Free Republic

The dreams of homeownership in the United States are moving further out of reach for middle-class Americans. Affording even the down payment for a typical US home can be a burden, as home prices rise, interest rates remain high, and inventory lags demand. Now imagine what it’s like in metro Boston. A median-income household needs to put down 35.4 percent to afford the typical monthly mortgage payments in the United States, according to a June 20 analysis by Zillow. In Boston, that number soars to 61.7 percent, since the typical home value here is $701,349, according to the real estate...

A federal judge in Texas has ruled that a 156-year-old ban on at-home distilling is unconstitutional, siding with a group that advocates for legalizing the ability of people to produce spirits like whiskey and bourbon for their personal consumption. U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump in Fort Worth, on Wednesday agreed with, opens new tab the Hobby Distillers Association's lawyers that the longstanding ban exceeded Congress's taxing power and ran afoul of the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause.

People moving to New York City should come with a dream, a good pair of walking shoes—and, depending on where they plan to live, a million-dollar salary. Six neighborhoods in the city require homebuyers to earn seven figures to even consider making an offer on a tony address, according to new research compiled by Realtor.com®. The most expensive neighborhood in the five boroughs is Nolita, where the median home costs an eye-watering $5,351,875. Any aspiring or current New Yorker who wants to live in the four-block-wide Manhattan neighborhood—which is now the center of trendy boutiques and chic restaurants—needs to earn...

Homework clubThe pandemic turned the world upside down. People stockpiled toilet paper, did yoga over Zoom, baked banana bread, bought Pelotons, went crazy for online shopping, and anyone who was even thinking about buying a pool went and got one. Pretty much all of those trends have since returned to normal, but a major one has remained: working from home.According to new data published in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Time Use Survey for 2023, ~35% of all employed persons in the US spent the average working day doing at least some of their work from home — up from...

Former Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel — who is 94 years old — wondered whether President Biden belongs in a nursing home instead of the White House following last week’s debate disaster. “I have never been more shocked and embarrassed by any presidential debate than I was last Thursday,” Rangel, who served in Congress from 1971 to 2017, said Sunday on 770 WABC radio’s “The Cats Roundtable.” “One [candidate is] a convicted felon who has no respect for the truth, for morality. The other seemed so damned confused I didn’t even know whether he knew where the hell he was at...

A group of around 40 pro-Palestinian protesters descended upon Democrat Rep. Brad Schneider’s (D-IL) north suburban Chicago area home in the early morning hours on Saturday, worrying neighbors and causing the police department to step up patrols in the neighborhood. Neighbors reported being shocked when the protesters began making noise and shouting slogans at around 3 a.m. on Saturday morning. A group of around 40 pro-Palestinian protesters descended upon Democrat Rep. Brad Schneider’s (D-IL) north suburban Chicago area home in the early morning hours on Saturday, worrying neighbors and causing the police department to step up patrols in the neighborhood....

The current owners of Marilyn Monroe’s former Los Angeles home, a wealthy real estate heiress and her reality TV producer husband, are suing the city for the right to demolish the abode where the star died. Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank filed the lawsuit Monday as an ongoing landmark designation process has stopped them from razing the iconic Brentwood residence, which they purchased for $8.35 million last summer, KCAL-TV reported. The couple, who live next door and bought the sprawling Spanish colonial as a tear-down so they could extend the size of their house, were initially granted a demolition permit...

The minimum income required to buy a home now hovers at $116,000 nationwide, according to a new Realtor.com® report—but this threshold varies greatly based on where you live. On the high end is San Jose, CA, where homes are listed at a median of $1,467,000 and homebuyers need a salary of $361,000 to comfortably cover these massive mortgage payments. On the low end, homebuyers in Pittsburgh need to make just $67,000 to snag a property at a more modest median of $250,000. In April, mortgage rates started rising again, pushing up the cost of buying a home by 6.9% compared...

It is more expensive than ever to buy a home in the U.S., according to a new report from the real estate company Redfin. The median home price hit a record $383,725 during the four week period ending April 21. That’s up 5.2 percent from a year ago, Redfin found, one of the largest leaps in home prices since October 2022. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 7.1 percent this week, the highest it’s been since November 2023. Mortgage rates dipped briefly at the end of last year after the Federal Reserve signaled it would cut interest rates this...

An UdeM study unveils fresh insights into how Neanderthals and Homo sapiens organized their living spaces at the Riparo Bombrini site in northern Italy.How did our Paleolithic ancestors go about organizing their living spaces?...far from being more primitive, Neanderthals did much the same as their Homo sapiens successors: made themselves at home.Analyzing artifacts and features of the Protoaurignacian and Mousterian levels of the Riparo Bombrini site in northwestern Italy, the scientists uncovered common patterns of settlement between the two populations.By mapping the distribution of stone tools, animal bones, ochre, and marine shells across the surface of the site, they were...

