Nearly half of Americans either have or hope to invest soon in smart home technology, a Coldwell Banker survey found. They probably don’t know that the smart home feature the survey found “most appealing” to homebuyers can be hacked.

Everyone knows the construction industry is facing a labor shortage. Some speculate a worsening of that shortage is imminent. But at least one person – Betsy Scott, director of the think tank Housing Innovation Alliance – believes there is a solution

The presidential election is mere months away, and so far the conversation on the campaign trail seems to be limited to wages, terrorism, crime and bickering. But what about housing? Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential pick, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, has

In a recent filing with the FCC, Google stated it was interested in testing a new high-speed wifi product – a spin-off of its much-ballyhooed Internet service “Fiber” – here in Chicago. And that could be a boon for Chicago real estate.

The statistics are hardly encouraging: student debt has more than tripled in the last 10 years; its serious delinquency rate is higher than any other form of debt, including mortgages and credit cards; it now totals $1.37 trillion, and

There are four major fears keeping Millennials from buying a home, according to a recent survey from NerdWallet: the fear of committing to a partner; the fear of inevitable home repairs; the fear of not having money for other expenses; and the fear of the

Realtor.com and Yelp have partnered to give consumers easier access to neighborhood trend data – and agents could benefit. “Deciding on a potential neighborhood is often the first step in the home buying process,” says Ryan O’Hara, chief executive officer

JD Power today named its annual home buyer/seller satisfaction award recipients, and in all four real estate consumer categories – first-time buyers, first-time sellers, repeat buyers, repeat sellers – Century 21 was the top pick; though, the brokerage tied once with

Fannie Mae introduced its HomeReady mortgage last year as an inexpensive lending option that allows borrowers to come in with as little as 3 percent down. Now it’s making “enhancements” to that option, and that could mean more affordable financing

President Obama recently signed into law the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016, a bipartisan bill loaded with fixes to existing HUD programs. In February, the bill, which amended the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 (among other HUD-modifying

On June 23, 2016, citizens of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. In the wake of the decision, the British pound fell to a 31-year low against the U.S. dollar, the euro dropped one percent, and U.S.

Americans are deeply pessimistic about economic mobility. By an overwhelming margin, they believe it is harder today to secure a middle-class lifestyle than it was for past generations. And a large majority continue to see the housing market in

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today proposed new updates to TRID intended to formalize guidance in the rule, and provide clarity and certainty. The point is to help facilitate compliance within the mortgage industry. “The Bureau’s rules are designed

One of the minds that brought us Uber is trying to change the face of real estate through a mobile app. The app, called Haus, is for buyers, sellers, and agents, and focuses on the offer process rather than home search.

Lots of interesting things happened this week in the world of real estate. Notable stories this week included a new 140-unit multifamily project coming to Chicago’s ‘Hipster Highway,’ a map of the numerous developments in the West Loop, and

By the end of 2016, the Department of Energy estimates 1 million homes will be equipped with a solar energy system. And still there is no definitive way to value those systems in appraisals. A new report from the