Skynesher | E+ | Getty Images Fewer homeowners have been taking on remodeling projects, reports show. But don’t mistake it for a slow market. The Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity, an outlook measuring home improvement and repair spending on owner-occupied homes, peaked at 17.3% in the third quarter of 2022. The LIRA has been declining … Read more
Home prices are on the rise again after declining for the second half of 2023, with 93% of all major metro areas posting gains so far in 2024, a National Association of Realtors report reveals. Roughly one-third of the 223 major metro markets NAR examined had a double-digit price increase in the first three months … Read more
Courtneyk | E+ | Getty Images Mortgages, currency exchange complicates a purchase While there may be similarities to the U.S. market when buying a home overseas, there are also unique challenges on the financial side of the purchase. Oftentimes, Americans buying properties abroad end up financing the transaction with cash outright, experts say. If you … Read more
Dionne Lee wasn’t like most 17 year olds. After finishing Year 12 with a grade that was “not high enough” to get into university, the teenager knew she needed to figure out what she was going to do with her new “adult life”. As her friends set off to pursue a degree or enjoy a … Read more
When Rubia Daniels heard a town in Italy was selling off abandoned homes for 1 euro each (or roughly $1.05), she had to take a look herself. The Berkeley, Calif., resident booked her first flight to Mussomeli, Sicily, in 2019 and quickly ended up buying not one, not two, but three crumbling properties at a … Read more
A West Australian homeowner discovered her real estate agent sold her the wrong property after moving in to what she thought was her new home. The buyer was shocked when she received a call about her first homeowners grant application to be told the lot number on her application did not match official records. Two … Read more
My husband Martin and I met in Brussels in 2012, when I literally stepped on his toes at my neighborhood farmer’s market. At the time, I was working as a security manager at NATO headquarters, and he was on a business trip from his home in the Netherlands. Three days later, we went on our … Read more
Here’s the median price to rent a 1-bedroom across 10 cities in Asia. Fraser Hall | The Image Bank | Getty Images Renting a place is a big financial decision, especially when choosing to live in a major city where price tags are particularly hefty. The general rule of thumb is to spend no more … Read more
Hundreds of small and regional banks across the U.S. are feeling stressed. “You could see some banks either fail or at least, you know, dip below their minimum capital requirements,” Christopher Wolfe, managing director and head of North American banks at Fitch Ratings, told CNBC. Consulting firm Klaros Group analyzed about 4,000 U.S. banks and … Read more
Queensland residents face the prospect of being banned from smoking on unit balconies. But in the raft of changes under new strata laws now in effect in the state, unit dwellers will no longer be unreasonably banned from having pets at home. The state government’s legislation, which Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said was aimed at “improving … Read more
