News / Features

Real Estate in Brief: New homeowners, economic growth and more

Homeownership rate posts eighth-consecutive quarterly gain The newest estimate of U.S. homeownership rates, released Feb. 28 by the Census Bureau, showed that more Americans have become homeowners in the last two years. As of the fourth quarter of 2018,

Pending home sales grow nationally, a welcome sign for spring

The first evidence that homebuyers are reacting to favorable market conditions came in the National Association of Realtors’ latest Pending Home Sales report. According to NAR’s index of pending home sales activity, contract signings grew 4.6 percent in January

This week in Atlanta real estate: A new Avalon, offices converting to housing and more

News broke this week on a fair number of new developments coming down the pike, hires and promotions in real estate, movement on a housing aesthetics bill at the statehouse and more.

Case-Shiller: Home price growth trending downward

One of the most widely cited barometers of the U.S. housing market showed home price growth continuing a downward trend at the close of 2018, an positive sign for buyers. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index registered a

What’s ahead for FHFA nominee Mark Calabria?

On Tuesday, Feb. 26, the Senate Banking Committee voted to confirm Mark Calabria as the new head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Assuming he makes it through the full Senate vote, which has yet to be scheduled, Calabria

Real Estate in Brief: Selling in spring, odd lots and more

Early May named the best time to list a home Plenty of Americans are getting anxious about the arrival of spring, particularly those who are homeowners looking to sell in the near future. As it turns out, spring may

Jan. existing-home sales leave room to grow

Evidence of slower price appreciation, growing inventory and falling interest rates have boosted economist expectations for U.S. home sales at the beginning of 2019. However, these trends that should entice buyers haven’t yet made an impact when it comes

Homebuilder hopes improve on rate outlook

U.S. homebuilders haven’t seen quite the same gains as the broader real estate market in recent years, but signs are beginning to point in the industry’s favor this year. A new report from LEK Consulting and Wells Fargo’s U.S.

For-sale inventory snaps 5-year losing streak

Changing tides in the national real estate market are leading to the most widespread inventory increases seen in at least five years. According to data collected by Zillow, for the first time since 2014, the U.S. housing market posted

Georgia ranks 9th in assistance for first-time homebuyers

If you work with first-time homebuyers, now might be a good time to brush up on the special programs available to help them afford a home. Georgia has 66 programs from 28 agencies that can assist first-time homeowners with

Real Estate in Brief: Aging in place, ARM growth and more

  Millennials face fewer housing choices as seniors age in place More senior citizens around the U.S. are choosing to age in place rather than sell their homes and move to a retirement community, and those decisions could be

Amazon drops plans for HQ2 in NYC

Only a week after speculation arose that Amazon was reconsidering its plans to build part of its second U.S. headquarters campus in New York City, the company released a statement Feb. 14 confirming it was pulling out of the

NAR releases proposal for Fannie, Freddie reform

Amid new leadership and a pending class-action lawsuit, big changes at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appear to be close at hand. The question now for U.S. lawmakers and stakeholders in the mortgage industry is how to carry out

Atlanta more than doubles the national average in 4th quarter price gains

Prices are up nationally, but it’s tough to hold a candle to the rapid increases in Atlanta. The increase in the median price of a single-family home in metro Atlanta during the fourth quarter of 2018 (as compared to

Real estate industry suits up for ‘weird’ legislative session

The Georgia General Assembly started its 40-day session and already it is “weird,” according to Jeffrey Ledford, senior director of governmental affairs for the Georgia Association of Realtors. “It’s been slow to start … A handful of little things

This week in Atlanta real estate: New downtown Norcross communities, Midtown apartment dilemmas and more

Miller Lowry Developments entered into a strategic partnership with Waterford Homes to develop two subdivisions near historic downtown Norcross. The partnership allows Miller Lowry to focus on larger developments by shifting from a general contractor role to that of

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