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Alena Botros

Alena Botros

Fortune

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It’s still a golden age of homebuilding, according to one top real estate CEO. Here’s why

“It’s that unique confluence of strong demand, no supply because there’s no resale inventory, and large public builders with a meaningful...

26.04.2024 6

Fortune

Alena Botros

Mortgage rates are a ‘wild card’ in the housing market—and they’re edging closer to 8%

Higher mortgage rates could trigger more pullback in sellers, Realtor.com’s chief economist wrote in a weekly report.

25.04.2024 8

Fortune

Alena Botros

A new reality of 7% mortgage rates could be setting in, top economist says 

“If we look at where a 10-year Treasury yield is trading or settling, that’s a key driver of where mortgage rates are going,” BNP Paribas’...

25.04.2024 6

Fortune

Alena Botros

RE/MAX chairman shrugs off groundbreaking $418 million commissions settlement, saying realtors will adapt 

"If you look at the oil embargoes, you look at 17% interest rates, you look at the 2007 financial crisis, realtors learn to adapt, change their sales,...

24.04.2024 6

Fortune

Alena Botros

Nearly half of all baby boomers couldn’t afford their current homes if they were to buy them today, survey finds

“Rising home prices are a double-edged sword,” a Redfin senior economist said.

23.04.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

Baby boomer filled housing markets are seeing more supply and falling prices—the rest don’t have enough homes or sellers 

“The reality is that about 70% of sellers are also buyers, so sellers are sensitive in this environment as well,” Zillow’s chief economist said.

22.04.2024 9

Fortune

Alena Botros

Mortgage rates surpass 7% for the first time this year

“It seems increasingly likely that mortgage rates are not going to come down any time soon,” Bright MLS chief economist said.

19.04.2024 7

Fortune

Alena Botros

Luxury homes are more expensive than ever

The typical luxury home sold for a record $1,225,000 in the first quarter of this year, according to Redfin.

19.04.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

The cost of owning a home is officially the highest on record, Redfin says. Here’s how bad it is out there

“The combination of high mortgage rates and prices have brought homebuyers’ median monthly housing payment to a record $2,775,” Redfin’s Dana...

18.04.2024 5

Fortune

Alena Botros

The economy might be booming, but housing has fallen into a recession: a top real estate CEO says he’s never seen anything like it

Redfin’s Glenn Kelman discusses his business, salary, and all things housing with Fortune.

17.04.2024 9

Fortune

Alena Botros

Home prices soared 40% during the pandemic—but Zillow sees them rising less than 2% this year

It’s “slower than long-term norms but a welcome slowdown for first-time buyers compared to the rapid appreciation seen over the pandemic,”...

17.04.2024 7

Fortune

Alena Botros

nearly 8 in 10 sellers regret missing the hottest market in decades, survey shows

If mortgage rates come down, 2024 could prompt some homeowners to dip a toe into the housing market, according to Realtor.com.

15.04.2024 4

Fortune

Alena Botros

The ‘Oracle of Wall Street’ expands on why the ‘crisis of the American male’ will send home prices crashing 30%: Gaming, rampant loneliness, and not enough single women homebuyers

But home prices falling for years is “not the end of the world,” according to Meredith Whitney.

12.04.2024 5

Fortune

Alena Botros

Want to live in California? You need at least a million dollars

San Francisco, San Jose, and San Diego all have an average home value above a million dollars.

12.04.2024 8

Fortune

Alena Botros

Selling your home at a loss in San Francisco could mean losing a whopping $155,000

“San Francisco has lost some of its appeal post-pandemic,” a local realtor said in a new Redfin analysis.

10.04.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

Office values will plunge another 25% in ‘worst-hit metros,’ Capital Economics says—and that’s bad news for San Francisco and Seattle

Austin has its own set of weaknesses but will eventually “join the other southern metros in enjoying a decent recovery,” according to deputy chief...

