Pending home sales drop sharply in December, dampening 2026 outlook

Pending home sales drop sharply in December, dampening 2026 outlook

An “Open House” sign outside a home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, US, on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. Zak Bennett | Bloomberg | Getty Images Stagnant mortgage rates, falling housing supply and ongoing economic uncertainty weighed heavily on homebuyers in December. Pending home sales, a measure of signed contracts on existing homes, dropped 9.3% last … Read more

Democrat Khanna refloats bill to block investors from buying up homes after Trump proposal

Democrat Khanna refloats bill to block investors from buying up homes after Trump proposal

U.S. Representative Ro Khanna speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 18, 2025. Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna on Friday reintroduced a bill that would curb institutional investors from buying up housing,  leveraging a similar call made recently by President Donald Trump. Trump said … Read more

Mortgage refinance demand surges 40% higher after Trump post briefly tanks interest rates

Mortgage refinance demand surges 40% higher after Trump post briefly tanks interest rates

Homes in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, US, on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. Zak Bennett | Bloomberg | Getty Images Mortgage demand spiked markedly higher last week as consumers returned from the holidays to find overall lower interest rates and then a sharp rate drop Friday on news from the White House. President Donald Trump posted … Read more

Mortgage rates drop to lowest level in nearly 3 years as Trump orders buying of $200 billion in mortgage bonds

Mortgage rates drop to lowest level in nearly 3 years as Trump orders buying of 0 billion in mortgage bonds

Mortgage rates fell sharply on Friday, a day after President Donald Trump said on social media that he is instructing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds. “This will drive Mortgage Rates DOWN, monthly payments DOWN, and make the cost of owning a home more affordable,” he said … Read more

Hopes rise for Chinese property support ahead of key March meeting

Hopes rise for Chinese property support ahead of key March meeting

Real Estate Projects in Yantai, Shandong, China on January 5, 2026. Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images BEIJING — Chinese policymakers may be finally warming to the idea of tackling the country’s worsening real estate slump, raising expectations that stronger support measures could be coming later this year. The Communist Party’s official journal Qiushi, which means “seeking truth,” kicked … Read more

Determined Engineering Student Builds Prototype Modular Home to Help Homelessness

Determined Engineering Student Builds Prototype Modular Home to Help Homelessness

Ribal Zebian and his modular home on stage at a demonstration – credit, supplied by Mr Zebian A driven Ontario teen is determined to end homelessness in his city, and has designed a modular tiny home system to tackle the problem. Ribal Zebian is only 18, but he’s wasted no time in finding his purpose. … Read more

First Nation Innovates Prefabricated Housing System from Locally-Sourced Wood

First Nation Innovates Prefabricated Housing System from Locally-Sourced Wood

A rendering of Timber House from the Nak’adzli Development Corporation – credit, released Prefabricated housing holds the potential to erect both economic opportunities and affordable housing in Canada’s far northwest, tribal leaders believe. Using low-quality timber sourced locally, the Nak’adzli Whuton, a first nation located near Fort St. James in British Columbia, are creating mass … Read more

Home prices are getting slightly more affordable, but down payments are still holding buyers back

Home prices are getting slightly more affordable, but down payments are still holding buyers back

Mortgage rates are lower, home prices are easing, and there is more supply on the market for sale. All of that adds up to improved affordability for today’s homebuyers. Saving for a down payment, however, is still the biggest hurdle for first-time buyers. Prices nationally are basically flat compared with where they were a year … Read more

3 positive signals for Home Depot — and its shareholders — heading into 2026

3 positive signals for Home Depot — and its shareholders — heading into 2026

The stars look like they’re finally aligning in 2026 for Home Depot — one of seven out-of-favor portfolio stocks that Jim Cramer has called a buy. Although shares are down nearly 11% year-to-date, three recent developments point toward a recovery for the home improvement retailer. 1. November’s cooler-than-expected consumer price index (CPI) is helping the … Read more

November home sales struggle as supply stalls

November home sales struggle as supply stalls

High home prices, stubbornly high mortgage rates and now less supply are all weighing on potential homebuyers. Sales of previously owned homes rose just 0.5% in November from October and were 1% lower than November 2024, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales came in at an annualized rate of 4.13 million units. This … Read more