An MBA survey shows demand for purchase loans is down 18 percent week over week and 41 percent from a year ago as mortgage rates rise for the second week in a row.

Economic downturn could put a damper on a promising start to the spring homebuying season, but set the stage for mortgage rates to ease and for home sales to rebound in 2024.

HGTV

While HGTV designers each have their own signature style, there are certain trends they all seem to love. On the latest “Fixer to Fabulous,” Dave and Jenny Marrs show they’re birds of a feather with Christina Hall and former “Teen Mom” star Chelsea DeBoer.

In the episode “Small House to Cozy Casita,” the Marrses meet Denise and Pepe Estrada, who spent five years living in Pepe’s native Peru. These empty nesters have recently purchased a 1,317-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home. They hope the space can comfortably accommodate family and friends when they come to visit.

Dave and Jenny have a budget of $180,000 to remodel the entire house. In the process, they arrange for the Estradas to be empty nesters no more.

Find out how the Marrses pull this off and learn plenty of lessons you might be inspired to try on your own abode—including one renovation that’s all the rage (among reality TV stars and others) that can actually save you money each morning you sit down for breakfast.

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Mortgage rates are back up, hitting a fresh high for the year.

The average on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.87% as of Tuesday afternoon, while the 15-year was at 6.07%, according to Mortgage News Daily.

Rates are officially at the highest level for the year. But to be clear, rates have been higher—they surpassed the 7% threshold, and reached 7.37% back in October, per MND’s data.

The jump in rates “has significant impact on payments and affordability, so you have to assume that means fewer buyers in the market,” Mike Simonsen, founder of Altos Research, said in a recent YouTube video.

Good leadership is about inspiring and motivating followers to get the job done, whatever the job may be. It considers more than just the metrics of productivity for success and adds the welfare of the organization and its people to the list of objectives. 

This list provides a little taste of the all-you-can-eat buffet of bad bosses in television and movies. Find out what you can learn from this parade of awful leaders.

As we wrap up Leadership Month, we want to know about the worst leader you've ever had. How did you handle their toxic traits?

Even after ending its iBuyer program, Zillow remains bullish on mortgage. But first it has to totally reimagine its website, analysts and executives tell Intel. What could possibly go wrong?

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Fox News Host Jesse Watters has moved out of his Manhattan rental and purchased a home in Bernardsville, NJ, for a cool $2.8 million.

The stately, five-bedroom mansion boasts 10,296 square feet—significantly larger than the cozy, 1,853-square-foot New York City condo he rented with wife Emma.

The political pundit has been busy with real estate transactions lately.

Last October, the host of “Jesse Watters Primetime” listed his vacation home on the Jersey shore for $1,999,000. The the 2,044-square-foot, four-bedroom, oceanfront abode in Beach Haven, NJ, was recently updated.

Investors eye 2023 and 2024 as prime opportunities amid a market still finding its footing, Point co-founder Eddie Lim tells Intel.

A 1905 Colonial Revival home in Richmond, a four-bedroom condominium in Boston and a 1942 brick townhouse in Washington.

The franchise marks The Agency's 50th overall and follows the brokerage's previous European launches in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Lisbon, Portugal.

Photo-Illustration by Realtor.com; Photos: Getty Images (2)

Modern life is deeply dependent on major appliances. Whether they’re keeping your wardrobe clean or ensuring your food is edible, these machines help us out a lot more than we realize.

A day without a dishwasher, washing machine, air conditioner, or refrigerator is, for many, almost unimaginable. So when one breaks down, or you move into a home without one or more of these domestic MVPs, it is hard not to panic.

None of these essential appliances comes cheap, but there are ways to plan ahead so you can buy one at a discount. Grab your calendar, and make note of the following best times to buy major appliances.

Mark your shopping calendar for September, October, and January

Manufacturers typically roll out new appliances during two major times: early fall and at the beginning of a new year. Retailers often slash prices on last year’s inventory to make room for the fresh models. The exception to this rule is refrigerators; Manufacturers introduce new models in the spring.

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Magnetic paint will not magically make your wall as sticky as your refrigerator door, but it can create a cool design effect throughout your home if you use it right. It might sound as easy as slapping on some paint and instantly having a magnetic surface, but proceed with caution.

Creating a magnetic surface that will successfully hold up papers requires some know-how, a lot of paint, and the right magnets.

Ready to transform a corner of your home into a nail-free, magnetic gallery wall? Here’s what you need to know.

The science of magnetic paint

Before you go out and buy a quart or two, you should have some understanding of how the paint actually works.

Dan McDonald

Dan and Marissa McDonald were in their mid-20s, paying $2,000 a month for an old, outdated apartment in Boston when they started thinking about buying their first home.

“I was sick of paying such high rent,” Dan recalls. “I wanted to really jump into actually having an asset to my name beyond my 401(k).”

While many couples in their shoes might have begun searching for a single-family home, Dan was intrigued by a trend called “house hacking,” which involves renting out rooms or parts of a house to help cover the cost of a monthly mortgage, and perhaps even make a profit.

“I have always been interested in real estate investing, but I didn’t really ever think it was possible, being young and not having a lot of money to put down,” Dan admits. But through house hacking, he had learned that buying more space—and renting it out—could end up costing less than simply buying their own place.

ChatGPT has taken the world by storm, but it's not perfect (yet). Before you use it, understand how it works, the wide variety of serious pitfalls and the potential risk to your business if you fail to fact-check the responses it provides. 

Mark Wahlberg and his wife, Rhea Durham, initially listed the 30,500-square-foot property for $87.5 million in April 2022 but dropped the ask by $8 million after it sat on the market for several months.

Buying Realtor.com was viewed as a potential way for CoStar to take on Zillow. But CoStar CEO Andy Florance said Tuesday that his company would instead focus on its Homes.com business.

Photo-Illustration by Realtor.com; Photos: Getty Images (3)

Price is one of the most critical factors in buying a home. But there’s something else you need to consider when budgeting for a new house: property taxes.

When scrolling listings for your dream home, you’ll typically see property tax estimates listed. But that doesn’t mean the current tax will be your effective tax rate as the new property owner.

Instead, when a home changes owners, the property taxes sometimes will be higher than what the current owner pays.

This could have some bearing on whether you can afford a certain home. For instance, when you’re qualifying for a home loan, you have to show you can handle paying the property taxes and the principal and interest of your mortgage.

Now is the time to take constructive action that can impact the trajectory of your whole year. Do these three things to successfully set the tone for this year’s unique market conditions.