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Getty Images While household debt reached a record $17 trillion in the second quarter of 2021, many American households have felt less financial stress this year thanks to Covid-19-related government policies. That’s according to the federal Financial Stability Oversight Council, which released its annual report for 2021 on Friday. The council was created by legislation

A sign advertising home loan rates for purchase or refinancing at a Bank of America in New York. Scott Mlyn | CNBC A brief surge in mortgage refinance demand fizzled fast, after interest rates resumed their climb along with the stock market. The initial scare from the Covid omicron variant caused rates to drop for

Construction workers frame a new home being built by CastleRock Communities in the Sunfield neighborhood of Buda, Texas, U.S., on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. Matthew Busch | Bloomberg | Getty Images Surprisingly strong housing demand, even in the usually slower season for housing, has homebuilders feeling increasingly confident. Builder sentiment in the single-family housing market

In this article COLM CLBK The days of rock-bottom rates are nearly over. The central bank will aggressively unwind last year’s bond buying sooner than originally planned after recent reports on inflation continued to show a sharp rise in prices. While the Federal Reserve said Wednesday that interest rates will stay near zero for now,

The Baehr family had to abandon their home and belongings after toxic mold exposure. Courtesy: Baehr family Kristina Baehr seemingly had it all: a successful career as a lawyer and an adorable family with newborn twins. Together, they lived in a beautiful house that she considered her “forever” home. But a mysterious and insidious foe

A satellite image shows TD Bank Ballpark submerged in flood, after Hurricane Ida swept through the Bridgewater Township in New Jersey, September 2, 2021. Maxar Technologies | Handout via Reuters The commercial real estate industry faces an intensifying threat from flooding, which is likely to lead to billions of dollars in increasing costs, a new

Homes in Elgin, Illinois. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images American homeowners are house rich, sitting on a record amount of home equity. Taking advantage of all that extra cash, however, becomes more difficult as interest rates rise. Soaring housing demand over the past year and a half, driven in large part by the

Market indicators suggest that rent hikes are coming in 2022. Average rents for a one-bedroom apartment in the booming suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, have more than doubled year over year, according to data from Apartment Guide. Meanwhile, rents in Manhattan have reached fresh records as life returns to the cities, according to Zumper. The problems

This $23.5 million mansion in Kauai recently sold to guitarist Carlos Santana. PanaViz Hawaii’s luxury real estate market is soaring to all-time highs fueled by several factors including pent-up demand from the coronavirus pandemic, record low interest rates and rising equity markets. In the first three quarters of this year, homes valued at $3 million

MBPROJEKT_Maciej_Bledowski | iStock | Getty Images For retirees searching for investment income and protection from inflation, one solution may be real estate investment trusts. REITs, as they’re called, are companies that own and/or operate properties like office buildings, shopping malls, apartment complexes and warehouses. While they do come with more risk than some other income-producing

In this article BTNB Hari Krishnan, chief executive officer of Singapore-based start-up PropertyGuru. Nicky Loh | Bloomberg | Getty Images Southeast Asia’s online real estate company PropertyGuru plans to use proceeds from its public market debut next year for mergers and acquisitions, its CEO Hari V. Krishnan told CNBC. The start-up — which operates in

Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall attend the RHS Chelsea Flower Show press day at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 23, 2016 in London, England. Max Mumby | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his wife Jerry have paid around $200 million to buy a massive Montana working cattle ranch

In this article 3333-HK China’s property outlook could turn brighter in the next few months — but two things must happen for things to improve in the beleaguered sector, one analyst told CNBC on Friday. Stabilizing property sales and greater access to funds within China could help lift the real estate sector in the country,

Poorer neighborhoods are hotter than wealthier ones. That’s the overriding finding from the New York City component of a national project to map urban heat islands. Scientists have long known that urban areas generate heat, but until now they’ve not been able to map them street by street. On a searing summer day in New

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Inflation grew at its fastest clip in almost four decades last month — and rising costs are hitting the biggest areas of household budgets. Inflation measures changes in the price consumers pay for goods and services. It jumped 6.8% in the year through November 2021, the largest annual spike

