Piano movers, inspectors and more feel the pain of housing market slowdown

Jul 24, 2023
More people are staying put, which means they’re not paying for the adjacent services we need when buying a home.
With more people staying put, there's less of a need for moving-related services, like movers.
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With existing home inventory low, there are economic incentives to build more

Jul 21, 2023
But one economist warns it’ll “take decades of building, not just one good year, for the market to come back into a healthy place.”
The number of permits to build new single-family homes rose in June to the highest it's been in 12 months, according to federal data released this week.
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As offices sit empty, some banks are more cautious about commercial real estate loans

Jul 4, 2023
Office building vacancies remain elevated, especially in coastal cities. Lenders worry about developers’ ability to pay back their debt.
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How bad will it get for office real estate?

Jun 26, 2023
Tenants are celebrating the falling rents, but record vacancies could eventually upend the market.
Office buildings in San Francisco have particularly high vacancy rates.
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New house construction is booming. Here's why most of it isn't affordable.

Jun 20, 2023
There may be more supply, but it tends to cater to demand at the higher end of the income spectrum.
Over the past decade or so, new home construction slowed and still hasn’t caught up with demand.
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As enrollments dwindle and colleges close, towns hope developers will revive abandoned campuses

Jun 1, 2023
It isn't easy to find buyers for typical cinder-block campus buildings.
Southern Vermont College called this mansion in Bennington, Vermont home for 40 years, until it closed in 2019. Now, a real estate developer wants to turn it into a luxury resort.
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There are now only 4 major U.S. cities where buying is cheaper than renting

May 25, 2023
That's good news if you're looking to buy in Philadelphia, Detroit, Cleveland or Houston, but what about the rest of us?
Even if monthly mortgage payments are higher than comparable rent, "you get the benefit of building up wealth," said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin.
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For public good, not for profit.

Forever homes come in all shapes and sizes — and ages and states of (dis)repair

May 23, 2023
It will need “a lot of TLC," Candice Sides said about the 19th-century log cabin she bought to be her family's eventual home.
"People think of old houses as haunted and creepy, but when I walk in, I get this warm, comfort feeling," Candice Sides said of her newly purchased cabin, above.
Courtesy Lydia Spink

How a decline in home sales also trips up retail

May 16, 2023
When people buy new homes, they buy a lot of other things too, like furniture, appliances and electronics. When home buying slows, that can have a real ripple effect on other industries.
Today’s retail sales numbers showed people spent less on things like building materials and garden supplies in April than they did a year ago. Home Depot also reported today that sales dropped in the first quarter.
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Who's the "we" behind those "We Buy Houses" signs?

Apr 28, 2023
Real estate wholesalers offer convenience, but at what price?
"We Buy Houses" signs on a street corner in Baltimore. Often they're posted by real estate wholesalers.
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