Real Estate
Housing market coverage, home buying and selling, mortgages, rentals, and property investment. From market trends to the practical decisions involved in owning or renting.
Latest in Real Estate
A younger spouse left off a reverse mortgage can now stay in the home for life
Surviving spouses who were left off a reverse mortgage now have a federally protected right to stay in their homes after the borrower dies, a...
Putting a lump sum toward your mortgage and asking for a recast lowers your monthly payment for good, without refinancing
Homeowners who have built up savings or received a windfall are looking for ways to cut housing costs without giving up an existing mortgage rate....
Home prices are running 2.5% below a year ago as more listings hand buyers the upper hand
Buyers across the United States are gaining ground they have not held in years, as home prices run roughly 2.5% below where they stood a...
A transfer-on-death deed passes your home to your heirs without going through probate
Homeowners in California, Texas, and Washington can record a single document that sends their property directly to a named beneficiary at death, skipping the probate...
Once you owe less than 80% of your home’s value, you can demand your lender drop private mortgage insurance
Homeowners paying private mortgage insurance on a conventional loan have a federal right to demand its removal the moment their balance drops to 80% of...
A lump sum and a mortgage ‘recast’ lower your payment for good, without refinancing
Homeowners locked into mortgage rates above 5 percent are finding a way to permanently cut their monthly payments without refinancing, closing costs, or a new...
Home prices have fallen for eight straight months, giving buyers more room to negotiate
Buyers shopping for a home in mid-2026 are finding something that was almost unheard of two years ago: falling prices and growing room to push...
$429,300 was the typical existing-home price in May, an all-time high for the month
American homebuyers paid a record price for existing homes in May, with the national median reaching $429,300, a 1.3 percent increase from a year earlier....
Virginia renters can now pay by check or money order, and landlords can’t charge a fee to take rent
Virginia renters who rely on checks or money orders to pay rent now have explicit legal backing requiring landlords to accept those payment methods. The...
Two costs your lender can’t lock in, insurance and property taxes, are quietly breaking the 30-year mortgage
Homeowners who locked in a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage expecting stable monthly payments are watching those payments climb anyway. The culprit is not the interest rate....
Putting a lump sum toward your mortgage and recasting lowers the payment without refinancing
Homeowners sitting on a windfall, whether from an inheritance, a bonus, or the sale of another asset, can cut their monthly mortgage payment without the...
Homeowners 62 and older can tap home equity with a reverse mortgage and make no monthly payments
Homeowners aged 62 and older who have built up equity in their homes can convert that wealth into cash through a federally insured reverse mortgage...
Splitting your mortgage into biweekly half-payments slips in one extra payment a year and can shave years off it
Homeowners who split their monthly mortgage payment into two biweekly installments effectively make one full extra payment each year, a simple scheduling change that can...
A transfer-on-death deed passes your house to heirs without probate
Homeowners in California and Texas now have a direct way to pass real property to heirs at death without opening a probate case. A transfer-on-death...
The typical U.S. home sold for a record $429,300 in May, the 35th straight month prices rose from a year earlier
Homebuyers across the United States hit a new price ceiling in May, with the median existing home selling for $429,300, a record that extends an...
Putting a lump sum toward your mortgage and asking for a recast lowers the monthly payment without refinancing
Homeowners who locked in fixed-rate mortgages before interest rates climbed can still cut their monthly payments without giving up those favorable terms. A mortgage recast,...
A reverse mortgage can free up cash in retirement, but the loan balance grows and can eat the home equity you leave behind
Retirees who tap their home equity through a reverse mortgage gain immediate spending power, but the trade-off is concrete: interest compounds on the loan balance...
Mortgage discount points cost about 1% of the loan to buy down your rate, paying off only if you stay put
Homebuyers who pay mortgage discount points hand over a fee equal to 1% of their loan amount at closing in exchange for a lower interest...
A home-equity line now averages well above 8%, so tapping your house costs far more than your old mortgage
Homeowners sitting on record equity are discovering that their house has become a much more expensive ATM. While many locked in fixed mortgage rates near...
A year ago the 30-year mortgage averaged 6.81%; today’s 6.5% has barely dented record home prices
Homebuyers hoping that a year of modest rate relief would cool prices have found little comfort. The 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 6.81% in a June...