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Higher mortgage rates scuttle some sales Diana Olick @DianaOlick A sharp rise in mortgage interest rates after the presidential election is starting to hit home — home sales. The average contract rate on the popular 30-year fixed loan hit the highest level in more than a year on Friday and shows no sign of turning…

Mortgage applications tank 9% as post-election rates soar by: Diana Olick | @DianaOlick   A sharp spike in interest rates following the election of Donald J. Trump last week threw icy cold water on the mortgage market. Total mortgage application volume fell 9.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week, according to…

How housing would fare under Clinton, Trump For an election supposedly based on the economy, housing policy has been not just conspicuously but egregiously absent from the rhetoric. In order to gauge which candidate would favor the U.S. housing market, one has to look at their wider economic policies and see how they would trickle…

Here's some good news for house hunters House hunters priced out of the market might finally be getting a bit of relief. For the first time since 2011, incomes rose faster than home prices in the U.S., according to a new report from Zillow. The median home price climbed to $188,100 in August, a 5%…

LAWN CARE FOR THE FALL: ESSENTIAL TIPS TO FOLLOW All summer you've been watering, cutting, trimming and feeding your yard in the hopes of having the greenest plot of land in the neighborhood. So what should you do to get your lawn in shape for the cool breezes of autumn? These six steps will help…

Get Out Your Checkbooks: Why It’s a Good Time to Buy New Homes As prices on brand-new homes dipped in July (unlike the soaring temperatures), buyers raced to snap them up at a breakneck pace. Sales of the never-been-lived-in homes shot up 7.5% from June to July, with owners picking up the keys to about…

10 FALL HOME IMPROVEMENT TIPS Now that summer gear has been stowed away, it's time to focus on fall home improvement projects. According to Vicki Payne, host of the For Your Home with Vicki Payne television show, autumn is the key time to evaluate your home exterior and prepare it for the harsh winter months…

Millennials will be renting for a lot longer The U.S. housing market continues to move ahead, but a generation of homebuyers is being left behind. That's the conclusion of an analysis of homeownership by John Burns, a real estate consultant and author who has crunched the numbers in a new report. Homeownership rates have fallen…

USE TECHNOLOGY TO ATTRACT HIGH END HOME BUYERS ERA Real Estate and HGTV reported 46 percent of consumers see smart-home technology as important for their current and future residences. But luxury homebuyers are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. According to Digital Interiors, 94 percent of buyers surveyed would sacrifice 1,000 square feet of living…

HIRING A HANDYMAN WHEN SELLING YOUR HOME As you get ready to sell your home, you may discover the need to make numerous repairs and updates. But when do you have the time? Most jobs you can do yourself, but others require a little more skill. Maybe it's time to consider hiring a handyman. According…