Toll Brothers Inc., a luxury-home builder, is piloting a new tool in a few select markets that allows buyers to use virtual reality to better envision design selections in their new home’s kitchen. They can then easily swap out countertops or cabinet colors and then view the changes in virtual reality.Kitchen 360 offers a 3-D view and floor plan visualizer so that buyers can take a realistic tour through their new kitchen.“When I used the new
Private investors now comprise more than a quarter of all global commercial real estate transactions. Twenty-seven percent of all global commercial property transactions in 2016 involved a private buyer, according to a new report by Knight Frank.Further, economists “expect that the appetite from private investors for commercial real estate will continue to increase,” according to the report. Within the next two years, 32 percent of ultra-hig
Home buyers would be wise to interview a home inspector before they hire one. But what should they ask? Here are a few questions to consider.Read more: Do You Trust Home Inspectors?1. What do you check?A home inspector will look at everything from the roof to the foundation and in between, Frank Lesh, executive director of the American Society of Home Inspectors, told realtor.com®. But they are restricted to visual, general inspections. A speci
Existing-home prices have jumped 6.5 percent from a year ago to a record high of $263,800 in June, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. It marks the 64th consecutive month for year-over-year price increases. The escalating prices are causing some to fear a price correction could be on the horizon.However, new research from JPMorgan finds that the risk of a dramatic decline in U.S. home prices is very low. JPMorgan culled historica
Home sellers in the second quarter of this year sold their properties for an average $51,000 more than they paid for them when they bought them. That’s the highest price gain for sellers since the second quarter of 2007, when it was $57,000, according to a new report by real estate data form ATTOM Data Solutions. This represents an average return on investment of 26 percent.The sellers had owned their homes an average of eight years, which is t
The United States is going through an energy revolution that within 20 years will reshape people’s homes and communities, experts said at the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2017 Sustainability Summit in Washington, D.C., this week. Most people aren’t aware of the revolution right now, but that will change as the cost of alternative sources of energy, such as solar panels, plummets and the use of smart technologies—particularly LED li
Real estate professionals in New York and Arizona say they have recently received an email from a real estate professional in Jacksonville, Fla., who was offering them a referral. The problem is that when they Googled the agent’s name, they discovered she had died a month ago.The email sender claims to be late real estate professional Mary Anne Rolnick, 76, who was murdered inside her home in June. Rolnick’s son, Scott Rolnick, has been charg
Mortgage rates posted another drop this week, offering more relief to home buyers.Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending July 27: 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.92 percent, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 3.96 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.48 percent. 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.20 percent, with an average 0.5 po
Aurora, Ill., located outside of Chicago, topped realtor.com®’s list of the most affordable housing markets with the best elementary schools in the country.Researchers analyzed ZIP codes within the top metro areas in the nation that contained at least one public or public charter school. Realtor.com® culled data from GreatSchools.org.“When searching for a new home, finding something affordable in a good school district with family-friendl
The U.S. homeownership rate may have finally bottomed out, as the share of Americans who own homes is steadily climbing. The ownership rate posted an increase in the second quarter, reversing a sharp downward trend that begun in the Great Recession.The homeownership rate was 63.7 percent in the second quarter, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday. That marks nearly a full percentage point increase from a year ago.Last year, the homeownership
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