Middle-class earners are being hit with income stagnation, rising housing costs, and increasing debt loads, but there are several markets across the country that could offer relief. The middle class is defined as households who earn between $42,000 to $125,000 annually, according to the Pew Research Center.Realtor.com® analyzed the nation’s 100 largest metros with the highest share of homes on the market that are priced for middle-income worke
As home prices rise, more homeowners are turning to home equity lines of credit, but they have concerns about cashing out on their home. The number of American consumers expected to take out a HELOC is projected to double to 10 million over the next five years, according to the J.D. Power 2018 U.S. Home Equity Line of Credit Satisfaction Study. The study looked at HELOC preferences among consumers, including customer choice and satisfaction bas
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 1 basis point to an average 4.44 percent this week, Freddie Mac reports.“Treasury yields fell from a week ago, helping to drive mortgage rates modestly lower,” explains Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist. “The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped below 2.8 percent for the first time since early February of this year. The decline in Treasury yields comes as investors move into safer assets
A growing number of startups are helping renters and landlords navigate an increasingly hot rental market. Some companies aim to teach cash-strapped renters how to qualify for an apartment and budget for hikes in rental costs, while others help them raise thousands of dollars for a security deposit or improve their credit to get approved for a lease.Still others are focused on protecting landlords. For example, startup company Rhino offers securi
Housing affordability is worsening nationwide, beyond just the coastal markets. The median home price was not affordable to the average wage earner in 68 percent of counties tracked in the first quarter of 2018, according to a new report by ATTOM Data Solutions.ATTOM researchers determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to make a monthly house payment (including mortgage, property taxes, and insu
If you're interested in cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin and etherium, and live in a chilly climate, a new device that might help you earn some digital money while it warms your home.European startup Qarnot is getting ready to roll out its QC-1 room heater, which it says is powered by two GPU digital mining devices. The power the graphical processing units consume while mining digital coins is sufficient, according to the company, to warm a room o
An increase in mortgage rates didn’t suppress loan demand in the kickoff to the spring buying season. Loan applications for both refinancings and home purchases jumped 4.8 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. Mortgage applications are now at the same level as a year ago.Applications for home purchases, viewed as a gauge of homebuying activity, increased 3.1 percent from th
Some homeowners are taking steps to appeal their property taxes after the new tax law that took effect at the beginning of the year placed a $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction. In some high-tax states, such as California, New Jersey, and New York, homeowners may feel the pinch on their tax bill.Some tax experts say owners may find a benefit to appealing their property taxes and doing the extra work to try to lower their tax bill. Fo
How much does it cost to be single and live in a big city? A newly updated family budget calculatorfrom the Economic Policy Institute shows the income that different family sizes need in order to have a baseline standard of living in the U.S.For a single person, the costs can range from $29,118 a year to live in Brownsville, Texas, up to $69,072 a year to live in San Francisco, according to the calculator.EPI’s calculator factors in geographic
With rising mortgage rates, more homeowners are finding refinancing isn’t necessarily going to lower their mortgage bill anymore. Lenders are seeing loan volume drop drastically, and they are looking to the purchase market to help make up the shortfall.In 2017, 37 percent of the mortgage origination volume was from refinancings, the smallest proportion since 1995, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, an industry research group. Analysts expect
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