realtor pronunciation Archives

The Most Affordable Beach Towns for Homebuyers in 2023, According to Realtor.com

13/05/202321/04/2025dansa

The results range from spots in Connecticut to California.

<p>Getty Images/Barry Winiker</p> — Getty Images/Barry Winiker

It’s time to start daydreaming about a coastal lifestyle, because Realtor.com just released a list of the most affordable beach towns of 2023. Beach homes are often associated with wealth and luxury—and understandably so, as beach towns and cities account for some of the most expensive real estate in the country. However, there are some beach towns where the cost of buying a home is on par or even lower than the national average. For reference, as of 2022, the average home price in the US was $348,079 (which is up 29 percent since 2020)—and the median home price for the majority of the towns on Realtor.com’s list is lower than that.

In order to compile the list, the data team at Realtor.com, including data journalist Evan Wyloge, started with a federal listing of beaches and their locations. The team then aggregated Realtor.com listing data for every home put on the market in the past year located within a 1-mile radius of each beach and selected the most affordable beach towns by price per square foot. (The most affordable on the list comes in at $144 per square

Rutherford Co. schools closed Monday for safety review

03/04/2023dansa

As a public service, The Tennessean has made this content free.

Recap: Three children and three adult staff members were killed Monday at Covenant School in one of Tennessee’s deadliest school shootings. Audrey Hale, 28, entered the school at about 10:11 am armed with a rifle. Officers who responded to the scene killed Hale about 14 minutes later. Video footage shows a timeline from when Hale first got to the school until the police fired the fatal shots.

911 calls from inside the school released Thursday by Metro police give more details as to the timeline of the shooting, as do a pair of officer radio clips released by police.

Gov. Bill Lee said Friday he would propose a measure to increase school security measures statewide and was open to the idea of considering something similar to red flag laws, which have already been enacted in other states including Florida.

Follow along here for live updates as we learn more about Monday’s shooting.

15 MINUTES OF TERROR: How the Covenant School shooting and Nashville police response unfolded

EXCLUSIVES: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee moves to boost school safety funding, open some gun reforms after shooting

Comfort kits for Covenant School

Kris

Outlook 2023: Western Massachusetts Realtors say home sales market is becoming ‘more realistic’

02/03/2023dansa

It’s the American dream – owning your own home.

But for some, that dream may take a little longer as rising mortgage rates put their dreams on hold in a market that is low on inventory as fewer people put their homes up for sale – all resulting in falling home sales.

The numbers from the National Association of Realtors have not been encouraging.

“In essence, the residential real estate market was frozen in November, resembling the sales activity seen during the COVID-19 economic lockdowns in 2020,” said the association’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun. “The principal factor was the rapid increase in mortgage rates, which hurt housing affordability and reduced incentives for homeowners to list their homes. Plus, available housing inventory remains near historic lows.”

To put the local market into perspective, the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley, in its mid-January report of single family home sales for December showed a 36.8% drop year-over-year from 601 sales in December 2021 to 380 in 2022.

“2022 started off as an overheated market, where people would put their house up for sale and expect multiple offers, some having over the price, resulting in the house selling quickly. But the second half of

Realtors Around the Country are Quitting – But NOT in Houston!

22/02/2023dansa

Realtors around the country are quitting – but what about here? Cathy Trevino, Chairman of the Board for the Houston Association of Realtors. “We actually added nearly 16,000 members in the last 2 years. We now have a membership of over 50,000 realtors!”

However — she says she’s not surprised that Miami and Los Angeles are particularly hard hits. “Prices in the West- and East-coasts rose a lot higher and quicker than they did in Texas. Because of that we’re seeing more buyers coming to Texas!” Trevino says that the market has changed a lot in the last few months and understands why realtors in other markets could leave the field.

2017 HAR Numbers

Trevino adds: “The beginning of the year we usually see a cleaning out of agents. Some didn’t close the number of transactions they thought they would in the last year.” Case in point: Miami is losing 36% of their agents and Los Angeles is losing 27%.

Here in Houston – Trevino says their membership is at an all-time-high, having added 16 thousand members in the last 2 years.

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Garland realtor helps save dozens of drivers stuck in the ice

18/02/2023dansa

Garland realtor helps save dozens of drivers stuck in the ice

Realtor Patrick Abell from Garland drove around Dallas County in his Jeep on Tuesday with the aim of giving folks a helpful pull.

Garland – Realtor Patrick Abell from Garland drove around Dallas County in his Jeep on Tuesday with the aim of giving folks a helpful pull after getting stranded by the ice.

Hounan Reyes stopped to help the driver of an 18-wheeler get free from the ice. It worked, but his truck got stuck in the process.

North Texas drivers dealing with treacherous conditions

Kevin Deras, the driver of the 18-wheeler, looked to return the favor.

“We’re going to have to scrape a little bit of ice from under those tires so he can gain some traction,” Deras said.

He dug at the ice, but the street was too slick to get Reyes out.

That’s where Abell and his Jeep came in.

“Just out having fun. I’ve been picking people up taking them to work checking on houses, doing what we do,” he said.

Winter Storm Warning for North Texas extended until Thursday, Ice Storm Warning for some starts Wednesday

Abell and his Jeep were able to

New association president excited for realtors to do ‘our whole jobs again’

02/02/2023dansa

Stepping into a leadership role at any time is an adjustment and doing so on the heels of a changing real estate landscape offers its own set of complications.

But Amy Layton, who took over as president of the Niagara Association of Realtors in December, understood what she was facing.

The region’s real estate market is still finding its footing, following a series of ups and downs. Last year, Niagara saw its overall home value fall 12 per cent year-over-year, after an increase of 25.4 per cent from 2020 to 2021. But that market, with its sky-high prices, quick transactions and multiple bids was “completely unsustainable,” said Layton.

This year is a different year, and her role as president is a motivating return-to-normal. It’s time for realtors, herself included, to “sharpen it up.”

“This is back to reminding everybody (to) sharpen their skills and brush up on everything if they haven’t done it already,” said Layton. “We’re always going to be needed as a realtor but now you actually have to use your skills again, which I’m really excited about. We get to do our whole job again.”

It’s also about getting back to basics, and a reminder of why

NAR Forecasts 4.78 Million Existing-Home Sales, Stable Prices in 2023

09/01/2023dansa

WASHINGTON (December 13, 2022) – Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist and senior vice president of research, forecasts that 4.78 million existing homes will be sold, prices will remain stable, and Atlanta will be the top real estate market to watch in 2023 and beyond. Yun unveiled the association’s forecast today during NAR’s fourth annual year-end Real Estate Forecast Summit.

Yun predicts home sales will decline by 6.8% compared to 2022 (5.13 million) and the median home price will reach $385,800 – an increase of just 0.3% from this year ($384,500).

“Half of the country may experience small price gains, while the other half may see slight price declines,” Yun said. “However, markets in California may be the exception, with San Francisco, for example, likely to register price drops of 10–15%.”

Yun expects rent prices to rise 5% in 2023, following a 7% increase in 2022. He predicts foreclosure rates will remain at historically low levels in 2023, consisting of less than 1% of all mortgages.

Yun forecasts US GDP will grow by 1.3%, roughly half the typical historical pace of 2.5%. After eclipsing 7% in late 2022, he expects the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to settle at 5.7% as the