Free Republic

Median rent in the U.S. rose for the third consecutive month in March, up 0.8 percent from a year ago to $1,987, according to a new report from real estate company Redfin. While rents had decreased nationally during the preceding three-month period, rental prices have started to tick up again, as has inflation. Redfin pointed to high mortgage rates — driven by high borrowing costs set by a committee of Federal Reserve officials — as a contributing factor. More people are putting off buying a home and opting to rent, driving up demand for rental units.

Some of America’s red and swing states (purple) may have gotten less Republican during the pandemic. That’s according to 2020-21 U.S. Census data cited by real estate outlet Redfin in a recent report. The main reason is increasing diversity in areas that are typically whiter, Redfin reports. The data shows that more people moved into red and purple (“swing”) counties in key states last year than in any year in a decade. Redfin explains “key” states are “states in which either candidate has a shot at winning in the upcoming Senate elections.” Census statistics show white voters are historically more...

Redfin projects mortgage rates may not fall until early to mid-2023 ... Red-hot mortgage rates are giving home buyers and sellers cold feet. About 17% of homes that went under contract with real estate brokerage Redfin last month were called off. The technology-powered real estate firm reported that approximately 60,000 deals fell through in September, marking the "highest share on record aside from March 2020," the same month the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus pandemic. Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao said the housing market is at "another standstill" although it's completely different from the early days of the...

Two major websites used by homebuyers to search for properties to move into have decided that ignorance is bliss when it comes to crime statistics. As noted by Stacey Matthews on Legal Insurrection, Realtor.com and redfin.com decided on the same day that providing crime information on neighborhoods would promote racial bias. Helping families avoid moving to a house or condo in a dangerous crime-ridden neighborhood is far less important to them than virtue-signaling their trendy "anti-racism."Apparently, they both have forgotten the ancient maxim "caveat emptor" — "let the buyer beware." I am not certain how to render "let the buyer...

Two real estate sites, Realtor.com and Redfin, have decided not to include crime data in their websites because of racism or something… The idiots at Realtor.com explained it this way: As a relative newcomer to the real estate industry, I’ve been struck by how entrenched this problem is. Stories abound about Black, Hispanic and Asian homebuyers receiving unequal treatment, starting with their ability to see whatever homes they like, and continuing through to the appraisal and mortgage processes. At virtually every step of the way, too often people of color find hurdles in their path, making it difficult to turn...

We recently decided not to add neighborhood crime data to Redfin.com. We were considering this because we’re very much focused on answering all the questions people have when they’re considering a home purchase, and we know that one of these questions is whether they’ll feel safe in a given home or neighborhood. But the data available don’t allow us to speak accurately to that question, and given the long history of redlining and racist housing covenants in the United States there’s too great a risk of this inaccuracy reinforcing racial bias. We believe that Redfin–and all real estate sites–should not...

Americans have started factoring a state's political ideology into their decision to move as the nation grows increasingly polarized. A survey from Redfin, a real-estate brokerage firm based in Seattle, predicted more people would vote with their feet in 2022, moving to states that align with their political beliefs about abortion, civil rights, mask and vaccine mandates and critical race theory.