The Home Affordable Refinance Program will not expire at the end of this year, as previously thought. The Federal Housing Finance Agency says it will continue through Sept. 2017. FHFA’s announcement comes alongside news that Fannie Mae and Freddie

Many buyers want their homes to be outfitted with smart technology, but most homes don’t have it, according to a consumer survey from The Demand Institute. It’s an opportunity for sellers. Seventy-three percent of consumers agreed that having home automation

Not every real estate agent wants to retire an independent contractor, and not every homebuyer wants to live in a city that doesn’t foster entrepreneurs. Those things are easy to avoid in Atlanta, ranked in the top 20 of

Mortgage activity in the Metro Atlanta area is growing strongly in 2016, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q2 2016 U.S. Residential Property Loan Origination Report. Based on analysis of publicly recorded mortgages and deeds of trust from more than 950 counties, ATTOM’s

The Metro Atlanta area is the third-best place in the country for homeowners, according to a new analysis from Bankrate. Basing its study on a myriad number of factors – including affordability, maintenance costs, property taxes, appreciation, foreclosure rates and energy

July marked the second highest reading in over a decade for pending home sales, with the Midwest being the only area to see a decline in contract activity during the month. The Pending home Sales Index (PHSI), which tracks the

The Metro Atlanta housing market continued its strong pace in the most recent Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which covered home prices through June. Per S&P’s computations, home prices in Metro Atlanta rose 0.8 percent from May to June and 5.8 percent from June

There aren’t enough homes, and that’s a problem in multiple markets. But it might not be for too much longer. “As most real estate professionals know, housing costs are still climbing,” National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun wrote

McMansions – the mass-produced, over-the-top, poorly appreciating eyesores that became the poster children of the housing bubble – seemed to be on the way out. Average and median home size had fallen considerably during the market downturn, as builders trimmed their ambitions

The final full week of August brought a treasure trove of interesting real estate stories, including: •More and more homeowners are looking to clean up their embarrassingly messy garages, and are downright giddy at the possibilities. The Wall Street Journal documents

The Social Circle City district in Walton County is the most improved school district in Metro Atlanta, according to a new analysis from Trulia. In a partnership with SchoolDigger.com, Trulia analyzed test scores from the past five years to find which

The Metro Atlanta new construction market continued its strong performance in July, according to new numbers from Dodge Data & Analytics. In July, Metro Atlanta saw more than $561 million in total residential construction spending, a pronounced 27 percent decline from July 2015. Year-over-year

Donald Trump spoke to the National Association of Home Builders this month, and it turned out to be one of the most important speeches of his campaign: it was about housing. He reminisced about what it was like growing

Multigenerational households – those that include two or more adult generations, or grandparent and grandchildren – are at an all-time high in the U.S., according to a new Pew Research Center analysis. Based on census data through 2014, Pew

What do seniors look for in a neighborhood? It’s a smart question for real estate agents to ask, considering the rapid growth of the country’s 65-and-older population. In 2014, 46.2 million people in the U.S. were at least 65

Tim Kaine believes he and Hillary Clinton can change the housing industry. “A house is more than just a place to sleep,” the Virginia senator and Democratic vice presidential nominee wrote in his “How to make housing fair in