Home sale prices in walkable neighborhoods nationwide rose in July by 2.3% year-over-year to a median of $343,900. On the other hand, median home price rose 4.3% to $312,100 for homes in car-dependent areas, according to a Redfin analysis. This has been a change in the recent past, when walkable neighborhoods were seeing bigger increases and more demand. “In the second half of 2018, …

Consumer sentiment among Floridians plummeted 6.7 points in August to 93.3 from a revised figure of 100 in July. The sharp decline is in line with the University of Michigan’s reading for the U.S., which fell by 8.6 points. The last time consumer sentiment dropped more than six points was in May 2015, and all five components of the full index declined. Current conditions …

The Wellington View Homeowners’ Association had hoped a judge would reverse a decision that will allow the nonprofit HomeSafe to build a group home for at-risk boys near its neighborhood. But on Wednesday, circuit court judges James Nutt, Donald Hafele and August Bonavita denied the HOA’s petition. “We are pleased that the judges ruled in our favor and are excited to move forward with …

 Nearly one in three adults over age 45 struggled to maintain housing costs over the past year, according to a new survey of more than 1,000 adults conducted by PropertyShark, a real estate website. Homeowners with lower incomes tended to report the highest housing costs burden, but researchers found the problem across all income levels. Among those earning $20,000 to $40,000 a year, 42% …

 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allocated $6.85 billion in Community Development Block Grant Mitigation funds to grantees recovering from qualifying 2015, 2016 and 2017 disasters. Florida is one of the nine states and five local communities that qualify if they adhere to rules HUD created. The total potential money coming into the state for mitigation efforts for 2016 and 2017 …

Younger homeowners more often say they rushed through the buying process and have regrets about their mortgage, likely resulting from the challenges young buyers face entering today’s expensive housing market. Still, homeowners of all ages are, for the most part, happy with their home purchases, a recent Zillow survey shows. The Zillow Housing Aspirations Report is a semiannual survey conducted by Ipsos of 10,000 …

A Richmond-area real estate agent is suing the Virginia Real Estate Board after being told she could not include Christian messages on her professional website and emails because of fair housing laws. In a lawsuit filed in Richmond Circuit Court, Hadassah Carter claims the anti-discrimination policy violated her rights to religious expression. Though she could have removed the material and continued working under extra …

Question: I got a great deal on a condo that the seller had bought at a foreclosure sale and cleaned up. I used my savings and did not take a mortgage. Now I am concerned that I did not get such a great deal because the condo association is demanding a lot of money. To make matters worse, I just got a letter from …

Sales of new U.S. homes fell a steep 12.8% in July, but the drop came after revisions to June sales showed the sales highest growth in 12 years. The Commerce Department said Friday that new homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 635,000 units. That’s down from a sharply revised upward rate of 728,000 in June. So far this year, sales have …

A proposed $248 million settlement has been filed in a decade-old federal court case over defective Chinese drywall blamed for damaging home appliances and sickening residents. The proposed settlement between property owners and Taishan Gypsum Co. was filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans on Tuesday. It comes nearly eight years after a major settlement in another case involving a different Chinese company, …