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U.S. consumers have purchased homes at record levels as low mortgage rates encourage demand. U.S. home ownership rose to 67.9 percent in the second quarter, the highest level in more than 10 years, according to the Commerce Department. Eric Lipar, LGI Homes CEO and chairman, join “Closing Bell” to discuss. 05:06 2 minutes ago

A for sale sign is seen near a house for sale in South Pasadena, California on April 24, 2020. Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images Record low mortgage rates are clearly not as impressive as they used to be. Even with another new low set last week, mortgage application volume decreased 5.1% from

Houses on Kelly Street in Kentish Town, London. Yui Mok | PA Images | Getty Images The U.K. government has released details of how tradespeople can get involved in its £2 billion ($2.60 billion) “green homes grant” initiative. Announced in July, the scheme will enable landlords and homeowners in England to apply for vouchers to

The first read on home prices in June is proving just how resilient the housing market has been in the face of an ongoing economic disaster. Strong demand for housing, much of it pushed by the coronavirus pandemic itself, is driving prices higher faster, but forecasters say that may not last. Nationally, home prices increased

Courtney Davis Source: Courtney Davis In a few weeks, Courtney Davis will give birth to her first child, a son, Bentli Jaymes. In the meantime, she’s afraid that she won’t have a home to bring him back to.  “My biggest concern is becoming homeless right now,” Davis, 23, said. Without an extension of a federal

Vodafone’s heat-detection camera captures a person walking into an office building. Vodafone As employers around the world figure out how best to return workers to the office, tech companies are hoping that gadgets and software could help the process. The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdowns have left offices around the world empty. And while there’s

Couple buying a new house. PeopleImages | Getty Images A Roth individual retirement account is often cited as a way to save for your golden years. It could  also help you buy a house. In a nutshell, up to $10,000 in earnings can be withdrawn from such an account — free of both taxes and

The U.S. economy will face great risk if lawmakers do not step up and stave off a looming, far-reaching eviction crisis, an economist with mortgage aggregator LendingTree told CNBC on Friday. With eviction moratoriums lifting across the country, landlords could eventually default on mortgages and the coronavirus pandemic could worsen in the country if tens

Protesters gather at a July 22 rally in Boston in support of legislation to block evictions in Massachusetts for up to a year. Boston Globe | Boston Globe | Getty Images If you’re facing eviction during the pandemic, you’re definitely not alone.  Up to 40 million Americans may lose their homes in this downturn, four times the

The luxury retail market in mainland China has been “very, very strong” from April to July and is likely to hold up well for the rest of the year as long as there is no strong resurgence of the coronavirus, says Ronnie Chan, chairman of Hang Lung Group and its subsidiary Hang Lung Properties. 02:26

Timothy Young and his family Source: Timothy Young On Monday, July 27, two days after the eviction moratorium in Maryland expired, Timothy Young, his wife, Tammy, and their two children, Hermione, 8, and Negan, 2, scrambled to move out of their duplex. They’d received their notice to vacate.  Young estimates that he’s applied to more

Introduction Creating a financially secure life can feel like a daunting task that requires the skills of expert mapmaker and GPS programmer. You need to figure out where you are today and where you want to get to. As if that’s not a big enough lift, you’re then in charge of finding the best route

US President Donald Trump speaks as he departs the White House in Washington, DC, on July 29, 2020 en route to Texas. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday made one of his most overt appeals so far in the campaign to white, suburban voters, saying in a

People walk past the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington D.C., the United States, May 21, 2020. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday said the COVID-19-induced economic downturn has inflicted acute pain across the country, noting that the burden is not evenly spread. Ting Shen | Xinhua via Getty Images Some borrowers benefit

A sale pending sign is posted in front of a home for sale in San Anselmo, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Pending home sales continued to climb in June, rising 16.6% monthly since May, and rising 6.3% since June 2019, according to the National Association of Realtors. This beats the expectation for the monthly

