Pending home sales eked out 0.2% gain in June A significant bump higher in June home sales failed to materialize as expected, because potential buyers were met with precious little supply of available listings. A monthly index of so-called pending home sales, based on signed contracts, rose just 0.2 percent in June compared to May…

Mortgage applications to buy and refinance drop 11% Interest rates are rising and so are home prices. That is putting pressure on borrowers and buyers alike. Mortgage application volume fell 11.2 percent last week from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Volume is up 42 percent compared…

NICHE STAGING FOR YOUR HOME You won't always know who your buyer is going to be when listing a home for sale. But, with many homes, you have a good idea of the general target group. While many homes for sale attempt to appeal to the largest number of buyers, niche staging may actually get…

Why Brexit is great news for U.S. homebuyers It's now even cheaper to get a mortgage.The average rate of a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to 3.48% — the lowest level since May 2013, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago, the rate was 4.08%. The drop comes in the wake of the U.K.'s decision to…

Foreign buyers flood US real estate, but buy cheaper homes The appetite for U.S. real estate continues to flourish, but international buyers are shifting their sights from luxury to less-pricey properties. This may be due to overall higher home prices, along with a stronger U.S. dollar, which both cost foreign buyers more at the negotiating…

US existing home sales hit 9-year high U.S. home resales rose in May to a more than nine-year high as improving supply increased choice for buyers, suggesting the economy remains on solid footing despite a sharp slowdown in job growth last month. The National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday existing home sales increased 1.8…

9 REASONS TO VISIT A HOME AT NIGHT BEFORE BUYING Everyone knows someone who knows someone who moved into what seemed like a perfectly great house on a perfectly nice street only to have a complete nightmare unfold. But the truth is that your neighbor doesn't have to be practicing Santeria on the front lawn…

The housing market is suddenly hot again Let's get the bad news out of the way first. It doesn't feel like the U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders.Wage growth remains sluggish. The stock market continues to be volatile. Target, Macy's and many other big retailers are struggling — and the recent spike in oil…

HOME SELLERS: CREATE A 'MILLENNIAL MAGNET' Sellers whose homes are ideal first-time-buyer starter homes may count on attracting millennial buyers to purchase this real estate. If so, sellers benefit from learning how to look at their homes from the millennial point of view since this group does not represent the force that it has in…

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR SMALL BACKYARD Small backyards can sometimes seem limiting in terms of what you can add to them. Don't be deterred though, as there is a plethora of ways to decorate it. Small backyards have many landscaping options to make them beautiful and open. Here are some ideas to…