The mortgage rate lock narrative has become a catch-all explanation for tight inventory, but on-the-ground evidence suggests it applies to a far narrower slice of the market than conventional wisdom assumes. The rate-lock story has become one of the most repeated explanations in residential real estate: millions of homeowners are sitting on 2.5% and 3% ...
Hurricane Sandy’s rebuild cycle didn’t just repair a coastal market — it replaced it with a fundamentally different one, and the effects on pricing, inventory, and investment opportunity are still unfolding more than a decade later. When Hurricane Sandy struck the New Jersey Shore in 2012, it left behind a landscape of damaged and destroyed ...
In competitive markets where homes sell in under a week, and buyers routinely bid above asking price, a friction point is emerging that neither buyers nor sellers can fully control: the appraisal. According to Paula Koontz, Team Lead and Realtor at The Koontz Team, Keller Williams Classic Properties Realty, appraisal shortfalls are becoming one of ...
As major carriers exit California’s market and the FAIR Plan becomes the default for hundreds of thousands of homeowners, the gap between insurance payouts and actual reconstruction costs has widened into a structural crisis for disaster recovery. California’s insurance market has been deteriorating for nearly a decade, according to Kevin Cox, CEO and founder of ...
Buyers’ appetite for major renovation projects in Manhattan’s luxury townhouse market has narrowed sharply, as project timelines and contractor costs have stretched far beyond what buyers are willing to absorb. The calculus around buying a townhouse in need of significant work has changed dramatically. What was once considered a straightforward value-add opportunity has become a ...
Rising property taxes in Vermont are compounding an already severe affordability crisis, creating a two-sided squeeze that is pricing young buyers out of ownership while forcing landlords to raise rents — leaving an entire generation with no affordable path in either direction. A Crisis Within a Crisis The national conversation about housing affordability tends to ...
With 361 residential sales above $10 million recorded in 2025, South Florida’s ultra-luxury segment is running at roughly twice the pace of five years ago — and the buyer profile bears little resemblance to the speculative market that collapsed in 2008. The “Bubble” Narrative Outside South Florida, the reaction to Miami-area luxury prices is often ...
As state regulators increase scrutiny of senior housing operators and take action against underperformers, the gap between operators who merely pass audits and those who exceed standards is widening — with measurable consequences for occupancy, reputation, and long-term market position. Regulators Are Moving Fast Senior housing has historically operated in a regulatory environment where compliance ...
Most real estate technology has been designed to serve buyers who are ready to transact. But according to Benjamin Quinn, Director of Real Estate Operations at Roomvo, that buyer may represent a small minority of the people actually using listing portals. Quinn argues that the prop tech industry has overlooked the dominant user segment on ...
Inheriting property can feel like an unexpected gift — a tangible piece of someone’s life, and often a significant financial asset. But the transition from estate to sale is rarely straightforward. Families navigating inherited real estate face a distinct set of pressures: multiple decision-makers, emotional attachment, unfamiliar processes, and a market that rarely meets expectations. ...
Late-stage mortgage underwriting failures are causing real estate transactions to fall apart weeks after buyers and sellers have committed. That is according to Dawnice LaFave, broker and sales associate at Weichert Realtors in Sussex County, New Jersey. Despite pre-approval processes designed to identify financial risks early, crucial issues such as liens, judgments, and other disqualifying ...
After several years of rapid, no-conditions bidding wars, homebuyers are now approaching purchases with greater caution and negotiation. Buyers who once rushed to secure homes are now insisting on repairs and including conditions in their offers, leading to more complex deals and transaction chains not seen since 2017. Andra Arnold, broker and team lead at ...
New Jersey loses about 18% of its residents each year, yet the state’s housing market remains defined by tight supply, high prices, and fierce competition. Nicole Romanik, a licensed real estate sales associate at Keller Williams Village Square Realty, says the contradiction highlights a gap between statewide migration trends and local housing realities. “In the ...
Chicago is widely viewed as a high-tax real estate market. This reputation overlooks a key fact: investment properties in the city are taxed at lower rates than owner-occupied homes, and rental income is strong enough that taxes rarely prevent solid investment returns. Property taxes are often cited as a major obstacle for real estate investors ...
New multifamily construction starting in 2025 dropped sharply from the 2021 peak, deepening a supply shortage in the affordable housing market that is unlikely to be resolved for years. Amy Rubenstein, CEO of Clear Investment Group, says the situation is most difficult in C-class workforce housing, where new construction was already rare, and supply typically ...
