Free Republic

Homebuyers are gaining power in much of the country. Just not in the wealthy, pricey East Coast.Consensus is growing among economists that home prices will flatline or even fall on a national level in 2025 as the housing market spends a third year stuck in a deep slump. But those national trends mask a housing market that looks increasingly fractured, with prices rising in many cities in the Northeast and Midwest, and falling in parts of the Southeast and Mountain West.In the stretch of cities between Richmond, Va., and Portland, Maine, homes are still selling at almost as frenetic a...

Home prices are being slashed across the US as the housing market cools — with one city seeing them plunge almost seven percent. In July, prices dropped year-over-year in 14 of the 50 most populous US cities — with Florida, California and Texas hit hard, reports Redfin. 'Sellers need to come to terms with two things,' said Redfin agent James Gulden. 'Homes are going to sit longer, and buyers are gaining the upper hand.' Homes are lingering for weeks or months — a stark contrast to the days of bidding wars and same-day offers... the lower prices combined with a...

The media has suddenly focused on inflation after ignoring skyrocketing inflation under Biden. Now they are pimping a so-called "Housing Crisis" for renters. The fact is in most parts of the country there is actually a "Responsible Tenant Crisis." The media cites statistics that there are 15 renters for each apartment. The fact is that out of those 15 renters, possibly one of them is a qualified candidate. Ever since the Scamdemic, when the government told renters that they won't get evicted if they don't pay their rent, many renters lived large off of expanded unemployment checks and simply opted...

A migrant mother who has received $30,000 through a Massachusetts housing assistance program is now asking for more help. Nadine, who declined to share her last name citing deportation fears, moved to the United States from Haiti in 2021, the Boston Globe reports. She has been living in a subsidized three-bedroom apartment in Dorchester, regarded as Boston's most diverse neighborhood, with her four-year-old son for the past year. Nadine received $30,000 in aid through Governor Maura Healey's HomeBASE emergency shelter program which can be used towards monthly rent payments, security deposits, associated broker's fees, furniture purchases and more. HomeBASE offers...

It’s a “housing crisis.” It’s because Republicans are evil and don’t care about the downtrodden. It’s because capitalism is cruel. It's because we don't throw enough money at the problem.We’re talking about the homelessness crisis, and the Democrats who are in charge of many of the cities hardest hit by the devastation will blame almost anything other than their own failed policies. But according to a study from researchers at the University of Chicago and Dartmouth College—not exactly institutions known as conservative bastions—there’s another reason behind the startling rise in the homeless population, and it’s not what Gavin Newsom, JB...

This program is giving more Palm Beach County residents the chance to call themselves homeowners. The program is run by the county’s Department of Housing and Economic Development. “We provide up to $100,000 for down payment assistance, new construction, acquisition and closing costs,” said Dorina Jenkins-Gaskin, the director of Mortgage and Housing Investment with the Palm Beach County Housing and Economic Development.

The North Fork doesn’t want to be the Hamptons 2.0, but the area’s record-setting sales say otherwise. The 30-mile-long Long Island peninsula enjoyed another historically high season for home sales last quarter. The North Fork earned a median sale price of $1.09 million between April and June, according to a new report by Miller Samuel for Douglas Elliman. That’s a 13% jump from last spring. This marks the region’s third record-high quarter within the last year. Todd Bourgard, Douglas Elliman’s CEO of Long Island, Hamptons and North Fork, told The Post that his agents are reporting lightning-fast listings that earn...

Florida's turbulent housing market has been described in five chilling words as homeowners desperately try to offload properties. Chen Zhao, the head of economics research for Redfin, described South Florida as the 'epicenter of housing market weakness' in the US. 'The question for the rest of the country is, will this spread? Florida is uniquely bad right now,' Zhao told Bloomberg last month. The area saw a huge influx of new residents during the Covid-19 pandemic. Americans, freed by work from home orders, arrived in search of sunnier weather and lower taxes. But now the bubble has well and truly...

Investors continue to snap up residential properties, as real estate has evolved into an investment class of its own. New reports show that between 2020 and 2023, investors were responsible for 18.5% of home purchases. In the first three months of 2025, investors composed 27% of all residential properties, marking the highest share in half a decade, according to BatchData. High mortgage rates, coupled with high property values, have caused many would-be buyers to reconsider their purchases. Investors have fewer constraints, leading to the purchase of 265,000 residential properties during Q1, or a 1.2% YoY rise. However, we are seeing...

The cost of a typical American home has raced far ahead of paychecks.This graphic (and below video), via Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao, charts how the median sales price of a newly-built privately-owned residential units (including houses and apartments) and the median household income have moved since 1967.Data for this graphic is sourced from the Census Bureau (both home prices and household incomes).The Federal Reserve’s CPI-U index was used to convert both to 2023 dollars for an apples-to-apples comparison.Tracking U.S. Home Prices vs. Household IncomesThe median sales price of a new U.S. home reached $428,600 in 2023. That price was more...

