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And What’s All This Talk About Rate Hikes?

In a Wall Street Journal article titled Millennials Are Supercharging the Housing Market, millennials — many of whom are just now jumping into the market — account for more than half of all mortgage applications. Super. A good deal of the future demand for homes hinges on millennials (people born in the 1980s and 90s).

But wait. Will rising interest rates put a damper on these young market-movers in 2022?  

Continue reading “Are Millennials Really Supercharging the Real Estate Market?”

Do Condo Owners Give Up Freedom of Expression?

Covenants and restrictions keep condominium properties safe, neat and tidy. But sometimes they irritate HOA members or potential buyers. Sometimes they even chill freedom of expression.

The matter of chilling came up for an Amherst, Massachusetts condo property, after the board took note of a nearby case that drew in the American Civil Liberties Union. That previous case resulted in a policy allowing a resident of a condo property ten miles away to display a Black Lives Matter sign.

After receiving a legal analysis from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Hampshire Village Condominium Association voted to amend its own master deed to permit unit owners to post political signs, flags, religious banners and other decorations without prior board approval.

Continue reading “When Condo Associations and Free Speech Rights Collide”

From Habitat for Humanity to Lennar

A Virginia resident has moved into a new, 3D-printed home. It’s a milestone for Habitat for Humanity in the United States.

The company Alquist 3D built April Stringfield’s home on behalf of Habitat for Humanity’s Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg branch. Once the work was complete, in December 2021, Stringfield bought the house as a Habitat Homebuyer. Aspiring Habitat Homebuyers have the options of logging volunteer hours, taking homeownership courses, or working on their building sites before they’re approved as buyers. So, to purchase the home for herself and her teenaged child, Stringfield worked with Habitat for Humanity.

Most people have heard about Habitat for Humanity. Readers who haven’t heard of printed houses yet may have a few technical questions. Such as…  

Continue reading “3D Building Trend Ramps Up to Meet Housing Shortage”

Anti-Money Laundering Update

The U.S. Treasury Department is gearing up to expand oversight of real estate deals for cash.

The Treasury Department has issued notice, through its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), of a proposed rule to deal with money laundering. A specific target of the Biden administration’s anti-corruption drive is the purchase of real estate for cash. This will likely mean more reporting requirements for the real estate industry — and possibly rules of the type that banks have had to follow. At this time, FinCEN is beyond whether and where additional anti-money-laundering (AML) and suspicious activity reports (SARs) are needed.

Read on for the fuller story, and a call for public comment.

Continue reading “Cash Home Purchases Draw Renewed Federal Scrutiny”

Should sites like Redfin.com, Realtor.com, and Trulia.com have crime figures on their websites for home shoppers? Here are the arguments now being made on either side of the question. We start with a brief rundown of specific real estate sites that are formulating new policy.

Continue reading “Does Crime Data Have Any Place on Real Estate Sites? Here’s the Debate”

The U.S. housing market lifted sale prices to new highs in 2021. Remote work, which surged in 2020, really settled into accepted custom in 2021. Our new way of working became central to the way we choose our homes and the way live in them, and the results were unreal.

Other factors that made 2021 a wild time in real estate? Shortages of workers, supply chain issues, and swooning mortgage interest rates. Weather extremes, wildfires, sea level rise, and floods. Unequal distribution of wealth, exacerbated by the Covid effect.

One part of the population got through the year white-knuckled, as anxiety grew over what would happen when the mortgage payments became due after months of forbearance. Meanwhile, another swath of the population took profits from a rising stock market and a Bitcoin boom. They found themselves free to leave the cities and head for vacation homes. So, in the most desirable markets, the price gains for luxury homes were dramatic.  

Readers who have followed the articles on Deeds.com had our analysis in real time, as all of these dynamics unfolded. Here, we take a look back at some remarkable real estate milestones of an unprecedented year, as it winds down to make way for 2022.

Continue reading “2021 Is a Wrap—And What a Phenomenal Year for Real Estate!”