Author: Agggregated News
Renting proves to be more affordable than buying a home in largest US metro areas – WEYI
WASHINGTON (TND) — The dream of homeownership remains increasingly difficult for most Americans to achieve due to rising costs. Renting may be the best option for those looking for a house to call their own. A new study from Bankrate found renting is 37% cheaper than buying a typical home in all 50 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas. As of February 2024, the typical monthly mortgage payment was $2,703 while the average rent was $1,979. We’ve seen home prices go up, mortgage rates go up, [and] inventory is low.…
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Family offices are looking beyond the stock market for higher returns, new report finds – NBC Bay Area
Family offices have 46% of their total portfolio in alternative investments, according to the JPMorgan Private Bank Global Family Office Report. Alternatives include private equity, real estate, venture capital, hedge funds and private credit. Unlike stocks, which can swing wildly, alternatives such as private equity and private companies have more gradual valuation changes, smoothing out volatility. Large family offices have nearly half their investments in private markets and alternatives, as they move out of the stock market in search of higher returns and lower volatility, according to a new study.…
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The CZU fire burned 911 homes. A huge new project aims to reduce the risk of the next one. – The Mercury News
Cal Fire Division Chief Rich Sampson walks through an area of Pescadero Creek County Park near La Honda, Calif., Thursday, April 25, 2024, still showing the scars of the 2020 CZU Fire. The area along Old Haul Road Trail is scheduled for a fire protection thinning project this summer. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) It’s been nearly four years since the CZU Lightning Complex Fire raged through the Santa Cruz Mountains, destroying 911 homes, devastating Big Basin Redwoods State Park and blackening 86,500 acres — an area three times the…
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Berkshire Hathaway to pay $250 million to settle real estate commission lawsuits – East Bay Times
By Alex Veiga | The Associated Press A real estate company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to pay $250 million to settle lawsuits nationwide claiming that longstanding practices by real estate brokerages forced U.S. homeowners to pay artificially inflated broker commissions when they sold their homes. HomeServices of America said Friday that the proposed settlement would shield its 51 brands, nearly 70,000 real estate agents and over 300 franchisees from similar litigation. The real estate company had been a major holdout after several other big brokerage operators,…
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Trump meets privately with former GOP rival Ron DeSantis – NBC Bay Area
Former President Donald Trump met privately over breakfast with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday, six sources said. The meeting was described as “nice” and “friendly” by one of the sources, who added that DeSantis plans to help raise money for Trump. A separate source said the meeting was mutually agreed upon and arranged by Steven Witkoff, the chairman of a real estate company, who is a mutual contact of the two men. However, a Trump campaign official told NBC News that DeSantis reached out to Trump’s team through Witkoff two weeks…
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Bay Area home prices at highest levels since summer 2022 – Silicon Valley
Homebuyers could be forgiven for thinking it was 2022. As of March, the median sales price of a home in the nine-county Bay Area was $1.39 million, according to new data from the California Association of Realtors. That brings prices back up to levels last seen two years ago, and marks a 15.5% increase from this time last year — the biggest spike among California’s regions. It’s a sign that prices have recovered from the dip they took during the fall of 2022, following the Federal Reserve’s interest ratehike that…
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Bay Area home prices at highest levels since summer 2022 – The Mercury News
Real Estate advisor Teresa Baum sets out signage before an open house event on Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group) Homebuyers could be forgiven for thinking it was 2022. As of March, the median sales price of a home in the nine-county Bay Area was $1.39 million, according to new data from the California Association of Realtors. That brings prices back up to levels last seen two years ago, and marks a 15.5% increase from this time last year — the biggest spike among…
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