Florida dominates this year’s “Best Places to Retire in 2020” from U.S. News & World Report “in a way that we haven’t seen in years before,” says Emily Brandon, U.S. News & World Report’s senior editor for retirement.Brandon says Florida is drawing more retirees due to the state’s affordable homes, low taxes, and high ratings for happiness and desirability. Florida boasted seven of the top 10 places to retire in 2020 on U.
The pandemic has sparked Americans to relocate in large numbers. From February through July, more than 15.9 million people filed change-of-address requests with the United States Postal Service.Twenty-eight percent of nearly 10,000 adults recently surveyed by the Pew Research Center said the most important reason they moved was to reduce their risk of contracting COVID-19. Another 23% said they moved because their college campus closed; 20%
The pandemic has made Americans more interested in buying a second home. Online search traffic for vacation homes has reached a five-year high, according to a recent analysis by Point2Homes.com. Searches for houses for sale in popular second-home spots such as Big Sky, Mont., and Fort Bragg, N.C., are up 177% and 143% year over year, respectively.Interest in second homes has more than doubled over 2019, according to Point2Homes.com. Google search
Members of Generation Z—Americans born in the mid-'90s—are attending college, starting their careers, and now even entering homeownership for the first time. Gen Zers may barely make up 10% of the potential home buyers in some of the nation’s largest metros, but as more reach adulthood, housing analysts call them a generation to watch.LendingTree recently analyzed mortgage purchase requests made across the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan
Shoppers seeking newly constructed homes are facing sharply increased prices as the cost of lumber has soared to record highs. Many buyers are finding themselves priced out of the new-home market, builders say.Recent price spikes in lumber have added more than $16,000 to the typical cost of a new single-family home. The multifamily sector is also feeling the impact, with the typical apartment seeing an increase of more than $6,000, according to d
The pandemic is reversing a long preference by renters for urban locations. Instead, apartment rentals are surging in suburban markets nationwide. Renters now in urban areas are showing a desire for larger spaces and they’re no longer tied down to a regular commute as work-from-home policies in many cases have been extended. All these factors have brought their hunt for an apartment out of city centers, The Wall Street Journal reports
Higher home prices are translating into higher down payments. The median home price is $350,000, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. That means a buyer would have to put down $70,000 (or 20%) on a purchase to avoid private mortgage insurance.Low down payment loans are available for those who can’t reach that 20% down payment threshold. For example, FHA loans require 3.5% down, which would be $12,500 on a median-priced home.“H
Housing affordability declined in August compared to a year ago, despite median incomes rising. However, the jump in home prices—up 11.7%—was way above family income increases of 2.2%, the National Association of REALTORS® reports.Mortgage rates are helping to offset some of those high home prices, however. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3% in August and has averaged below 3% in the past few weeks, the lowest on record.Nationa
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted consumers to want to stay away from large public spaces and favor more private settings or drive-thru lanes. Retailers are responding and pivoting their business models.More retailers are focusing on creating convenient parcel-pickup processes. “In the interim, outdoor food trucks and pop-up stores are replacing food halls,” writes Dan Spiegel, vice president and managing director for Coldwell Bank
Young Americans are having their housing preferences shaped by the pandemic. They’re seeking larger homes and outdoor space, yet in walkable areas, according to findings from the 2020 Community and Transportation Preference Surveys recently conducted by the National Association of REALTORS®.Young adults who live in walkable areas tend to report a higher quality of life than those who live in less walkable areas, the survey shows. And youn
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