Seniors who own a home should feel richer. Homeowners 62 and older saw their housing wealth grow by 0.3% in the third quarter—or $24 billion. That brought senior housing wealth to a total record high of $7.19 trillion, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association reports.The increase was due to a 0.5% uptick in seniors’ home values, the report notes.“Research suggests that as we age, Americans will spend more of our hard-earned retirem
The federal government is responsible for the flooding of thousands of homes and businesses in Houston during 2017’s Hurricane Harvey by failing to accurately regulate two federally owned reservoirs, a U.S. judge ruled this week. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was found liable for failing to properly maintain the dams to hold the water that accumulated in the pair of reservoirs during the record-breaking storm in 2017.Hundreds of lawsuits hav
More new-home construction is coming, and builders are increasingly confident about the direction of the market. Housing starts in November rose 3.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.37 million units, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday.Broken out, single-family home construction rose 2.4% year over year in November, while the multifamily sector, which includes apartments and condos, rose 4.9%.In the eye of a massive housing sh
Some homeowners are viewing the fireplace as more of a liability than an asset—and they’re opting to remove it. After all, there are an average of 22,300 fireplace, chimney, or chimney connector fires each year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Some owners are removing them because of those potential dangers, but others’ reasoning is more design-oriented—they don’t want a fireplace because it’s taking up too much s
The evolving capabilities of 3D printing may help the housing industry respond to the affordable-home crisis. Some organizations now believe the process could be the answer to ramping up affordable housing across the globe. And it could do so quickly—you can print a home in just 24 hours.Icon, a construction tech startup in Austin, and a housing nonprofit called New Story unveiled its first two 3D-printed homes that were constructed for lo
The House on Tuesday passed a federal spending package for fiscal year 2020 that includes several high-priority items for REALTORS®: reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program through Sept. 30; an extension of several tax provisions important to real estate markets, such as mortgage debt forgiveness; and a seven-year reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program, a particularly significant victory for commercial real estat
Existing-home sales are rising the most in the South and Midwest regions of the country, indicating more people are considering a move there, the National Association of REALTORS® reports. The South’s share of nationwide existing-home sales increased from 36% in 2000 to 43% in October of this year; the Midwest’s share rose from 21% to 24% in the same time period.“While the Midwest region suffered a loss in population during 2000 to 2018, i
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Credit standards are loosening, a trend that has been consistent over the last three months. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index rose 2.1% in November, which indicates “loosening credit.” Further, the trade group says it expects the trend to continue in the new year. “Expanding credit availability will continue to support active levels in mortgage lending, even as refinance activity starts to level off,
The mansion used as the backdrop of the popular 1960s TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies” has sold for about $150 million—a record-setting sale for California and the second most expensive for the U.S.Chartwell EstateThe home in the ritzy Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles is also known as Chartwell. It was once a pocket listing with a price tag of $350 million but sold after a series of price drops and being listed publicly on the MLS.The s
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