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iPro Real Estate

Mortgage Rates Inch Up, But Don’t Be Worried

Median home sale prices zoomed to an all-time high last year,  helping home sellers net higher profits.The average home price gain since purchase was $61,000 in 2018, up from $50,000 last year, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ Year-End 2018 U.S. Home Sales Report. That marks the highest gains for sellers since 2006. In 2018, sellers averaged a 32.6 percent return on investment compared to their original purchase price.After wee

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Hey, Gen Z, Better Start Saving for a Home Now!

Nearly 80 percent of Generation Z members say they want to own a home before age 30, but a new study shows they will need to do plenty of saving beforehand. Indeed, Generation Z will need to save $304 a month for the next 12 years to buy a home with a 10 percent down payment plus closing costs on a median-priced home by the age of 30, according to a new study released this week by realtor.com®.The median-priced home in the U.S. is projected

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Where Millennial Ownership Is Trending Up

Millennials are facing plenty of roadblocks to homeownership: high student loan debt, record high home values, stagnating incomes, and high rents. Yet, in particular areas of the country, these young adults are still increasingly finding ways to become homeowners.SmartAsset, a personal finance website, recently ranked places based on where millennials are buying the most homes. They looked at the current rate of millennial homeownership and compa

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More Big-Market Sellers Are Cutting Prices

More listings are facing price cuts, particularly among the nation’s largest markets. Fifteen percent of U.S. listings saw a price cut in January and more homes spent longer on the market, according to realtor.com®’s latest housing report.Thirty-nine of the 50 largest markets saw an uptick in the share of price reductions compared to last year. The greatest increases in price reductions in January were in Las Vegas (up 16%), followed by San

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REALTORS: To Airbnb or to Not Airbnb?

Offering short-term rentals through Airbnb is growing in popularity among homeowners and investors. And it’s no wonder—with Airbnb attracting guests from all over the world, hosts in major cities profit by an average of $20,619 annually, according to iPropertyManagement, a research and information site. In the U.S. alone, booking have increased 45 percent in the past year.The fastest growing demographic of property owners becoming Airbnb

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Fed Puts Brakes on Rate Increases

The Federal Reserve voted to leave interest rates unchanged Wednesday and signaled that it’s not in any hurry to resume raising rates in 2019. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell used words like “patient” to describe the Fed’s latest approach to increases. His change in tone follows four rate hikes last year. The Fed’s benchmark rate is not directly tied to mortgage rates but does often influence them.Since the Fed has indicated a more cautious

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Best Places to Buy Based on Occupation

The right job in the right place can do wonders in a person’s quest to save for a down payment and make a solid path toward homeownership, according to a new study by PropertyShark, a real estate website.PropertyShark researchers looked at several job professions to see how well they pay in each city in the U.S. and then ranked the cities for best prospects of homeownership based on occupation. They factored in metrics like the median income of

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Contract Signings Cool Amid Consumer Concerns

Pending home sales fell at the end of 2018, as consumers became increasingly concerned about the economy and heightened home prices, according to a newly released housing index from the National Association of REALTORS®.NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index—a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings—decreased 2.2 percent to a reading of 99 in December. Contract signings are down 9.8 percent year over year.“The stock market correctio

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First-Time Buyers Will Have the Easiest Time Buying Here

Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Oklahoma City are the best cities for first-time home buyers hoping to jump into homeownership, according to a new study released by LendingTree.The three cities ranked on top of a new list released from LendingTree that stacked the 50 largest metros up against each other based on how friendly they are to first-time home buyers. Cities were ranked on six main factors, including down payment amount, the share of buyers u

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Outdated Advice Buyers Should Ignore

People who have gone through the homebuying process are often eager to give advice. But too often, these so-called insider tips may very well be outdated.Realtor.com® recently highlighted some of the most common advice home buyers may hear from their peers that no longer applies in the current housing market, including:“Wait for spring.”Buyers shouldn’t feel like they’ll be at an advantage if they wait for the busiest season in

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