Free Republic

I've often written about how real estate prices have affected members of my own family. Of our four kids, two live in Colorado and can only afford to live in a nice, peaceful town well outside the troubled Denver area because they combine not two but three incomes. Our other two live in deep-red Iowa, in the same small town, where they are easily able to afford nice homes. They have a lot of company. Realtor.com has just released its latest Affordability and Homebuilding report cards, and I should note that, while Colorado comes in at #27 with a grade...

Higher mortgage rates and concern over the broader economy are making for a weak start to the all-important spring housing market. Sales of previously owned homes in March fell 5.9% from February to 4.02 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s the slowest March sales pace since 2009. Sales were 2.4% lower than in March 2024 and slumped across all regions month to month. They fell hardest in the West, the priciest region of the country, down more than 9%. The West, however, was the only region to see a year-over-year...

The Pacific Palisades fire burned more than 6,800 structures, both homes and businesses. Clearly, the rebuilding process is going to take a while for many families even if insurance covers the losses. What should not take a long time are permits for people who lost everything to get started. Indeed, Mayor Karen Bass vowed to streamline the process and made a big show when the first permit was issued.The first permit was issued March 5, less than two months after the Palisades fire destroyed or seriously damaged more than 6,000 homes in Pacific Palisades and surrounding areas.“We want this to...

Brad Pitt has hit a snag in the $20.5 million lawsuit against his Make it Right Project. Pitt, 61, started the project in the wake of 2005's devastating Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans with an aim to build ecologically sustainable homes to replace the houses that were flooded. He spent $12 million through his Make It Right Project to build 150 ecologically sustainable homes but now, nearly two decades later, those homeowners have organized a class action lawsuit against him and his non profit. Many of the homes have developed mold problems and other serious issues. The homeowners' legal team,...

Multimillion-dollar estates in the wealthy cliff-dwelling enclave of Rancho Palos Verdes in Southern California are slowly sliding toward the ocean, yet they still carry hefty price tags. Almost 200 homes in the area are listed for sale, ranging from an $899,000 condo to a $22 million seven-bedroom mansion. However, most are not affected directly by the land movement, which is concentrated in an area called Portuguese Bend. "Portuguese Bend is clearly on borrowed time," says LAist. New aerial mapping showed the long-known and slow-moving landslides on the bluffs have sped up due to heavy rain in 2023 and early 2024,...

Typically, you’d think more homes being taken off the market is good news for real estate agents and analysts… But, with a surplus of new homes for sale and a shortage of buyers, US properties are increasingly being delisted to be moved on from, rather than moved into.Data from analytics firm CoreLogic, reported by the WSJ last Thursday, showed a significant jump in housing delistings at the end of last year, with almost 73,000 homes being taken off the market in December — a 64% increase year-on-year, the highest level in almost a decade — after failing to find a...

The Washington, DC, area housing market has seen an increase in homes being listed for sale as more government employees have either been laid off or have accepted buyouts. According to Devon & Dustin Fox Homes website, “big changes” are happening in the Washington, DC, housing market as people are seeing an increase in homes being listed and “homes are sitting longer.” The median sale price of homes in the Washington, DC, housing market is reported to be around $600,000, a four percent increase year-over-year. Homes listed are reportedly staying on the market around 22 days, according to the Fox...

Ted Cruz Shares 'Absolutely INSANE' Thread That PROVES DOGE Is ALREADY Draining the Swamp

Everything seems to be more expensive in California - even the politicians. But housing is getting to be - nay, scratch that - has been a real problem for some time. Young families are surrendering their dreams of owning a spacious California house in the suburbs as Mike and Carol Brady did, and that's because housing has grown prohibitively expensive in California - and in plenty of other places, too. For the moment, though, California makes a good cautionary tale.The Petersen family’s two-bedroom apartment in northern California is starting to feel small. Four-year-old Jerrik’s toy monster trucks are everywhere in...

Home sales in 2024 tumbled to their lowest level in nearly two decades but the Northeast offered a small glimmer of hope in an otherwise challenging year for the housing market.Existing-home sales dropped to 4.06 million in 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said in a news release on Friday, Jan. 24. That figure marked the worst year for the US housing market since 1995.The sales drop happened as the median price of a home reached a record high of $407,500, up six percent from 2023."The median home price was elevated partly due to the upper-end market's relative better...

