The California Geological Survey is helping state residents learn how close they live to a fault line, using interactive maps that can be accessed via smartphone. Users can type in an address or share their location to see the nearest high-risk earthquake zone. The maps also reveal the risk of liquefaction—when land loses its stiffness under the stress of an earthquake and becomes like quicksand—or a landslide.State lawmakers ordered the c
Housing affordability is worsening nationwide, beyond just the coastal markets. The median home price was not affordable to the average wage earner in 68 percent of counties tracked in the first quarter of 2018, according to a new report by ATTOM Data Solutions.ATTOM researchers determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to make a monthly house payment (including mortgage, property taxes, and insu
Pending home sales reversed course in February, increasing in most areas of the country even as a shortage of homes for sale and higher home prices struck many markets, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday.NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index—a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings—increased 3.1 percent month over month in February to a reading of 107.5. Despite the uptick, the index remains 4.1 percent below a
If you're interested in cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin and etherium, and live in a chilly climate, a new device that might help you earn some digital money while it warms your home.European startup Qarnot is getting ready to roll out its QC-1 room heater, which it says is powered by two GPU digital mining devices. The power the graphical processing units consume while mining digital coins is sufficient, according to the company, to warm a room o
An increase in mortgage rates didn’t suppress loan demand in the kickoff to the spring buying season. Loan applications for both refinancings and home purchases jumped 4.8 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. Mortgage applications are now at the same level as a year ago.Applications for home purchases, viewed as a gauge of homebuying activity, increased 3.1 percent from th
Some homeowners are taking steps to appeal their property taxes after the new tax law that took effect at the beginning of the year placed a $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction. In some high-tax states, such as California, New Jersey, and New York, homeowners may feel the pinch on their tax bill.Some tax experts say owners may find a benefit to appealing their property taxes and doing the extra work to try to lower their tax bill. Fo
Several fair housing organizations sued Facebook on Tuesday, accusing the social media giant of allowing landlords and brokers to discriminate based on gender and family status on its advertising platform. They argue that advertisers could use the personal data of Facebook users to then target ads that could exclude certain populations from viewing them.The National Fair Housing Alliance and three other housing groups filed the lawsuit, alleging
How much does it cost to be single and live in a big city? A newly updated family budget calculatorfrom the Economic Policy Institute shows the income that different family sizes need in order to have a baseline standard of living in the U.S.For a single person, the costs can range from $29,118 a year to live in Brownsville, Texas, up to $69,072 a year to live in San Francisco, according to the calculator.EPI’s calculator factors in geographic
With rising mortgage rates, more homeowners are finding refinancing isn’t necessarily going to lower their mortgage bill anymore. Lenders are seeing loan volume drop drastically, and they are looking to the purchase market to help make up the shortfall.In 2017, 37 percent of the mortgage origination volume was from refinancings, the smallest proportion since 1995, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, an industry research group. Analysts expect
Some housing economists believe that “granny flats” could be the key to alleviating housing shortages across the country, and they are calling on more municipalities to ease up the rules to allow such dwellings to be built on or into more single-family homes.Nicknamed “granny flats,” these accessory dwelling units tend to be separate, cottage-like structures, but may be a converted garage or basement that houses an extra living area. Some
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