Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Houses Driving Renewed Buyer Interest in Cities

Thu, 04 March 2021  |  housing real estate 

Houses, not condos, are driving a renewed buying interest in cities according to a new report from Redfin. The median home-sale price in urban areas nationwide rose 15.9% year over year to $292,263 in the four weeks ending February 21. This compared with a 15.5% increase to $332,291 for homes in suburban neighborhoods and a 14.3% increase to $284,593 for those in rural neighborhoods.

Although price growth is just slightly higher for homes in urban areas than the two other neighborhood types, it marks the first time since March 2020 that home-price growth in urban areas has surpa... Read More

The Real Estate Market Continues to Tighten

Fri, 26 February 2021  |  real estate 

Redfin, the digital real estate brokerage, reported that median home sale prices increased 15% year over year to $321,250 for the period ending February 21. Asking prices of newly listed homes hit a new all-time high of $343,961, up 11% from the same time a year ago. Pending home sales were up 18% year over year. During the single week ending February 21, pending sales were down 9% from two weeks prior. Over the same period in 2020, pending sales were up 7%. It's likely that last week's massive winter storm impacted housing market activity in many parts of the country.

Additio... Read More

Boomers Have Different Expectations of International E-Commerce Than Younger Consumers

Fri, 26 February 2021  |  retail global 

Global e-commerce shoppers who are baby boomers have different expectations than younger groups when purchasing online from international brands, according to Global Voices 2021: Cross-Border Shopper Insights, a new global survey from eShopWorld, a leading cross-border e-commerce company. Unlike Gen Zers, who might prioritize the latest buy now, pay later payment options when shopping online internationally, baby boomers tend to look for fundamental best practices like the use of local language and currency and clear refund policies.

“Our data show that baby boomers a... Read More

Will Real Estate Commissions Fall?

Thu, 25 February 2021  |  housing 

Online real estate broker Redfin released new data showing that real estate commissions have changed little since 2012. Redfin's analysis found the typical U.S. home seller in 2020 paid the brokerage representing the buyer a commission equal to 2.7% of the sale price—down only slightly from 2.8% in 2012. However, Redfin expects fees will likely decline in 2021 and beyond as data on agent commissions becomes widely available for the first time.

Real estate websites are now allowed to publish commission rates that homesellers offer to the broker who brings a buyer as the resul... Read More

Black Americans Continue to Trail Their White Counterparts in Building Wealth

Thu, 25 February 2021  |  investing demographics 

The results of the 2020 Ariel-Schwab Black Investor Survey reveal that Black Americans are not benefitting from stock market growth at the same rate as white Americans at similar income levels. The deep-rooted gap in participation between the groups persists, with 55 percent of Black Americans and 71 percent of white Americans reporting stock market investments. This disparity, compounded over time, means that middle-class Black Americans will have less money saved for retirement and less wealth to pass onto the next generation than their white peers.

For more than 20 years, the... Read More

Consumers Split On Proactive Advice From Their Financial Institutions

Tue, 23 February 2021  |  advice banking 

New research released by NTT DATA found that global consumers are divided on their desire for proactive advice from their financial institutions. While there an opportunity for financial institutions to harness the power of AI to build more meaningful connections and experiences with some customers, roughly half don't desire additional advice.

Highlights of the study included:

• 53% of customers say they would like their financial institution (FI) to proactively send them reminders on upcoming major payments
• 49% of customers want their FI to anticipate... Read More
  
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