As deadly wildfires continue scorching their way through Los Angeles and the surrounding area for the second straight week, homeowners are worried about the prospect of defaulting on their mortgages in the wake of the unprecedented disaster were offered some reprieve from the nation’s major lenders. On Monday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled mortgage assistance and relief options for customers reeling from the historic Southern California fires. Both government-backed corporations are offering 12-month forbearance plans, meaning that struggling homeowners could either reduce or suspend their mortgage payments for up to a year without incurring late fees, foreclosure, or other...

Wildfires raging across parts of Los Angeles have destroyed several celebrities’ homes, including actors Mandy Moore and Billy Crystal. More than 1,000 structures have burned from the Palisades fire, leveling entire neighborhoods due to the uncontained flames fueled by hurricane-force winds. Anywhere from 200 and 500 structures have been damaged or destroyed from the Eaton fire on the other side of town. A new blaze, dubbed the Sunset fire, broke out in the Hollywood Hills late Wednesday. At least five deaths have been confirmed from the fires. Mandatory evacuations have been underway for thousands of residents and many more are...

LOS ANGELES, California — The fast-burning wildfire that broke out in the mountains above Pacific Palisades amid extreme high winds on Tuesday morning threatened homes and the local public school, which was evacuated. The fire broke out in the brush near the Paseo Miramar neighborhood, above, Palisades Drive and spread quickly. One witness told Breitbart News that she saw homes and cars burning, and that embers had leapt across the canyon to the neighborhood of Marquez Knolls.

The city of Los Angeles is on the verge of redrafting blueprints for its neighborhoods to accommodate more than 250,000 new homes. But under a recommendation from the planning department, nearly three quarters of the city will remain off limits to further growth.At stake is no less than a vision for Los Angeles’ future. Will L.A. continue to preserve communities dominated by single-family homes? Or will the city make a historic shift to allow for more affordable housing in areas that have long excluded it?The department’s proposal leaves alone neighborhoods that only allow for the building of single-family homes —...

As Colorado lawmakers debate over how to confront rapidly increasing housing costs, more than a dozen city and town councils on the Western Slope have voted to support allowing local taxes on vacant homes and short-term rentals. The concepts, pitched by the Colorado Association of Ski Towns, or CAST, would have to be passed by the Colorado legislature and approved by local voters before they could take effect anywhere. “The lack of available and attainable housing for employees in Colorado mountain resort communities has reached a crisis level,” CAST wrote in the legislative policy statement approved by the towns. “The...

The FBI raided the homes of two of the top members of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ (D) administration on Wednesday morning, Politico revealed. Several sources told the outlet that NYC First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright’s Manhattan townhome and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks’ Queens single-family residence were both searched as part of an investigation into Adams’ 2021 campaign. The mayor himself was served a grand jury subpoena in July after law enforcement seized his electronic devices in November 2023 over allegations that he colluded with foreign governments, including the government of Turkey, Politico reported. Banks and...

The program gives first-time homebuyers, regardless of immigration status, loan assistance of up to 20 percent of a property’s value with a cap of $150,000.Former Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi celebrated a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to buy homes with taxpayer loans in her home state of California.“Making the American dream of homeownership available to all people is something we have to do,” the Bay Area congresswoman said in a Friday interview with Bill Maher. Pelosi was responding to a question about state lawmakers passing a bill last week to expand eligibility for a government program which offers...

Hundreds of homes in the coastal Los Angeles suburb of Rancho Palos Verdes have lost power due to a slow landslide that has resulted in several houses being deemed unsafe for occupancy. NBC Los Angeles reported: Power was shut off to an additional 105 homes Monday night due to accelerating landslides in a Rancho Palos Verdes neighborhood. The latest round of shutoffs occurred at 7 p.m. Monday in the Seaview area of the Los Angeles County seaside community overlooking the Pacific. On Sunday, power was shut off in 140 homes in the Portuguese Bend area. Those residents also remain under...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” House Speaker Emerita Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that while she’s not familiar with the details of California’s legislation to allow illegal immigrants to get taxpayer assistance for buying homes, “making the American Dream of home ownership available to all people is something we have to do for people who are here now” and she wants to move illegal immigrants “to documented.” But ultimately, the issue is up to the states. Host Bill Maher asked, “The California lawmakers just passed a law — it hasn’t been signed by Gov. Newsom (D) — but...

California Dems want to help undocumented immigrants buy homes – during presidential raceA first-in-the-nation California proposal could make undocumented immigrants [illegal aliens] eligible for up to $150,000 in state-supported home loans just as immigration has become an incendiary topic in the presidential election.The measure is likely to pass the California Legislature this week where Democrats enjoy a supermajority and in a state that has the largest share of undocumented immigrants [illegal aliens] in the country.Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, a top surrogate for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, declined to say whether he would sign the measure if...