Empty Nest Households Are on the Rise
Pricey markets and those with weak labor markets have high concentrations of empty nests. Low densities of empty nests are found in booming cities with strong job markets, new family-oriented areas, and retirement communities.
Viewed from Beijing, Even Silicon Valley Housing Looks Affordable
Homes in China’s most expensive metros sell for thousands of dollars more per square meter than homes in San Francisco and San Jose. But incomes in those U.S. metros are four to five times higher than incomes in Beijing.
Down Payment the Top Hurdle Holding Back Would-Be Home Buyers
Saving a sufficient down payment is the biggest obstacle for renters looking to transition to homeownership, regardless of their age, income, gender or geography – a hurdle likely to get worse for many before it gets better.
Movin’ On Up: How Much More Will a Larger Home Cost per Month?
Growing families and households looking for more space this home-shopping season probably already anticipate paying more each month for that larger home. But just how much their monthly mortgage payments rise depends largely on where they’re looking to live and how much more space they want.
When Up Means Down: What Happened with Mortgage Interest Rates After the Fed’s Hike?
Why, when key benchmark interest rates as set by the Federal Reserve rose, did mortgage interest rates fall? The answer is two-fold.
Time to Tweak Regulations in Dodd-Frank, but Keep Homeowners Safe
My colleagues at Zillow and I created the Zestimate in 2006 just as the housing market was inflating into a bubble. Millions of estimated home values became a lens through which to watch the crash and subsequent recovery. Using that data, Zillow first reported from the rubble of the housing market bust that U.S. homeowners were underwater by more than a trillion dollars, and almost a third of homeowners with a mortgage owed more on their loans than their homes were worth.
Dismal Growth in Coal Country Home Values
Coal mining jobs stood at 57,919 in the middle of 2016, down a devastating 61.4 percent from 1990. And home values in coal-mining counties have been stagnant in recent years.
February 2017 Market Report: Inventory Still Low as Home Shopping Season Begins
Median U.S. home values rose 6.9 percent in February compared to a year ago, the 55th consecutive month of annual home value growth and the 18th month in a row in which annual appreciation exceeded 5 percent, according to the February Zillow Real Estate Market Report.
A Picture’s Worth: Where to Maximize Take-Home Pay and Job Opportunities
Where we live has an enormous influence on how we balance the competing demands of living, working and playing. We all (well, most of us) need to work, and communities with stronger labor markets widen our options. We all need a place to live, too, but housing is more costly in some places than in others. And our capacity for play comes out of everything left over from the fruits of our labor after taxes and housing costs – the price we pay to live in a civilized society.
No Construction: Why Yesterday’s Luxury Home Remains Today’s Luxury Home
Reversing a trend from prior decades, homes built when the housing bubble first started to inflate and through the height of the housing boom have held their value better than older, existing homes over the same period. But a lack of new construction in more recent years means those homes that were new a decade ago still remain “new” relative to other existing homes, and are not depreciating in value fast enough to replenish the quickly dwindling supply of livable, but older, more-affordable homes.
