Affordability

Younger homebuyers turn to social media, AI and each other

Faced with high housing costs, economic instability and declining trust in traditional lending institutions, younger generations are redefining how they approach homeownership. A newly released NextGen Homebuyer Report — compiled by National Mortgage Insurance and financial literacy nonprofit FirstHome IQ — highlights how Gen Z and millennials are creatively navigating a changing real estate landscape. […]

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Phillip Cantrell’s book offers blueprint for real estate entrepreneurship

Veteran entrepreneur Phillip Cantrell distills four decades of hard-won business wisdom into his newly released book, “Failing My Way to Success: Lessons from 42 Years of Winning (and Losing) in Business,” which officially launched July 15. The founder and CEO of Benchmark Realty — who sold the company to United Real Estate in 2020 —

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Why a Newly Built Home Might Be the Move Right Now

Why a Newly Built Home Might Be the Move Right Now

Are you looking for better home prices, or even a lower mortgage rate? You might find both in one place: a newly built home. While many buyers are overlooking new construction, it could be your best opportunity in today’s market. Here’s why. There are more brand-new homes available right now than there were even just

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Fidelity National, FHFA to collaborate on ‘innovative title solutions’

Fidelity National Financial (FNF) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) have agreed to collaborate on “innovative title insurance solutions,” news that was first shared on social media by FHFA Director Bill Pulte. “I had great conversations with industry today, including the CEO of Fidelity National Title,” Pulte wrote in a July 11 post on

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Bill aims to construct homes with proceeds from future GSE release

U.S. Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) have introduced the Housing for US Act — a bipartisan proposal aimed at easing the national housing shortage by investing federal funds into the construction of millions of new homes for middle-class Americans. The bill, which is currently awaiting committee review, calls for up to $250

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NAR unveils dashboard that tracks key housing trends

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Tuesday released a new interactive tool that aims to give members monthly insights into housing affordability, home-price trends and economic indicators at the metro level. The tool, known as the Market Statistics Dashboard, is available exclusively to NAR members. According to the trade group, the dashboard includes localized

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Zillow unveils tools to simplify buying, renting, touring

Zillow has rolled out five new features aimed at streamlining the process of buying, renting and touring homes. The updates — now live nationwide — include a drone-powered virtual viewing tool and offer pricing transparency for rental properties, along with coordinated tour scheduling and affordability estimates. SkyTour allows users to navigate a 3D aerial view

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Westcor joins Fannie Mae title waiver pilot

Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. is now the second title vendor taking part in Fannie Mae‘s title insurance waiver pilot program. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte announced the move in a social media post. The waiver pilot, relaunched by Fannie Mae in March 2024, allows approved mortgage lenders to use an automated

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‘Dating the rate’ misled borrowers. Now they’re financially strained

“Marry the house, date the rate” is a phrase that was popularized during the post-pandemic era of rising mortgage rates. Lenders urged borrowers to focus on finding a house they were head over heels with and worry about their interest rate down the line. Borrowers who were accustomed to rates hovering near 3% didn’t realize

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Zillow: US housing shortage hit 4.7 million in 2023

The U.S. faced a shortfall of 4.7 million homes in 2023 — the largest housing deficit on record — according to a new Zillow analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Persistent inventory shortages continue to drive the national housing affordability crisis, limiting access to homeownership and forcing millions of people to share homes with non-relatives.

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