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 home’s tax assessment can climb faster than the market, leaving some owners taxed above what the house is worth
A property-tax assessment is supposed to track what a home is worth, but the two figures can drift apart, sometimes sharply. When a county’s assessed...
A reverse mortgage can turn home equity into monthly cash, but fees and a growing loan balance eat into heirs’ inheritance
A reverse mortgage can convert years of home equity into tax-free monthly cash for owners 62 and older, and it asks for no monthly repayment...
Homeowners can exclude up to $250,000 of home-sale profit, or $500,000 for couples
A homeowner who sells a primary residence can generally shield up to $250,000 of profit from federal capital-gains tax, and a married couple filing jointly...
Mortgage rates near 6.8% sit close to a one-year high, complicating a retiree’s downsizing math
The cost of borrowing to buy a home is sitting near its highest level in a year, and the timing complicates a decision many older...
Nearly half of U.S. homes are taxed above market value, and a formal assessment appeal can cut the bill
Estimates of how many American homes are assessed above their true market value run startlingly high — by several measures approaching half of all properties....
Reverse-mortgage borrowers must keep paying property taxes and insurance or risk losing the home
A reverse mortgage can turn home equity into cash for a retiree without a monthly loan payment, but that convenience hides an obligation that catches...
On FHA reverse mortgages with case numbers assigned on or after August 4, 2014, a non-borrowing spouse must be listed correctly to stay after the borrower dies
A spouse can live in a reverse-mortgaged home for years without being a borrower, then face the loan becoming due when the borrowing spouse dies....
Property assessments can rise, and some homes are taxed above market value
A property-tax assessment is an official estimate, not an untouchable verdict. County guidance across the country tells homeowners to appeal when the enrolled or appraised...
The federal reverse-mortgage limit rises to $1,249,125 in 2026 as seniors’ home equity hits a record
The federal ceiling attached to the most common reverse mortgage is $1,249,125 in 2026, up $39,375 from last year. The increase arrives while older homeowners...
VA-backed home loans can require zero down and no private mortgage insurance
A VA-backed purchase loan can remove two costs that usually arrive together for a lightly funded home purchase: the down payment and monthly mortgage insurance....
HUD can refund mistaken FHA mortgage-insurance payments, and confirmed checks typically arrive within 10 to 14 days
A mistaken mortgage-insurance payment does not have to remain trapped inside the Federal Housing Administration’s collection system. HUD recognizes refunds for overpayments, wrong case numbers,...
Mortgage rates hit a one-year high near 6.7%, raising the cost of downsizing in retirement
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage climbed to about 6.66% in the week ending July 30, 2026, its highest level in a year....
Selling a home you’ve lived in can shield up to $250,000 in gains from tax, or $500,000 for a couple
A retiree who bought a home decades ago and sells it in today’s market can be sitting on a capital gain of several hundred thousand...
The 30-year mortgage rate sat near 6.83% in late July.
The 30-year fixed mortgage sat near 6.83% at the end of July 2026 on daily-rate trackers, while the most-watched weekly survey put the same loan...
The typical new home sold for $398,300 in June as annual prices slipped 2.7%
The median newly built home sold for $398,300 in June, 2.7% below the level reported a year earlier. That sounds like a clean sign of...
The federal reverse-mortgage lending limit jumped to a record $1,249,125 for 2026, freeing more equity for house-rich retirees.
Retirees sitting on high-value homes gained access to tens of thousands of dollars in additional equity after HUD raised the maximum claim amount for federally...
A typical existing home sold for a record $440,600 in June, even as slower sales pointed to a cooling market
American homebuyers paid more for a typical existing home in June than at any prior point on record, even as transaction volumes slowed and affordability...
Eligible veterans can buy a home with no down payment or mortgage insurance
Veterans and active-duty service members can purchase a home through the VA-backed loan program without putting any money down and without paying monthly mortgage insurance,...
A federally backed reverse mortgage now lets seniors tap up to about $1.24 million of home equity without a monthly payment
Homeowners aged 62 and older can now access up to $1,249,125 in federally insured home equity through a reverse mortgage, with no required monthly principal...
Once you owe less than 80% of your home’s value, you can demand your lender drop private mortgage insurance
Millions of homeowners with conventional mortgages are paying monthly private mortgage insurance premiums they no longer owe. Federal law gives borrowers the right to demand...