, which attempts to evaluate and rank the country’s largest metros. Using data from the employment website’s data arm, EMSI, or Economic

Elvis Presley’s Palm Springs Mansion Hits the Market

The king of rock n roll’s Palm Springs mansion is on the market and filled with little reminders of Elvis Presley’s successful music history. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom mansion was named “The Home of Tomorrow” by LOOK Magazine in 1962.

Boston Residential Construction Strong in 2015

2015 shaping up to be good year for new construction in Boston Residential construction spending in the Boston area was down 1 percent year-over-year in May, but so far in 2015 is 23 percent ahead of where it was last year. Those were the two

San Juan Valley’s 500-acre Ranch

A 500-acre ranch located in San Juan Valley recently hit the market for $5.6 million, and it has a lot to offer. Aside from featuring two farmhouse compounds, Lestralaur Ranch and October Farm, San Juan Valley Ranch offers access to

Hollywood Hills’ Modern-Day Treehouse

As a tribute to his mentor Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect John Lautner built a contemporary treehouse in the Hollywood Hills. Built in 1962 using wood, stone and glass, The Wolff House, as it’s known, blends with the natural

Haunted New York House Spends Decade on Market

Much speculation surrounds three pairs of handprints captured by Google’s Street View cameras on the front windows of a New York property. Despite the property’s low price of $105,000, buyers are hesitant to place a bid on the historic

Boston Rents Stay Strong in Second Quarter

How has Boston’s rental market developed in 2015’s second quarter? New data from Reis provides some perspective. Boston’s rental market has been one of the hottest in the nation, and new numbers from Reis on the second show show that trend

5 Important Housing-Related Details from the New Jobs Report

What details in latest jobs report bear the most significance for housing? The nation’s unemployment rate fell from 5.5 to 5.3 percent in June, while the overall economy added 223,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor