WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates dropped below 4 percent last week for the first time since November, just as the crucial spring selling season gets under way. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3.97 percent from 4.08 percent a week earlier; in mid-March, the FRM averaged 4.3 percent. The drop could encourage
CHICAGO – April 20, 2017 – Appraisal Institute research finds that homeowners who want a remodeling project to return as much money as possible at closing should opt for smaller projects. A limited kitchen redo, for example, returns a higher percentage of the cost. “The latest research shows that home improvements with a relatively low
TAMPA — You’ve heard of tiny houses. Now Tampa could become one of the first places in Florida to have tiny apartments. Urban Core Holdings, LLC is under contract to buy a 12-story downtown office building and convert the top eight floors into micro-apartments. Each would have a kitchen with a two-burner stove top, microwave
   This home in Land O’ Lakes sold for $1.125 million in March, making it Pasco County’s top sale of the month. [Courtesy of Tom Carr/Christopher Williams] This gulf-front home in Belleair Shore sold for $4.809 million in March, making it Pinellas County’s top sale of the month. [Courtesy of Cary John]  This home in
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – April 12, 2017 – Millennials who bought a home are generally happy about it. Bank of America’s second annual Homebuyer Insights Report finds that millennials who have taken the plunge into homeownership buy the house they can afford now and plan to buy their ideal home later. A large majority (68 percent)
NEW YORK – April 12, 2017 – Continued economic improvement should give first-time homebuyers the boost they need to enter the market. In fact, about three in five independent mortgage lenders (59 percent) in a recent survey predict an increase in first-time homebuyers in 2017. The prediction comes from The Lenders One Cooperative, a national
Tampa developers are reviving plans for Del Villar, a long-dead Channel district condominium tower. Mercury Advisors, the group behind the $90 million Channel Club— a Publix Super Markets Inc. store and 21-story apartment tower under construction on East Twiggs Street — are planning a 36-story condo tower at the corner of East Whiting Street and
With the opening of the Opal Sands and Wyndham resorts on Clearwater Beach in the last 14 months, the Tampa Bay area gained 678 new hotel rooms. Sound impressive? Wait until you see what’s coming. Over the next few years, at least 27 new hotels with a total of 4,000 rooms are expected to start
Hotel developers, Lifsey Real Estate & Holdings Inc. and Pinnacle Hotel Management, held a ground breaking ceremony Thursday to celebrate the start of construction on a new hotel called Current, an Autograph Collection Hotel by Marriott, located at 2500 North Rocky Point Dr., in Tampa.   TAMPA — Officials broke ground on a 10-story hotel
Diana Olick | @DianaOlick Monday, 27 Mar 2017 | 1:30 PM ETCNBC.com Sluggish housing recovery takes a bite out of the economy  Monday, 27 Mar 2017 | 8:23 AM ET | 03:23 Housing remains in high demand in most of the nation, but the housing recovery looks increasingly uneven, depending on location. Whether buyers are shopping