homeownership

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You Can Soon Check for a Home's 'Climate Risk'

Zillow is introducing scores to its listings that show potential dangers from extreme weather

(Newser) - A swimming pool, eat-in kitchen, and central air aren't the only items on potential homebuyers' wish lists—now, many want to know if their future home is in hurricane, drought, or wildfire territory. In fact, a Zillow survey from last fall found that 80% of consumers shopping for homes...

In Constantly Flooding Town, 'We Won't Rebuild, It's Not Worth It'

Locals in Florida's Shore Acres, in Tampa Bay area, are spooked by storms, high home insurance rates

(Newser) - Tens of thousands of properties in the Tampa Bay region were damaged or completely destroyed as Hurricane Helene tore through Florida's Gulf Coast, where some homes ended up submerged in several feet of water, reports WUSF . "It's overwhelming and it's devastating," Marie Rowley, who lives...

Owning vs. Renting? American Views May Be Shifting

Even millionaires who could afford to buy are opting to sign a lease instead

(Newser) - Soaring home prices have left many Americans of ordinary means out of the picture when it comes to real estate. But a Wall Street Journal story finds that more millionaires are choosing renting over owning as well:
  • The share of households with incomes above $750,000 that rent rose to
...

Number of Homeowners Without Insurance Is Rising

One estimate says the figure is 12%, more than double the rate in 2019

(Newser) - Millions of Americans find themselves in a once-unthinkable position: They're homeowners without home insurance. A look at the numbers and the factors at play:
  • On the rise: In 2022, 12% of homeowners had no insurance, up from 5% in 2019, reports the Washington Post , citing stats from the industry
...

Single Ladies, Celebrate This Homeownership Feat

More single female Americans own homes than single men, per latest research

(Newser) - Women in the US still earn around 82 cents for every dollar earned by men, but when it comes to single ladies owning their own homes, they rule the roost over their single male counterparts. New LendingTree research that examined data from the Census Bureau found that women on their...

Town Decimated by Fire Has New Obstacle to Rebuild

Homeowners in California town of Paradise find home insurance premiums have skyrocketed

(Newser) - The soaring cost of home insurance has consumed the California town of Paradise, residents and officials say, just after the five-year anniversary of the Nov. 8, 2018, Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California history. Residents have received annual premiums that are near or exceed $10,000—leaving many to...

Majority of Homebuyers OK With 'Haunted' House

Zillow survey finds 67% of potential homebuyers would buy one, if other factors fell into place

(Newser) - Would you buy a "haunted" house if you saw it pop up online ? In this challenging market, the majority of house-hunting Americans say yes, so long as the home was appealing in other important ways. Forbes reports that, per a new survey out from Zillow, 67% of potential...

'Basic Homeownership' Now Costs a Third of Your Paycheck

Home prices are rising along with mortgage rates, pricing out potential buyers: ATTOM

(Newser) - "Home ownership keeps getting tougher," according to real estate data provider ATTOM, which finds the average American can't afford to buy a home in communities across the country. In a new report , researchers examined median 2022 home prices in 575 US counties and found 99% of prices...

The Era of the Smaller Home Is Upon Us

Square footage is dropping, as are accompanying home prices, as homebuilders try to attract buyers

(Newser) - With the cost of housing so high these days, it's no wonder that many have given up on the idea of homeownership, at least for the time being. Now, homebuilders appear to have hit on a solution of sorts, at least for those willing to embrace minimalism: erecting smaller...

Yet Another Insurer Ditches the Sunshine State

Farmers is dropping home, auto, and umbrella policies in Florida, citing 'risk exposure'

(Newser) - More homeowners in Florida received some bad news this week, with yet another insurance company pulling out of the state due to too much possible liability. The Miami Herald reports that Farmers Insurance will no longer be offering home, auto, or umbrella policies in the Sunshine State, the fourth carrier...

For First Time in a Decade, Homeowners' Equity Drops

Cooling housing market means many Americans have less equity than they did a year ago

(Newser) - For the first time in more than a decade, the average US homeowner with a mortgage has less home equity than they did a year earlier. Among the roughly 63% of US homes with a mortgage, average homeowner equity per borrower was $274,070 in the first quarter, down 1....

Looking to Buy a Home? Here's the Most Affordable US City
Short on Cash?
Buy a Home Here
May 23, 2023 1:40 PM CDT

Short on Cash? Buy a Home Here

Head to Montgomery, Alabama, for the most affordable abodes; avoid Santa Barbara, California

(Newser) - With soaring home prices and interest rates, it may not seem like the best time to plunk down a down payment on a new home. Some US cities, however, make that goal more attainable than others, and WalletHub sifted through the data to suss out the top contenders. The site...

On Homeownership, It's a Millennial Milestone

For the first time, more own than rent

(Newser) - It took longer than it usually does, but the millennial generation appears to have reached a milestone when it comes to their living arrangements. A new report from RentCafe finds that most millennials—52%—now own a home instead of renting, reports USA Today . The total number of millennial homeowners—...

Thinking of Buying a NZ Home? Not So Fast

Country just passed law barring foreigners from buying houses there

(Newser) - New Zealand home prices are among the highest in the world , and it's finally had enough. The country's plan to make the real estate market more affordable for locals: Bar foreigners from buying homes there (with very few exceptions) in an attempt to drive the housing supply up....

They Earn $12K a Year, Are on Path to Owning Their Home

Inside Detroit's Tiny Homes Project

(Newser) - Detroit is awash with abandoned homes, which left the Rev. Faith Fowler a bit on the defensive about why she built seven brand new ones. But there's something special about hers: They're tiny, and the first part of an envisioned tiny home village where low-income Detroiters can not...

Gap Between Black, White Homeownership Is Huge

30-point difference is an all-time high

(Newser) - The nation's homeownership rate appears to be stabilizing as people rebound from the 2007 recession that left millions unemployed and home values underwater, but a new report finds that African-Americans aren't sharing in the recovery. The report by Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies said the...

Millennials Aren't Homeowners —and They Shouldn't Be

It keeps them flexible, writes Washington Post columnist

(Newser) - Homeownership is down among all age groups to 63%, the lowest level in half a century, but the figure is much worse for those under 35—a record low of 34%. And as Catherine Rampell writes at the Washington Post , all kinds of theories are being floated to explain millennials'...

Americans Now Wait Longer Than Ever to Buy First Home

Millennials are having trouble getting down payments together

(Newser) - Short of cash and unsettled in their careers, young Americans are waiting longer than ever to buy their first homes. The typical first-timer now rents for six years before buying a home, up from 2.6 years in the early 1970s, according to a new analysis by the real estate...

Dear US, Make People Pay for Their Own Houses

Government has too many mortgage subsidies, argues New Yorker writer

(Newser) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced last month they would guarantee mortgages for first-time home buyers who put down only 3%. It's another move by the US government to encourage homeownership—along with tax breaks, mortgage-interest deductions, property tax write-offs, etc.—and must be a good thing, yes?...

Americans Are Way Too Eager to Buy Houses

Houses aren't great long-term investments, Catherine Rampell argues.

(Newser) - Last week, Gallup released a poll showing that Americans, in Catherine Rampell's words, "still financially fetishize homeownership." Despite the financial crisis, respondents still considered real estate the best long-term investment—which "baffles" Rampell because, by her calculations, home prices have risen at a compound rate of...

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