Austin, Texas, is the best place to live in the U.S. in 2017, according to the latest findings from U.S. News & World Report’s annual best places to live rankings. Publication researchers analyzed the 100 most populous metro areas to find the places that have the best value, strongest job markets, and highest quality of life.These cities ranked at the top of U.S. News & World Report’s list: Austin, Texas Denver San Jose, Calif. Washin
Housing affordability dropped to the lowest level in seven years at the end of 2016. It now takes 22.2 percent of a person’s median income to make the monthly principal and interest payment on a median-priced home, according to new findings from Black Knight Financial Services. That amounts to a 10 percent increase in the fourth quarter alone.Economists blame rising mortgage rates, price increases, and sluggish income growth for the growing hou
Here’s why brokerages may want to shush some of the politically oriented office banter: It could be making workers less productive. Since the presidential election, many coworkers are talking politics at work or with peers on Facebook. All of the political talk, however, is causing workers to feel distracted from doing their job, a new study of 500 U.S. adults employed full-time commissioned by Wakefield Research shows.Twenty-nine percent of wo
A slight decrease in mortgage rates last week gave home buyers a slight jolt to get moving. Total mortgage application volume, which includes refinancings and home purchases, increased 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. That said, applications continue to run 23 percent below year-ago levels, mostly due to a big drop in refinancing applications.Last week, mortgage application
Could your marketing be outdated, ineffective, or even harmful? Forbes.com columnist John Rampton recently featured several signs to watch for to know if your marketing is falling flat, including:1. You’re ignoring inbound marketing.It’s not just about the advertisements in magazines or online. Inbound marketing focuses on providing customers with valuable content, instead of pushing out a specific message. “Inbound marketing has been prove
The homeownership rate is on the decline again. The latest numbers reflecting the fourth quarter of 2016 show the homeownership rate fell from 63.8 percent a year earlier to 63.7 percent, the Census Bureau reported. While the drop may seem slight, it reflects an overall trend for homeownership in the country for the past few years. The historical average for the homeownership rate is about 65 percent.Despite improvements in the housing market, th
Real estate professionals should watch carefully the outcome of a jury trial taking place in federal district court in Seattle. The case, expected to wrap up Wednesday, centers around whether real estate technology company Zillow Group Inc. improperly used listing photos for its home improvement site Digs.VHT Inc., a real estate photography company, sued Zillow in 2015 for copyright infringement, saying Zillow violated its Terms of Use (TOU) in t
Smart technology, thoughtful -- yet simplistic -- design, and sustainability are the keywords when it comes to landscapes today.“Savvy homeowners are seeking smart landscape solutions, which means we’re finding new ways to adapt to environmental elements, making continued advances in technology and taking outdoor living to the next level,” says Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs at the National Association of Landscape Profes
Sumter, Fla., is the best place in the country for a borrower to get a mortgage, according to a new study by SmartAsset.SmartAsset’s study considered four factors to pinpoint the best places in the country to get a mortgage: overall borrowing costs, ease of securing a mortgage, affordable property taxes, and affordable annual mortgage payments.Borrowing costs were analyzed by factoring in expected costs over the first five years of a $200,000 m
The Hispanic demographic was the only ethnic demographic with an increase in the homeownership rate in 2016. The Hispanic homeownership rate rose from 45.6 percent in 2015 to 46 percent last year, according to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.Further, the Hispanic population added 330,000 households, leading in net household formations for 2016 too, according to Census Bureau data.“With credit remaining tight and l
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