Residential Real Estate
Court Rulings May Force Action On Home Equity Theft
After a state judge ruled this month that Massachusetts law governing municipal home equity takings “requires Legislative correction,” a state senator who has filed a related bill for years said Monday that he was ready to start demanding roll call votes on his proposal.
Douglas Elliman Settles Commission Lawsuits
Luxury brokerage Douglas Elliman has become the latest brokerage to join in the National Association of Realtors’ commission lawsuit settlement.
Mass. Climate Bank Launches First Homeowner Loan Product
The product will make $20 million in loans available over the next two years to help homeowners cover the costs of things like heat pumps, electric vehicle charging stations, weatherization, and more.
Insurance Is the Wild Card for Some Buyers
When it comes to buying a house, the elephant in the room is not the price. It’s not the mortgage rates. It’s not even the property tax. It’s the insurance.
Report: HomeServices to Settle Commission Lawsuits
The last major brokerage still locked in a court battle over real estate agent commissions appears to be waving a white flag.
NAR Settlement Gets Preliminary OK
The judge in the lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors over real estate agent commissions has given his preliminary approval to a settlement in the case, signalling that a new future for how agents are compensated is clearly on the horizon.
Company Behind Big New Listings Portal Buys Matterport
CoStar Group, the real estate information company behind Homes.com, has inked a deal to buy the 3D camera company many real estate agents rely on to promote their listings.
Greater Boston Luxury Listings on the Rise
Numbers of new listings at the very high end of the Greater Boston home-sale market are on the rise, even as sales totals lagged in the market’s traditional downtown-area core in the first quarter.
MAR to Push for Transfer Tax Alternatives on Beacon Hill
In less than two months, hundreds of Realtors from across the commonwealth will gather under the gold dome of the Massachusetts State House. Here’s what we’ll be calling for.
Boston’s Luxury Condo Market Still Cold
Red hot for years, has the Boston luxury condo market finally lost its sizzle? It looks like it – and developers’ ability to offer cash back at closing could be keeping prices from coming down.
How to Get a One-of-a-Kind Home, The Easy Way
Even though I live in a custom-designed house, I don’t recommend designing your own place from scratch. It’s not for everyone.
Remodeling Forecast Says Spending Will Decline This Year
The latest forecast from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing predicts that a slump in Americans’ remodeling spending may be in store this year.
GSIR, Cronin Group Settle Lawsuit
One of Boston’s prominent luxury brokerages and the developer behind a new Seaport District condominium tower have buried the hatchet in a dispute over allegedly unpaid sales commissions.
Mass. Home Prices Kept Rising in March
Year-to-date, there have been 3,482 condo sales, a 6.2 percent decrease from the first three months of 2023 with a median sale price of $520,000, an 8.3 percent increase on the same basis.
Worried About Your Commission? Learn to Show Your Value
Buyer’s agent compensation offers seem set to disappear from your local multiple listings service by this summer. And the effects will be wide-ranging.
Door Opens to Flip a House for Yourself, Not Profit
High mortgage rates, soaring house prices and rising construction costs have driven many flippers out of the market. And with their exit comes a great opportunity for people eager to buy a fixer-upper of their own.
March Inflation Reading Means ‘Bad News’ for Mortgage Rates
Consumer inflation remained persistently high last month, boosted by gas, rents, auto insurance and other items, the government said Wednesday in a report that will likely give pause to the Federal Reserve as it weighs when and by how much to cut interest rates this year
Lamacchia Realty Buys NAR President’s Brokerage
The state’s largest independent residential real estate brokerage now owns the home base of National Association of Realtors President Kevin Sears.
Fixed-Rate Loan Payments Can Go Up
If you have a fixed-rate mortgage, your payments will always stay the same, right? Wrong. Taxes and insurance premiums invariably rise – which means your house payment does, too.
Millennials Back to Being Nation’s Largest Group of Buyers
Millennials have surged ahead to become the largest group of homebuyers, marking a significant shift in the housing market’s demographic landscape, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors.
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