Home Advice

Are We Facing a Real Estate Bubble?

Recollections of the 2008 economic recession and the mortgage crisis that followed are fresh in the minds of many of the older Millennial and Gen-X homeowners burned by the housing market in the past. As buyers compete in multiple offer situations and pay well-above asking price for that new home—whether as first-time homebuyers or as move-up buyers—many are wondering whether the housing market is due for a correction.

Pandemic Home Renovation Trends

In the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic, economists predicted that the market for goods and services would grind to a halt for months or even years to come. However, in reality, the real estate market, including both the selling of homes and the improvement of existing properties, has grown in strength over the intervening months. Even for homeowners who aren’t thinking about selling, home renovation projects are experiencing unprecedented interest and generating robust economic activity.

Top 7 Things You Need to Know Before House-hunting on Zillow

Just as Kleenex has become the name for any brand of facial tissue and “to Xerox” is used as a verb for making copies, Zillow is the first name in online home search with 196 million unique visitors last year. That’s about double the number that Realtor.com enjoyed during the same period, making Zillow the platform that, in many ways, drives the real estate industry.

The Difference Between a Recession and a Housing Crash

For many homeowners, the word Recession is practically synonymous with the 2008 mortgage meltdown. It brings to mind neighborhoods filled with For Sale signs and a massive foreclosure crisis. However, this is an artificial association based on recent history. If we take the long view of the economy, Recessions are generally no more likely to create significant housing downturns than any other movement in the economy.