The 12-person John Stanaland Group, formerly of Villa Real Estate, closed more than $300 million in sales volume in 2022, according to an announcement Thursday from Douglas Elliman.

In a positive sign for the real estate industry — and the spring homebuying season — pending home sales rose in December for the first time since May 2022, increasing 2.5 percent from November.

Kenneth Haber, who had served as general counsel since 2004, will now shift to an advisory capacity at Douglas Elliman as a senior managing director, the brokerage told Inman on Friday.

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Do ice hockey and horseback riding really go together? They do if you’re Bobby Holik.

The former National Hockey League center has slashed the price on his mountain home and horse barn in Jackson, WY, from $22 million to $17,750,000.

Holik is best known for his years with the New Jersey Devils.

The home was originally listed in June 2022, and an offer was made (and declined) in September. The property was removed from the market, but now the former hockey pro is giving the home sale another go.

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Mortgage rates are down again this week, which means things are looking up for homebuyers.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked down 2 basis points to 6.13%, according to Freddie Mac, continuing a pattern of rates seesawing lower since topping 7% in the fall. In fact, mortgage rates are at their lowest levels since mid-September 2022.

Yet, while lower borrowing costs are a boon for homebuyers, few seem to be pouncing on this opportunity as they might have a year or two earlier.

“As we move into the new year, housing market data continues to suggest that buyers are relatively sluggish as the total number of homes for sale climbs higher and homes spend more days on market,” noted Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale in her analysis for the week ending Jan. 21. “After unprecedented urgency to find and close on a home in 2021 and 2022, buyers in today’s housing market are clearly operating under a different set of expectations and a much greater measure of patience.”

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A lavish, $59 million penthouse in Aston Martin’s first residential building in Miami drives to the top of this week’s most popular home listings on Realtor.com®.

The sprawling, seven-bedroom, top unit will be located in the luxury automaker’s first residential high-rise, which is under construction with completion scheduled for later this year.

Other digs that drew your clicks include a colorful Colorado home with a hula-hoop room, an urban barndominium in South Carolina, and a contemporary masterpiece featured in the Season 3 premiere of HBO’s “Westworld.”

For a full look at this week’s 10 most popular homes, keep on scrolling.

The Rehearsal Club, which provided inexpensive housing for decades for aspiring actresses, singers and dancers trying to make it in New York City, is back. Carol Burnett said the club “saved my life.”

This is the market where opportunity abounds for the diligent, professional agent. Homeowners who have been unable to sell their homes need your expertise.

If you want to use the ChatGPT chatbot for marketing, you need to be aware of its limitations and potential drawbacks, writes broker Teresa Boardman. It may make more sense, in fact, to do your own writing.

It is possible to tell when your real estate business is going off-course before it’s too late. By keeping your fingers on the pulse of your business, you can evaluate often and adjust your course.

Photo courtesy of Zimal Contracting and Restorations via Houzz

In the “before times,” you probably didn’t think much about the importance of a mudroom for dropping bags and shedding shoes before entering the main house. The same goes for special antimicrobial surfaces or tech-driven details like touchless taps.

Yet, ever since the COVID-19 pandemic roared through our lives, health and wellness features have become top of mind in home design. And it looks like many of them are here to stay.

These wellness perks are often touted in listings as must-haves—and higher home prices might reflect these “healthy” upgrades. So the burning question is: Are they worth the extra dough?

For some help sussing out which wellness bells and whistles are worth a second look at your budget when you’re house hunting, read on.

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A midcentury modern design in the desert is no mirage.

The 3,700-square-foot property was built in 1964 for the Hawkins family and designed by Blaine Drake, a Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice at Taliesin. The home has been owned by only two families. It’s now on the market for $2,495,000.

The four-bedroom, three-bath home in Phoenix last changed hands in 2019 for $1,205,000, according to Realtor.com®.

“It’s a true, unspoiled, midcentury modernist home,” says Scott Jarson, of az architecture. “It hasn’t had any negative changes to it.”

Photo courtesy of Kevin O'Sullivan + Associates via Houzz

Hanging new curtains is one of the best budget-friendly ways to revamp your home. But, it also tends to be one of the most difficult home decor projects to complete correctly.

From not measuring windows right, to incorrectly placing curtain rods, there is a lengthy list of things that can go wrong.

Whether you’re looking to update old living room window treatments or hang functional curtains in the bedroom, be sure to steer clear of these all-too-familiar mistakes.

1. Choosing the wrong curtain length

When deciding on curtains for your home, it’s important to take length into consideration.

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How much does lawn care cost? That’s a question home buyers don’t often consider as carefully as they should. When you first lay eyes on that gorgeous spread of grass, it tends to look much greener when you don’t own it.

But once those weeds creep knee-high or the grass starts to brown, you’ll want to know: How deeply do you need to dig in your pocketbook to trim things down to size?

Lawn care expenses will depend, of course, on how much lawn you have, your willingness to do some of the work yourself, and (let’s be honest) just how jealous you want your neighbors to be. But there are some general rules of thumb to help you anticipate how much you’ll have to spend—and how to trim those costs.

How much it costs to mow your own lawn

At the very least, your lawn needs to be mowed. If you choose to do it yourself, you’ll need a lawnmower, which can range in price from less than $100 for a steel-blade push mower ($89.99 on Amazon for this snazzy green mower with a catcher) to $500 to $1,000 (or more) for a gas-powered push mower or rider.

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A colorful, postmodern mansion with flair to spare has hit the market in Sarasota, FL.

The multihued home is considered an architecturally significant structure.

“Architect Don Chapell built the home for himself and family, and I’ve never seen a home where there has been more thought, attention, and custom-planning for every detail,” says Lisa Rooks Morris, who is co-listing the house with Amy Drake. Both are with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty.

The list price is $10 million.

HGTV

While property brothers Jonathan and Drew Scott are both clearly adept at renovating homes, do you ever wonder which sibling is better? The latest “Brother vs. Brother” seems to point to a clear winner.

Drew has won the first two challenges this season, so in the third episode, “Main Bedroom Magic,” Jonathan goes all out to close the gap between their scores. But will his efforts be in vain?

Jonathan plans to spend $100,000 to remove a small bedroom and add that space to the main suite, which includes a luxurious bathroom and walk-in closet.

Drew, on the other hand, plans to attach his property’s accessory dwelling unit to the main house, and make that into a primary suite. He knows he’ll have to spend a little more on that, and budgets $150,000. (This proves to be a surprisingly naive estimate.)

"We are really not in the real estate business…We’re in the relationship business,” said luxury broker Dolly Lenz at the final session of Inman Connect New York on Thursday.

Amanda Marsh and Amie Quirarte shared their personal experiences at Inman Connect New York on Thursday and talked about channeling endurance and resilience.

According to Chris Suarez, who spoke at Inman Connect New York on Wednesday, the "Day-1” mindset should be applied by real estate professionals if they want to stay competitive. 

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The numbers: U.S. new home sales rose 2.3% to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 616,000 in December, from a revised 602,000 in the prior month, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

This is the third month in a row that new home sales have risen. Existing-home sales, on the other hand, continue their downward streak.

The December sales figure beat analyst estimates slightly. Analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast new home sales to come in at 615,000 in December.

The sales of new homes are below a peak of 1.04 million in August 2020.