Real estate agents leave a home for sale during a broker open house in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Home prices continued to rise in May, albeit at a slightly slower pace than they did in April — likely due to the brief but sharp slowdown in home sales as the coronavirus

A family is evicted from their Longmont, Colorado, home in September 2011. John Moore | Getty Images News | Getty Images An unprecedented eviction crisis will soon hit the U.S.  On Friday, the federal moratorium on evictions in properties with federally backed mortgages and for tenants who receive government-assisted housing expired. The Urban Institute estimated that provision

The CEO of Bloomin’ Brands, the parent company of restaurant chains such as Outback Steakhouse and Bonefish Grill, told CNBC on Friday that it is not experiencing rising food costs, rather that beef and seafood costs have “been an opportunity” during the pandemic.  “There was some concern about the supply chain. That did not materialize like we

Blake Nissen | The Boston Globe via Getty Images If there is an upside to all the pandemic-induced uncertainty in the economy, it’s the rock-bottom mortgage rate bonus for homeowners and homebuyers. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed just fell to another record low — 2.87%, according to Mortgage News Daily. That is

A beachfront residence is seen in East Hampton, New York. Jeffrey Basinger | Reuters Home prices in the Hamptons hit new records as wealthy New Yorkers fled the Covid-19 troubles of the city for the beach, according to a new report. The median price of a single-family home in the Hamptons reached $1.1 million in

View from a luxury rental at West Half, overlooking Nationals Park, Washington, D.C. Pat Pugliese | CNBC WASHINGTON — When Dr. Anthony Fauci throws out the ceremonial first pitch of this truncated baseball season Thursday night, players, coaches and umpires will see it in person at Nationals Park. But no fans will be in attendance,

Peopleimages | E+ | Getty Images Financing a home might be more accessible than you think. You’ve probably heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two entities created by Congress that buy and guarantee mortgages through the secondary mortgage market to expand opportunities for homeownership and affordable rental housing. “Those are the biggest chunk [of home

A realtor, at right, shows prospective buyers a property in Newport Beach, California. Jamie Rector | Bloomberg | Getty Images Sales of existing homes jumped nearly 21% in June compared with May, according to the National Association of Realtors. It was the largest monthly gain since the Realtors began tracking the data in 1968 and

Getty Images Google on Wednesday updated its search engine with new tools for people shopping for mortgages, including a calculator, recent average mortgage rates and key terms homebuyers may need to know during the mortgage shopping process. Google teamed up with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to launch the new tools because it found that

Despite the coroanvirus pandemic, home sales are up.  If you were thinking of taking advantage of low mortgage rates yourself, first make sure you know what you can afford.  “When we first decide to purchase a home, we get really excited about that ideal home,” said Winnie Sun, co-founder and managing director of Irvine, California-based Sun Group

A house for rent in Corona Del Mar, California. Scott Mlyn | CNBC  Back in February, just before the coronavirus hit the U.S. economy with a vengeance, rent growth for single-family homes had hit its highest pace in four years. Barely three months later, that growth plummeted to a decade low. Single-family rents grew just

Kevin O’Leary told CNBC on Tuesday the U.S. government should not establish more relief programs for businesses impacted by the coronavirus and instead allow market forces decide which companies survive.  “As a result of the pandemic and people’s changes in purchase behavior, there is a new America emerging and the only way to feel that out

Shelly Chapman | Moment | Getty Images Things have been tough for many Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s about to get worse, personal finance expert Suze Orman warns. The virus is continuing to spread across the country, with nearly 3.8 million cases and more than 140,000 deaths now being reported. At the same

A real estate brokerage CEO told CNBC on Monday that flexibility and understanding is necessary as concerns rise over the possibility of a wave of evictions linked to economic devastation from the coronavirus.  “We have to apply a little bit of humanity in this environment because we are all in this storm, but not everybody

Rob Daly | OJO Images | Getty Images Households aren’t too happy with the U.S. consumer financial ecosystem these days, a report suggests. Complaints made to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were up 50% from March through June this year compared with the same time period in 2019, according to research from consumer advocacy