In this article 3333-HK An exterior view of China Evergrande Centre in Hong Kong, China March 26, 2018. Bobby Yip | Reuters BEIJING — Indebted property developer China Evergrande defaulted this week with hardly a ripple in markets as most institutions remained silent. Late Thursday, Fitch Ratings said Evergrande had not confirmed payment of its

The New York City rental market is regaining strength. In November, the net effective median rent for Manhattan rose 16.7% compared with last year, according to the most recent rental report from brokerage firm Douglas Elliman and real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel. That’s the second-straight month of record rates. “We’re in many ways shocked,

In this article HOOD GME @HRC.1 @LB.1 AMC UEEC HTZ DOGE.CM= TSLA AMZN When a stock or sector of the market is trading way above its intrinsic value, investors may call it a “bubble.” “We would urge caution, severe caution. Be very afraid of the valuations of these growth companies,” Peter Chiappinelli, portfolio strategist at

A real estate agent shows a home to a prospective buyer in Miami. Getty Images A brief drop in mortgage rates, due to the first news of the omicron variant, caused mortgage refinance demand to rise dramatically last week. But it will likely be short-lived. The rate drop wasn’t all that dramatic when looking at

Kaisa Group Holdings City Plaza development under construction in Shanghai, China, on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021 Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images Trading in shares of Chinese real estate developer Kaisa was halted Wednesday for the second time in two months, as troubles in China’s property sector resurfaced this week. The developer had been

Maskot | Maskot | Getty Images For parents who have a child with special needs, planning for their loved one’s life after they themselves are gone can be overwhelming. Breaking the process down into manageable parts and working with specialized professionals and companies can help. “The three main structures a family should put in place

In this article 3333-HK A housing complex by Chinese property developer Evergrande in Beijing. Noel Celis | AFP | Getty Images Evergrande is set to forge ahead into a restructuring that would include all of its offshore public bonds and private debt, according to analysts. The troubled real estate developer, swamped by $300 billion of

courtneyk | E+ | Getty Images Covid relief programs allowed millions of struggling Americans to pause mortgage payments, and many of those bailouts are now expiring, putting cash-strapped borrowers at risk. “The maximum forbearance term was 18 months for most programs,” said Michael Fratantoni, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “And many borrowers are

A “For Rent” sign posted in front of an apartment building on June 02, 2021 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Apartment rent growth and occupancy set new records in November, yet another sign that the nation’s housing market isn’t following seasonal patterns this year. Rent growth and occupancy usually cool heading

Hundreds of thousands of homeowners could soon lose or sell their homes as Covid-related mortgage bailout programs expire. The federal government, big banks and mortgage servicers started emergency programs when the pandemic hit early last year, shutting down vast swaths of the economy. The bailouts allowed millions of homeowners to miss payments, some for up

courtneyk | E+ | Getty Images With soaring home values, many sellers expect a sizable profit when listing their property. However, capital gains taxes may put a damper on their windfall.  Home sales profits are considered capital gains, taxed at federal rates of 0%, 15% or 20% in 2021, depending on income. The IRS offers

If you want to buy a house in the next year, be prepared to save up and act fast. The housing market has been red hot for the past 18 months, with buyers sometimes opting to skip many of the traditional strappings of the process, such as appraisals, inspections or even seeing the house in-person

Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images Mortgage rates rose decisively again for most of last week, causing a massive drop in mortgage demand, but on Friday everything changed with the news of the Covid omicron variant. Last week the average rate on the 30-year mortgage with conforming loan balance ($548,250 or less) increased to

Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images Home prices are still considerably higher than they were a year ago, when the pandemic caused a massive run on housing, but the gains are finally starting to ease up. Home prices rose 19.5% in September year over year, down from a 19.8% annual gain in August, according

Pedestrians walk past commercial real estate in Manhattan. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images Stocks of the nation’s largest office REITs moved lower again Tuesday, as the office market faces new concerns over the Omicron variant of Covid. This comes on top of a new cooling in office demand, which had been improving sharply