(NEXSTAR) — Decades ago, buying a home for $100,000 or less was the norm. Today, you need to earn at least $100,000 just to afford a “typical” home, according to a new analysis. Data tracked by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows the average sales price for homes sold in the U.S. was $492,300 last quarter, down from $552,600 a year prior. While there are signs of improvement, home sale prices are nowhere near where they were 40 years ago: in Q4 of 1984, the average sales price for houses sold nationwide was $97,800.

The Democrat mayor of Atlantic City’s home was raided by armed police officers last week in what he now calls a “political” attack as police investigated a “family matter.” Mayor Marty Small Sr. said Monday he was approached by two Atlantic City Prosecutor’s Office officers while he was helping his mother-in-law into the car so his wife could take her to get bloodwork done at around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Fox 29 reports. The officers then presented him with five search warrants on Small’s home and vehicles as part of an ongoing investigation the mayor said he had been aware...

New York’s most notorious squatting story is taking a new twist: The “squatter” at the center of it says he’s the victim — and will get out once he is paid for “upgrades” to the house. Range Rover-driving Brian Rodriguez told The Post he wants $18,000 to hand back the home in Flushing — and claimed all he was doing was trying to start a “side hustle” to cash in on the migrant crisis. The bizarre saga began when Adele Andaloro was handcuffed by police after a fiery caught-on-camera standoff as she tried to throw out squatters from the $1...

A “greedy and grotesque” LA woman has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars for fraudulently obtaining real-estate property in a multimillion-dollar squatting scheme that included dismembering and disposing of a body. Caroline Joanne Herrling, 44, of West Hills was sentenced Friday to 240 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $3,887,051 in restitution for the elaborate racket, the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a statement. “This defendant’s misconduct was both greedy and grotesque, causing profound pain to the victims and their loved ones,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said.

Most Americans still dream about owning their own home but over 60 percent don’t think they will ever be able make that dream come true, according to a new survey from market research firm The Harris Poll. The 2,047-person survey shows while 81 percent of U.S. adults would like to own a home in the future, 61 percent don’t think they will ever be able to do it. A sizeable number of Americans — 42 percent — believe that no matter how hard they work they will never be able to afford a home they really love. For most Americans,...

CAR RAMS INTO XI JINPING’S HOME Footage shows the driver being carried away by Chinese securityservices after the car plowed into the main entrance to the RoyalPalace, where Xi’s main office and residence are located. It’s unknown if it was an intentional attack or an accident. (30 second video in link below)https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1766739014453715208

Six people, including four kids, were gunned down in a mass shooting inside a Canadian home overnight, cops said Thursday. Police made the grim discovery inside a townhouse in Ottawa’s Barrhaven neighborhood after a flurry of 911 calls shortly before 11 p.m., CBC News reported. One injured person was rushed to a hospital, while a man was arrested at the scene. Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs described the horror as a “mass shooting.

SALINE COUNTY, Ark. – Deputies said an armed burglary suspect was shot by a Saline County man returning home Tuesday when he saw the suspect draw a weapon as he left the man’s house. Officials with the Saline County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a call of shots fired at the home in the 10000 block of East Sardis Road. When they arrived, the deputies said they found the homeowner, who told them he had called 911. The man said he saw the suspect coming out of his house pointing a firearm at him. The homeowner then said he...

Top Mayor Eric Adams aide Winnie Greco is being investigated by the feds for potentially using workers at a Queens mall to hide campaign donations to Hizzoner, law-enforcement sources told The Post on Friday. The FBI launched raids Thursday on two homes Greco owns on Gillespie Avenue in Pelham Bay in The Bronx — as well as the offices of the New World Mall in Flushing — over the alleged possible illegal straw donor scheme, sources said. The 61-year-old longtime mayoral adviser suffered a “medical episode” during the morning raids — which included federal agents hauling off boxes of files...

A New York City couple’s plan to move into a $2 million dream home to retire in with their disabled son has become a “nightmare” as they battle a squatter who claims he had an agreement with the previous owner. Susana and Joseph Landa, both 68, purchased the home next to family members in the quiet New York City residential neighborhood of Douglaston, Queens, in October 2023, ABC 7 reported. Close to relatives, the location was perfect for their son Alex, who has Down syndrome and could be easily looked after if something was ever to happen to the couple....