Check out some of the news we want to share with you this July. Are you a first time home buyer wondering how to find the right spot for you? Or are you a home owner and it’s time to update the kitchen? Also stay tuned as we discuss mortgage rates and what you need to know in the market today.
2023’s Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers
Buying a home for the first time is an exciting and important milestone for many Americans. Their purchases make up a sizable chunk of the market, too. In 2022, 26% of home purchases were made by first-time buyers, down from 34% the previous year due in part to soaring prices.
WalletHub
13 Game-Changing Kitchen Remodel Ideas
Looking to remodel your home? Make sure the heart of it looks as good as it possibly can. We’re here to help: We have you covered with plenty of kitchen design ideas to inspire your next renovation.
To get you started, we tapped Amanda Reynal, the Des Moines-based designer and head of Amanda Reynal Interiors, to share some of her best tips and tricks when it comes to reimagining your space. “When designing a kitchen, I prioritize our clients’ needs as well as function, and then imagine a beautiful design around the working space,” she says. From finding the right combination of lighting to ensuring you have plenty of seating and storage, it’s important to identify the must-have kitchen design ideas on your list before getting down to the details. Budget is also a major consideration; researching what fits your price range will help you select the right materials and styles.
Martha Stewart
Economist: Mortgage Rates Matter Less Than You Think
Though mortgage rates have hovered in the 6% range for more than six months, pressing on buyers’ budgets, about a quarter of real estate transactions in May were all-cash sales, Lautz noted in the CNBC interview. Additionally, many homeowners are able to leverage equity from their current home to offset today’s rate increases. Homeowners who’ve been in their home for a decade have an average of $200,000 in equity, Lautz said.
National Association of Realtors
Here’s What the Future of the American House Looks Like
After more than a year of quarantine life at home, even The Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy might click her twinkling heels and say, “There’s no place like a cocktail bar.” The pandemic certainly shaped how we live in our respective domiciles—and did so in real time. “Any dreams that people have been sitting on have in most cases gone active. What are we waiting for?” asks Atlanta architect Bobby McAlpine. “People who have busied themselves as we all have—traveling, and going, and chasing, and using our houses as places where we pick up our dry cleaning—have shifted tremendously. And I think in many cases, people learned how to be home and how to live in their houses.”
Veranda
Redfin: 1% of US Homes Changed Hands Year-to-Date
Only 1% of all U.S. homes, or approximately 14 of every 1,000 residences, changed hands during the first half of 2023, according to data from Redfin (NASDAQ:RDFN). That’s down from 19 of every 1,000 during the same period of pre-pandemic 2019 and the lowest turnover rate in at least a decade.
The situation is not limited to a particular market – only 16 of every 1,000 large suburban houses have changed hands this year, which two-thirds as many from the same period in 2019, whereas roughly 11 of every 1,000 two- and three-bedroom single-family homes in urban neighborhoods sold in the first six months of 2023, compared to 14 of every 1,000 during the same period in 2019.
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