ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2011
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The summer housing market is heating up. According to data from the National Association of REALTORS®, the Pending Home Sales Index smashed analyst expectations, jumping 8 percent on a monthly basis in May. Wall Street calls were for an increase of just 0.5 percent. It was a surprise result tha...
06/30/2011
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Home buying can be a nerve-wracking experience. You sift through multiple properties, visit the ones that grab your interest, and then finally decide on your dream home — but there's just one problem: it's a fixer-upper desperately in need of some TLC. That dilemma is not uncommon today. Perhaps...
06/30/2011
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Maybe homes are holding value better than we thought. Between March and April of this year, home values rose 0.8 percent nationally, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Home Price Index. It's the index's first month-to-month improvement since May of last year. Values are down 19 pe...
06/30/2011
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A report issued Monday by the U.S. government showed core inflation rising 2.5 percent in the last 12 months for its biggest one-year gain since January 2010. Everyday living is becoming expensive, it seems. But there are some U.S. towns in which the cost of living remains affordable -- and down...
06/28/2011
Mortgage markets improved again last week on a revised economic outlook for the U.S. economy, and ongoing concerns about Greece and its sovereign debt. Conforming mortgage rates fell last week and now hover near the all-time lows set last November. Adjustable-rate mortgages are especially low. Th...
06/28/2011
Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within its current target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. The vote was 10-0 -- the fourth straight unanimous vote for the nation's Central Bank. In its press release, the FOMC said that the economy is recoverin...
06/23/2011
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Despite rising new home sales and an increase in building permits nationwide, home builder confidence slipped to a 9-month low in June. The monthly Housing Market Index from the National Association of Homebuilders registered 13 this month -- three ticks lower than last month, and its lowest lev...
06/21/2011
This week marks the official start of Summer. If your home's outdoor area has furniture in it, you'll want to make sure that your furniture is clean. In this 4-minute video from Lowe's, you'll learn tricks to keep your outdoor furniture clean, and protected from the elements. All types of outdoo...
06/20/2011
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The housing market received a jolt of good news Thursday. The Commerce Department reports that Single-Family Housing Starts improved in May. As compared to April, last month's Single-Family Housing Starts rose 4 percent to a seasonally-adjusted, annualized rate of 419,000 units, a figure slightly...
06/17/2011
The jobs market is recovering slower than expected, and so is housing. But neither condition has slowed U.S. consumers. According to the Census Bureau, Retail Sales rose for the 11th straight month in May. Excluding cars and auto parts, sales receipts climbed to $322 billion last month. It's an a...
06/15/2011