Residential Real Estate
Why Are So Many Voters Frustrated by the Economy? It’s Home Prices
By Josh Boak | The Associated Press | March 15, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkAt the root of this problem: America failed to build enough homes for its growing population. The shortage strikes at the heart of the American dream of homeownership – dampening President Joe Biden’s assurances that the U.S. economy is strong.
NAR Settles Commission Lawsuits
By James Sanna | March 15, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe National Association of Realtors abruptly reversed course Friday morning, announcing it was settling all lawsuits against it over real estate commissions for a substantially smaller sum than it would have paid under a preliminary verdict announced last year.
CT Housing Markets Missing Out on Inventory Bump
By James Sanna | March 14, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkNation-wide, a bump in new listings is giving hope to homebuyers and sellers alike. But not in Connecticut’s three biggest housing markets.
Pandemic Boosted Hartford Homebuyer Income by $52K
By James Sanna | March 5, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkA new analysis by economists at Zillow say the income a Greater Hartford homebuyer needs to afford the median home in the region rose by over $52,000 over the last four years.
No Immigrants, No New Housing
By Lew Sichelman | February 22, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkFor any number of reasons, U.S.-born workers have been reluctant to join the construction workforce, leading to consistent labor shortages and rising wages – meaning the prices of new housing is going up, too.
DOJ Seeks to Block Settlement in Commission Case
By James Sanna | February 20, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkFederal antitrust prosecutors have asked the judge overseeing another major agent commission lawsuit to reject a proposed settlement in the case, arguing instead that buyers should be the only ones to pay their agents’ commissions.
Affordable Housing Proposed to Replace Historic Building in New Haven
February 15, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe New Haven Board of Zoning Appeals earlier this week heard a proposal to tear down a vacant building on Orchard Street to make way for affordable housing.
Zillow: Home Shopping Early May Pay Off
February 15, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkZillow predicts another hot spring market this year, as well-priced homes are selling quickly and overpriced homes are seeing price cuts.
Appraisals Fail Many Sellers
By Lew Sichelman | February 14, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe real estate community has long complained about appraisals that lagged the market, but the report from the FHFA documents that their gripes are valid: Undervaluations spiked to 15 percent in 2021.
Older CT Residents Drive Increase in Homeowners Staying Put
By James Sanna | February 14, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe average tenure of a homeowner in Greater Hartford ticked up again last year unlike the nation at large, according to new research by brokerage and listings portal Redfin.
Mortgage Data Suggests Buyers Coming Back to Housing Market
February 13, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkMortgage rate-lock data from analytics firm Optimal Blue suggests that, nationwide, prospective homebuyers are coming back to the market, setting the stage for another year of home-price increases.
New Haven Poised to Expand ADU Law, But Leave Some Curbs
February 9, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkA key city board in New Haven endorsed the idea of removing some permitting restrictions on accessory dwelling units, but moved to keep several important ones intact.
Scammed If You Do, Scammed If You Don’t
By Lew Sichelman | February 9, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkI’ve decided to put my 50-plus years of writing about the housing business to work by offering my faithful readers a free online seminar on how to get rich in real estate without hardly trying.
Feds Roll Out Money Laundering Rules for All-Cash Home Sales
By Fatima Hussein | The Associated Press | February 8, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkAll-cash purchases of residential real estate are considered at high risk for money laundering. The rule would not require the reporting of sales to individuals.
NAR Prez in Boston: Agents Must ‘Adapt’ on Commissions
By James Sanna | February 8, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkSpeaking at a conference in Boston Feb. 1, the new president of the National Association of Realtors declared that the traditional rules of agent commissions are “going to change” in the wake of a $1.78 billion verdict against NAR and several prominent brokerages.
Keller Williams Settles Commission Lawsuits for $70M
By Alex Veiga | The Associated Press | February 2, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkOne of the nation’s largest real estate brokerages has agreed to resolve more than a dozen lawsuits across the country over agent commissions.
Recycle at Home, With Your Home
By Lew Sichelman | February 1, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkScrap tires have been recycled for years into building products like flooring, infill decking and septic system drain fields. But they’re not the only thing. From coal ash to washed-up seaweed, our homes help reduce and reuse.
Uncle Sam Offers a Boost to Fixer-Uppers
By Lew Sichelman | January 24, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe Federal Housing Administration is poised to update the 203(k) program, which allows borrowers to purchase a house and include the cost of repairs or rehabilitation in a single mortgage.
Fannie Mae Predicts Mortgage Rates Below 6 Percent This Year
January 22, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkEconomists at government-owned mortgage-buying giant Fannie May say they think residential mortgage rates might drop below 6 percent this year, sometimes seen as a critical horizon to get home sellers back on the market.
You Rarely Know All Your Agent Does
By Lew Sichelman | January 19, 2024 | Reprints | Unlock LinkGood real estate agents go to great lengths to bring a deal to fruition. And much of what they do is behind the scenes, so you’ll never see it. And you think they don’t earn their commissions?