home ownership

Here's news from the business world and other money matters to watch out for Friday (last updated at 8:09 a.m. Eastern time): Economic Reports Affirm Slowing: Data released Thursday raised further questions about the robustness of the economic recovery, sending stocks lower on Wall Street. The...

A survey just out from Fannie Mae paints a picture of a post-recession America where the overwhelming majority of Americans--despite the real estate downturn and sub-prime mortgage-caused housing market crash--still want to own a home, but are far more cautious than they once were. Fannie Mae's...

The national home ownership rate fell to 66.6% in 2008, its lowest rate in six years. The home ownership rate peaked at 67.3% in 2006. That data comes from the American Community Survey, which was released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Here's what's so interesting about this data to me: Home...

It's time to buy a home! That's what I hear several times a week from friends, co-workers and commercials. I've heard the same prediction since I graduated four years ago and signed a lease on an apartment to share with my new wife. We've been living in the apartment ever since, and despite its...

Today, the U.S. Treasury Department is tapping into a $50 billion housing rescue fund in order to pay off some mortgage investors and cut monthly payments for millions of borrowers. Mortgage firms owning a small stake in second lien mortgages will receive a cash payment that will either ease or...

A native of Southern California, homeownership for me has always come with a caveat of "some day..." As in, some day, when Oprah plugs one of my books. Or some day, when I learn I'm really heir to the Pilsner beer fortune, or, some day, when I buy that winning lottery ticket, marry a surgeon, sell...

In the heady days of the housing bubble, it was often smarter to rent a home than it was to buy. That was because home values were so inflated that the monthly expenses of ownership were much, much higher than rental expenses. The only way for homeownership to make sense financially in some...

It is reported that home values have decreased 17% across the country. And I know they have decreased where I live, in Milwaukee -- so what gives with my taxes? They just continue to go up. We just received notice of a 14.5% increase for next year. Supposedly taxes are based on home values and our...

Earlier this week I was having lunch with a coworker, discussing the current financial situation and comparing cutbacks at home and in our various departments at work. While we were talking about issues facing people we knew he shared the account of a close friend who had recently begun to look for...

Even though I don't have nearly as much to lose in my retirement account as my elders, the sad state of our economy has still had an effect on my life plans, but not all for the worse. I share many of the same concerns as they do regarding the strength of our economy and the overall health of our...