09.04.2024 5

Fortune

Alena Botros

The only housing markets getting fresh supply have a ‘disproportionately higher’ number of homeowners that aren’t clinging to low mortgage rates

Metropolitan areas with more mortgage-free homeowners are seeing the largest jump in listings, a new Zillow analysis finds.

08.04.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

From skipping meals to working overtime to moving in with mom and dad—that's how Americans are trying to afford housing

“Housing has become so financially burdensome in America that some families can no longer afford other essentials,” Redfin’s economics research...

05.04.2024 9

Fortune

Alena Botros

Office vacancies set a new record, blowing past recession-era rates

The continued existence of remote and hybrid work means offices are staying empty.

05.04.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

Boston’s remote work footprint could be dominating some of the hottest housing markets

Seven of Realtor.com’s top 10 hottest housing markets are within a two-hour drive of the Bay State capital.

04.04.2024 5

Fortune

Alena Botros

Baby boomers are selling their homes and millennials are buying—it’s a ‘generational tug of war'

It seems as though baby boomers still have a leg up on millennials.

03.04.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

‘Oracle of Wall Street’ sees years of declines in home prices

Meredith Whitney sees young men living with their parents for longer and says it could lead to years of declines in home prices

02.04.2024 6

Fortune

Alena Botros

The housing market is set to get even better for sellers and even worse for buyers, says real-estate expert with billions of dollars in transactions

“This isn’t an unequivocal win across the board,” Mark Karlan, a lecturer in finance, real estate, and law at UCLA told Fortune about the big...

02.04.2024 2

Fortune

Alena Botros

The housing market is showing signs of turning a corner, JPMorgan says. Here’s what they see

“While the recovery in housing market activity will be gradual, resilient supply and demand dynamics underscore that it is not a source of...

01.04.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

The salary Americans need to buy a starter home has nearly doubled since the pandemic

“The pandemic housing-market boom changed the definition of a starter home,” a Redfin senior economist said in a new analysis.

29.03.2024 7

Fortune

Alena Botros

Self-made real estate millionaire Barbara Corcoran says home prices could go up 10% if mortgage rates dip

“If rates go down just another percentage point,” the Shark Tank star said, “prices are going to go through the roof.”

28.03.2024 6

Fortune

Alena Botros

It’s a ‘nepo’ housing market. More than a third of Gen Zers and millennials expect their parents to help with a down payment, survey finds

“Because housing costs have soared so much, many young adults with family money get help from Mom and Dad,” Redfin’s chief economist, Daryl...

27.03.2024 3

Fortune

Alena Botros

Renting will be cheaper than buying for years

Home prices and rents are high, but the latter “will remain by far the most cost-effective option” until the end of 2026, Capital Economics...

27.03.2024 9

Fortune

Alena Botros

The housing market is so unaffordable that buyers need to make $30,000 more than they currently do to buy a home 

But that’s an improvement from last year when they needed to close a more than $40,000 shortfall, according to a new Redfin analysis.

26.03.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

There’s one week in April that will be the best time to sell a house this year, Realtor.com says. Here’s why

“The week of April 14–20 is expected to have the ideal balance of housing market conditions that favor home sellers, more so than any other week...

25.03.2024 4

Fortune

Alena Botros

Housing market ‘perfect storm’ means prices will stay high, top real-estate CEO says

“Unbelievable demand has sort of been the story of the last five to seven years, and that’s due to really the villain being supply,” Invitation...

25.03.2024 5

Fortune

Alena Botros

‘I don’t want to pay a buyer’s agent’—homeowners are charged up after $418 million settlement, top real estate CEO says

Redfin's chief executive says the firm is getting “more aggressive” on selling homes directly to consumers following the settlement.

22.03.2024 9

Fortune

Alena Botros

Former broker unimpressed by $418 million NAR settlement—says they couldn’t agree on lunch let alone a conspiracy

Assoc. dean Ken Johnson, whose research focuses on real estate economics, still expects sellers’ agents and buyers’ agents to split home-sales...

