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Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Tariffs, high building costs, stingy lending make for curious revival of split-levels

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

With six kids, a housekeeper named Alice and Tiger the dog, the fictitious “Brady Bunch” of the 1970s sitcom filmed in a real-life mid-century California house, a perfectly groovy set for all the shenanigans that made the show so popular.

More than 50 years later, that split-level trend is resurfacing, but it’s not because of a newfound ...Read more

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America/TNS

Meta promised $1 billion for affordable housing. Then it quietly walked away

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

In 2019, Meta unveiled an ambitious pledge to spend $1 billion to help ease California’s affordable housing crisis that critics say the company, with its thousands of highly paid employees, played a role in exacerbating.

Yet not even halfway through its 10-year commitment, Facebook’s parent company has largely abandoned its work on the ...Read more

Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

US existing-home sales decline, marking worst April since 2009

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

U.S. sales of previously owned homes unexpectedly dropped in April to the slowest pace in seven months, restrained by ongoing affordability constraints and highlighting a lackluster start to the key spring selling season.

Contract closings decreased 0.5% to an annualized rate of 4 million, according to National Association of Realtors data ...Read more

Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group/TNS

New report reveals at least a quarter of all office space still vacant in downtown San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

SAN JOSE, California — Sky-high downtown office vacancy rates continue to haunt San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco as at least one-fourth of those spaces remain empty in all three urban cores, according to a new report from commercial real estate firm Colliers.

The Colliers report provided to this news organization covers the latest ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Airbnb to crack down on 'unauthorized and disruptive' parties on summer bookings

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Parties at vacation rentals sometimes raise the ire of neighbors when holiday revelry gets out of hand.

Airbnb announced this week it is rolling out “anti-party technology” across the U.S. this summer. The system will be in effect for two upcoming holiday weekends: Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

The goal of the system, which is being...Read more

Real estate Q&A: How can we stop our neighbor's constantly barking dogs?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: Our next-door neighbor lets her three dogs live in the fenced-in backyard, and they bark constantly, even late into the night. They are good neighbors, other than that, so we have tried to be patient, but we need a good night’s sleep. What can we do about this? —Graciela

A: Pet owners bear legal responsibility for their pets’ behavior,...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

Trump considers taking Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae public

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening that he was “giving very serious consideration” to taking the mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae public after more than a decade of being under government oversight.

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are doing very well, throwing off a lot of CASH, and the time would seem to be right,” ...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

Trump floats a public offering for Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening that he was giving “very serious consideration to bringing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public” after more than a decade of being under government oversight.

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are doing very well, throwing off a lot of CASH, and the time would seem to be right,” Trump ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: What happens to our mother's house after she died without a will?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: Our mother recently passed away in Florida. I live in another state, so the last year before she died, my brother moved in with her to be able to help. The house was owned for decades by both our parents, and our father passed away some time ago. My sister and I want to sell the house, but our brother wants to keep living there. We get along ...Read more

Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times/TNS

Seattle real estate industry feuds over private home listings

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

When Seattle real estate agent Sam Cunningham prepared to list a remodeled Issaquah home for sale earlier this year, he made the usual preparations: modern staging, pristine photos and marketing copy gushing over the house’s hardwood floors and “stunning new kitchen.”

But Cunningham skipped one notable step.

He advertised the property on...Read more

Allison Dinner/Getty Images North America/TNS

US spring homebuying season has its weakest start in five years

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The crucial spring home-sales season in the U.S., barely off the runway, is already sputtering.

April is normally when transactions kick into overdrive, warmer weather drawing in buyers and sellers alike. But this year, the number of signed contracts was the lowest for the month since the Covid lockdown in 2020, according to seasonally adjusted...Read more

Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Chicago residential developer now negotiating to buy the entire Lincoln Yards site, which is still mostly empty

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The Chicago developer that was negotiating to buy the northern swath of the stalled Lincoln Yards megadevelopment site is now in talks to purchase the entire 53-acre tract, according to sources familiar with the deal.

JDL Development’s move to acquire both the northern and southern parts of the site was first reported by The Real Deal.

The ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

How 'unretiring' to go back to work can affect your Social Security benefits

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Retirement is a goal that most Americans strive for, but sometimes the reality doesn’t match what you’d imagined. You may find that you miss work and the sense of purpose it gave you, or your financial situation may change and you need to earn additional money to support your lifestyle. Returning to the workforce after retiring may make ...Read more

Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS

When you lose your home to fire, you wonder: Who am I now?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

You might think a house is just a house, and the stuff inside is just stuff — but you’d think differently if it were yours and it vanished in an instant, as happened to so many in Pacific Palisades and Altadena in the January wildfires. All of those material possessions are a part of who you are; you shape your home and your home shapes you....Read more

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Despite political promises, Californians are stressed about their finances

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

After voters in November sent a clear message that the rising cost of living remained a top concern, California lawmakers came to the state Capitol vowing to take decisive action.

"Our task this session is urgent and clear," Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) told lawmakers at the start of the 2024-2025 legislative session in early ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Are the renters next door breaking the rules to control their dogs?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: A family recently rented the house next to ours in our community association. They have several dogs and attached a temporary fence to our permitted wooden fence to form a corral for their dogs to stay outside all day and bark. Are they allowed to attach to our fence without permission? Is there anything we can do about the noise? —Caroline...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Zillow forecasts San Diego home values to drop for the first time in years

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Zillow has broken from the pack to say San Diego County home values could decrease over the next year.

Home values in San Diego County will drop 1.1% by March 2026, Zillow said in its latest Home Value Index. While the decrease is small, it’s notable because no other major forecasters have said home prices, or values, would drop, and it’s ...Read more

Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Is Las Vegas becoming Los Angeles 2.0?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

By 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, Las Vegas-based luxury real estate broker Ivan Sher started noticing a distinct migration pattern from California’s affluent neighborhoods to Las Vegas.

“What I think pushed people over the edge” in California was government mandates that impacted them and their children in school,...Read more

Daniel Mears/The Detroit News/TNS

United Wholesale Mortgage reports loss for first quarter, increase in loan volume

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

United Wholesale Mortgage reported a first-quarter net loss of $247 million on total revenue of $613.5 million, down from a profit of $180.5 million during the same period last year. A $388 million reduction in the fair value of its mortgage servicing rights portfolio impacted the results, the Pontiac, Michigan-based lender said Tuesday.

The ...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Getty Images North America/TNS

Warren Buffett to step down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO: 5 takeaways from the annual meeting

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Warren Buffett told Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that he plans to step down as CEO at the end of 2025 and recommended to the company’s board that his previously identified successor, Greg Abel, take over at that time, ending a 60-year career that created one of the greatest investment records of all time.

Buffett made the dramatic ...Read more