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Strong local economies help power home price increases in NYC, Las Vegas

Sep 24, 2024
Prices in New York and Las Vegas both grew more than 8% last month, according to the Case-Shiller Index.
New York and Las Vegas were the two metro areas with home price growth over 8% in July.
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How the paper "wealth effect" influences real-life spending

Jun 5, 2024
Consumers enjoying a buoyant stock market and high house prices may feel inclined to spend more, but how much more is uncertain.
Paper wealth pumps you up, according to the wealth effect. If you feel good financially, you'll spend more, regardless of how much actual money you have.
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Home prices have risen 423% in 40 years, fueling economic discontent

Apr 9, 2024
From 1984 to 2023, the median cost of a new home rose from $79,900 to $417,700, more than double the rate of overall price inflation.
This is not the first time America has dealt with rapid, destabilizing price increases, says Thomas Stapleford, economic historian at the University of Notre Dame.
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Suburban home values were up 5.6% last year

Mar 6, 2024
But suburban owners still want to be close to downtown amenities.
Suburban homeowners experienced bigger price gains than homeowners near city centers over the last year, according to Redfin.
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Profits from sales of median-price homes fell slightly last year, but are still pretty huge

Jan 25, 2024
People who sold a median-price home last year made more than $120,000 in profit on a typical sale, according to a new report out today from the property data company ATTOM.
High home sale profits might be a sign that the market is starting to normalize.
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Home prices aren't guaranteed to skyrocket this year

Jan 19, 2024
Housing demand has been improving in recent months, as mortgage rates have ticked down. And while that's putting upward pressure on home prices, there are a few factors that could keep a lid on home price appreciation.
One factor that's already been increasing housing inventory is new home construction.
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Owning a home now takes a bigger chunk of Americans' incomes

Dec 21, 2023
A report out Thursday from the real estate data firm ATTOM finds that a home, and all its related costs, now eat up about 34% of the average wage nationwide.
A new ATTOM report shows that homeownership costs take up roughly 34% of the average wage nationwide — more than lenders advise homeowners to spend.
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With high prices and interest rates, homebuyers feel the pressure

Dec 8, 2023
Realty firm Redfin said homes are less affordable than at any time since they started tallying the numbers 11 years ago.
Someone with median income would need to spend more than 40% of their monthly wages to afford the median home this year, a new report by Redfin shows
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What we can learn from U.S. cities where homelessness is trending downward

Towns making progress, an overwhelmed system, affordable housing — here’s what to expect ahead of new federal data on homelessness.
"What the data tells us over and over again is that homelessness rates are driven primarily by the housing market," said Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
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First-time homebuyers are older these days

Nov 21, 2023
The median age of first-time homebuyers is now 35 — up from 29 in 1981. And the median age of all homebuyers is now 49 — up from 31 in 1981.
The longer people have to wait to become homeowners, the more pressure there is on the rental market, says Daniel McCue with Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
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