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that military bases would be used to temporarily house illegal aliens. The Department of Defense shared with Fox News that a section of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which is in New Jersey, will be one of the bases, along with Camp Atterbury, which is in Indiana. New Jersey Democrats, not surprisingly, were upset with the Defense Department’s decision to house illegals on local military bases. They claimed it would affect military preparedness, which is a little difficult to believe considering the Democrat party’s respect for the institution in the previous four years under crooked Joe...

On Tuesday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury surged nearly 10 basis points in a few hours, rising above 4.49 percent. The rising yield came after the release of new price-inflation data showing that CPI growth had hit a five-month high and remained well above the Federal Reserve’s two-percent target for price inflation. Rising yields often indicate that bond investors believe price inflation will continue to grow, so it was probably no coincidence that bond yields—especially on longer-term bonds—jumped following the report’s release. Whatever the reason behind the rising yield, this is bad news for those who were looking for...

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office repeated the Los Angeles Times’ description of the RRA as “a new local authority” that would “buy burned lots, rebuild homes and offer them back at discounted rates to the original owners.”.. A controversial California bill that would have created a powerful “Resilient Rebuilding Authority” for the Los Angeles fires was put on temporary hold by state Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, in response to widespread community concerns. “I appreciate the input of the folks who have weighed in about the bill, and along with legislative colleagues have decided that it would be best for...

President Donald Trump has voiced his support for a bill introduced by Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) that would eliminate the federal capital gains tax on primary home sales.Trump was asked by reporters on Sunday for his thoughts on the “No Tax On Home Sales Act” and how it might impact home ownership.Trump told the press, “We’re looking at that, and it’s going to be—it could be a very big positive,” adding, “But I think it’s going to be a great incentive for a lot of people that really need money.”This is a big deal, my friends. No Capital...

"The biggest threat to the Republican Party in 2028 is if we do not deliver on our promises of [home]ownership for the next generation," Kirk told Fox News Digital in an interview at the Turning Point Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida… "If we don't fix the homeownership problem in this country, the cost-of-living crisis, and if we don't give the next generation [a chance] at being owners and not renters, we are going to see what I call ‘Mamdani-ism’ spread across the country," he predicted. The influential conservative media personality said there was no doubt that younger voters were...

A billboard that reads “Yes! I Buy Crack Houses,” put up by what appears to be an out-of-state investor, is drawing sharp criticism across Cleveland. After backlash from community members and city officials, that particular sign has been taken down. But others like it remain in place. Local real estate investors Avery and Tania Mullins said the signs go too far. “To me? It just wasn’t funny,” said Avery Mullins. “What was your point? I didn’t understand,” Tania Mullins added. The Mullins, both born and raised in Cleveland, have seen these billboards pop up across the city with slogans ranging...

California Democrats have long advocated for the construction of multi-family housing under the guise of "affordable housing" and increasing the state's housing supply—often at the expense of single-family residences. Now, leveraging the recent Eaton and Palisades fires, they appear to be using these disasters as justification to displace families from their single-family homes in order to further their agenda for dense housing development. Gov. Newsom (D-CA) said: “Los Angeles has taken significant steps to rebuild after January’s fires, but the devastation is significant and there remains a long road ahead. Thousands of families – from Pacific Palisades to Altadena to...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Tuesday that he had allocated $101 million in new spending on low-income housing in the areas devastated by the Palisades and Eaton Fires, confirming residents’ fears. Residents have long worried that state and local authorities would use the opportunity provided by the fires to build low-income housing — perhaps even for the homeless population, or for housing for illegal migrants. When Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass appointed Steve Soboroff as “chief recovery officer,” without any kind of public process, some residents suspected that Soboroff’s role would be to push for “affordable” housing. Many residents...

Real estate investors are snapping up a bigger share of U.S. homes on the market as rising prices and stubbornly high borrowing costs freeze out many other would-be homebuyers. Nearly 27% of all homes sold in the first three months of the year were bought by investors -- the highest share in at least five years, according to a report by real estate data provider BatchData. Between 2020 and 2023, the share of homes bought by investors averaged 18.5%. All told, investors bought 265,000 homes in the January-March quarter, an increase of 1.2% from the same period a year earlier,...

Delistings jumped 47% nationally in May from a year earlier, in a sign that sellers would increasingly rather wait than negotiate, according to the Realtor.com® economic research team's latest monthly housing trends report. Year to date, delistings are up 35% from the same period in 2024. The increase is partly due to the overall expansion in active inventory, which was up 28% in June from a year earlier. Newly listed homes increased 8.8% from a year ago, but remained flat over the past two months.