The first year of homeownership can be one of the most expensive years. After all, new homeowners are paying for the down payment, closing fees, and the costs of moving in, while outfitting their new home.SmartAsset evaluated data across the 20 largest cities to find which areas have the highest first-year housing costs. They factored in six metrics: median home value, down payment, average closing costs, monthly mortgage payment, property taxes,
In this hot market, many Americans are willing to overlook a few ghosts for the right home and list price. Nearly a third—or 30%—say they’d be willing to live with a “friendly” ghost, according to realtor.com®’s annual Halloween survey. Twenty percent say they would live in a home where a murder has taken place. “In today’s ultra-competitive housing market, buyers are looking for a break,” says Clare Trapasso, realtor.com®’s
Big cities are back. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many people fled busy city life for less crowded areas. But now they’re returning in a big way.Rents in the 10 largest U.S. tech cities—such as New York City and Austin, Texas—have surpassed their March 2020 levels by an average of 6.3%, according to realtor.com®’s monthly rental report. In most of the largest tech cities, the September rental growth rate is higher than prior to the
Housing demand has been on fire amid the pandemic, and home prices have skyrocketed in response. Many markets have seen double-digit percentage price growth since the pandemic began.For example, in Rochester, N.Y., where home prices have been particularly volatile, the median sales price has surged by nearly 170% from September 2020 to September 2021.The National Association of REALTORS® reports that the median existing-home price for all housin
The boom in home prices is helping state and local governments’ pocketbooks. Property tax collections reached their highest level since at least 2009, according to a new analysis from the National Association of Home Builders.Property owners paid $703.5 billion in the four quarters ending in the second quarter, up 13% for the year.Tax revenues for state and local governments can be volatile. However, “property tax collections have proven rela
Single-family rents posted their fastest increase in more than 16 years Americans continue to desire larger living spaces amid the pandemic. Investors taking notice are flooding the market to capture more rentals.U.S. single-family rents were up 9.3% year over year in August, approaching double-digit gains, according to CoreLogic’s Single-Family Rent Index. The increase in August was more than quadruple the increase from August 2020. While that
Beyond the sentimental attachments that seniors have built for their homes, they also believe homeownership was the smartest financial decision they ever made, a new survey says.Nearly three in four seniors—74%—say that purchasing their home was their best financial decision, according to a new survey of more than 1,500 respondents ages 60 to 75 conducted by the American Advisors Group. Further, 73% of respondents say that their home has beco
Existing-home sales rebounded in September as buyers may have felt a sense of pressure as mortgage rates started to inch up. Existing-home sales rose by 7% in September compared to August. All major regions of the country posted increases last month, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Thursday.“Some improvement in supply during prior months helped nudge up sales in September,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Housin
Foreclosures are rising now that pandemic-led moratoriums have mostly been lifted. Foreclosure filings in September jumped by 24% from August and are up 102% compared to a year ago, according to an Oct. 15 ATTOM Data Solutions report. Because of the pause in foreclosures amid the pandemic, those percentages still reflect very low numbers.More housing inventory will appear due to mortgage forbearance programs winding down, says Lawrence Yun,
Keep your eye on Elkhart-Goshen, Ind.—it may be the best market in the U.S. for homeowners and investors, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/realtor.com® Emerging Housing Markets Index.The index, which covers 300 of the largest metro areas in the U.S., weighs several housing variables, including the state of the housing market, economic vitality, quality of life, and more to predict the areas most likely to see home price growth over
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