22.03.2024 4

Fortune

Alena Botros

The incredible surge in home prices is set to continue in southern metros

Home price appreciation superiority comes down to stronger employment growth and affordability, according to Capital Economics.

19.03.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

The Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes will be felt across the housing market for decades, Redfin CEO says 

The Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes will be felt across the housing market for decades, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said.

18.03.2024 4

Fortune

Alena Botros

Neighbors in a wealthy Bay Area enclave created a 'heritage alliance' to become a historic district—and it all started with one home and a new family

The initiative metastasized into what appears to be an effort to skirt state housing laws altogether.

16.03.2024 20

Fortune

Alena Botros

The broken housing market is merging with America’s polarized political culture

“Across the age spectrum, at every point, owners are substantially further to the right than renters,” says Aziz Sunderji, a former analyst who...

16.03.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

A trickle of new listings collides with sky-high prices and mortgage rates this spring season

New listings aren’t enough to bring all would-be homebuyers off the sidelines because affordability doesn’t seem to be improving meaningfully.

14.03.2024 3

Fortune

Alena Botros

44% of all homes in the U.S. are at risk of severe or extreme damage from environmental threats

“Climate risk is a big deal,” says Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu, adding that “people are tolerating these risks in exchange for more...

13.03.2024 3

Fortune

Alena Botros

Shrinkflation is coming for your home

The median new home size is the smallest it’s been in more than a decade.

12.03.2024 20

Fortune

Alena Botros

Welcome to the housing election: Americans are trapped in their houses or outside the market looking in and it’s focusing their thinking for November

“While the economy is strong on paper, a lot of families aren’t feeling the benefits because they’re struggling to afford the house they want or...

11.03.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

Baby boomers aren’t going to crash the housing market—they’re powering it

Fears of a “silver tsunami” are overblown, John Burns Research and Consulting’s vice president of demographics tells Fortune.

08.03.2024 20

Fortune

Alena Botros

Baby boomers aren’t going to crash the housing market—they’re powering it

Fears of a “silver tsunami” are overblown, John Burns Research and Consulting’s vice president of demographics tells Fortune.

08.03.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

The housing market’s deep freeze is showing signs of thawing

Low inventory and high housing costs were the two major challenges in last year’s housing market, but more supply is entering the market.

07.03.2024 4

Fortune

Alena Botros

Texas’ big 3 housing markets built 300% more homes than California’s—despite having a far smaller population

“If a developer sees an opportunity, or sees a need to build more homes, it’s a lot easier to get that done when the government isn’t telling...

05.03.2024 5

Fortune

Alena Botros

A new kind of remote work city just drove a $2 trillion gain in the housing market. ‘Pricey metros and pandemic boomtowns’ are drifting, Redfin says

The national housing market is now worth $47.5 trillion, after a 5.3% increase over the last year, per a Redfin analysis of over 90 million homes.

02.03.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

Brooklyn’s new borough president doesn’t care about the ‘character’ of your neighborhood. That’s ‘not more important than putting people in homes

When a city is missing hundreds of thousands of much-needed homes, the “character of your neighborhood,” an obsession that’s existed for...

29.02.2024 10

Fortune

Alena Botros

A wealthy doctor refuses to leave his $16 million mansion even though it could fall into the Pacific Ocean

“The house is fine,” Dr. Lewis Bruggeman told a local CBS station. “It’s not threatened. It will not be red-tagged.”

27.02.2024 3

Fortune

Alena Botros

A Washington, D.C. neighborhood hates a high-rise conversion that hasn’t even been started yet

“They want to build a massive building,” a longtime resident told Fortune. “It’s too big, it’s too high, it’s too dense.”

26.02.2024 3

Fortune

Alena Botros

3 reasons why we aren’t in a housing emergency, according to an official at the center of the 2008 financial crisis

“Every crisis is different, and we’re not in a crisis now,” James B. Lockhart III said.

20.02.2024 3

Fortune

Alena Botros

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