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Homebuyers are out there, but they’re finding fewer homes for sale than they were a year ago, according to the latest data from Realtor.com.
In February, the number of homes listed for sale rose a meager 0.5 percent from January, but fell 22 percent from the same time last year. The median time a home spent
Those in the highest echelon of income earners — the 1 percenters — are speeding past the rest of the population when it comes to rebuilding wealth after the recession of 2007 to 2009.
A study by E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics at Berkeley Emmanuel Saez, “Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States,” shows that in 2009 to 2010, the 1 percenters captured an astounding 93 percent of income growth. The stock market, which has doubled in three years, is responsible for most of the gains of the wealthy since the recession, while the majority of Americans are still suffering from a sluggish housing market and jobs recovery.
Dismantling mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together guarantee approximately three-quarters of all new home loans, is turning out to be a complicated operation. On the one hand, Congress wants to shut down the agencies and get the government out of the mortgage business. On the other hand, it has to be done
When it comes to passing down an inheritance, most families think of money and tangible assets. But there’s another legacy that’s even more important to the preservation of families –the noneconomic one.
Typically, it’s not until after the financial paperwork, such as wills, trusts and family business agreements, is in place that families begin thinking about how they want their heritage, or identity, to be communicated to subsequent generations. But planning for this type of legacy can and should begin even earlier, giving multiple generations the opportunity to work together on the family story.
“More and more, families are recognizing the importance of family heritage,” says Susan Dsurney, family wealth adviser and CPA at GenSpring Family Offices.
More than 230,000 mortgages began the foreclosure process in January, a 28 percent increase from December.
Think you’ve experienced the pain of investment losses? Everything being relative, the net worth of Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, dropped an astounding $478.4 million in a day. As of March 2, his total net worth was $68.5 billion, making his one-day loss much less significant as it
At the beginning of the housing crash, it seemed as though luxury homes might be spared the worst of it. But the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices show that in many metro areas, prices are stabilizing among cheaper homes but still falling in the high-end real estate market.
So far, according to Smart Money
If you got rid of the outer trappings of wealth, would you gain inner wealth? One woman says yes, and is trying to convince others that backing away from what she calls “a greedy consumer society” provides a better quality of life and personal freedom.
Heidemarie Schwermer, a 69-year-old German woman, is putting her money where
Beginning April 1, borrowers will pay more for upfront mortgage insurance from the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA. Fees were last raised in April 2011 and are at the highest in the FHA’s history.
Premiums for the insurance will rise from 1 percent to 1.75 percent of the base loan. The FHA estimates the increase will
Would you say the rich or the poor are more likely to break the law while driving, support unethical behavior at work and even take candy from children? Turns out, it’s the rich, according to a series of seven experiments conducted by researchers and reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Perhaps it’s a
