Homeowners Are Trading In Traditional Front Porches for a Wraparound Design Feature That’s Reshaping New-Build Curb Appeal Nationwide, Builder Survey Data Shows, and Buyers Are Paying Extra for It

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New-build home with a full wraparound front porch and rocking chairs

Front porches never really went away, but the modest stoop that got tacked onto so many production homes in the 1990s and 2000s is losing ground to something bigger. Builders and architects say more buyers are asking for a porch that continues around the side of the house instead of stopping at the front door … Read more

Mortgage Rates Just Settled at 6.76 Percent in Freddie Mac’s Newest Weekly Survey, and Economists Say That Exact Number Is Now Deciding Who Can Afford to Move and Who Genuinely Can’t

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Calculator with keys and real estate documents symbolizes home buying finances.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage settled at 6.76% this week, according to Freddie Mac’s newest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, up from 6.71% the week before. It’s a small weekly move on paper — five hundredths of a percentage point — but it lands at a number that’s now doing a lot of … Read more

Home Prices Are Now Projected to Drop in Twenty Two Major US Cities Within the Next Year, Fresh September Data Shows, and the Steepest Falls Are Hitting the Markets That Boomed the Hardest

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Florida suburban neighborhood with pools and palm trees

Home prices are projected to fall in 22 of the country’s 100 largest cities over the next year, and the sharpest drops are landing squarely on the metros that boomed the hardest during the pandemic. A widely cited Realtor.com analysis, reported by CBS News, puts Cape Coral and Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the top of … Read more

Nearly Four in Ten Kids Hurt in Car Crashes Weren’t Buckled Into Anything at All, Ohio State Researchers Found, and Moving Them to a Seatbelt Too Soon Was the Single Biggest Mistake Parents Made

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a car that has crashed into another car

Thirty-nine percent of children injured in car crashes were wearing no restraint whatsoever at the time of the collision, and another 19% were using a restraint that didn’t match their age, height, or weight, according to a new study out of Ohio State University. The research, published in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention and covered … Read more

Typical American Mortgage Payment Just Hit $2,641 a Month, Its Highest Point in 14 Months, and Redfin Says Falling Rates Aren’t Actually Why Housing Costs Keep Climbing Anyway

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Photorealistic editorial photo of a small suburban American starter home with a mortgage paperwork and calculator laid on a porch table in the foreground, warm afternoon light, documentary real estate finance journalism style, no logos or readable text on documents.

The typical U.S. household is now paying $2,641 a month on their mortgage, the highest monthly payment in 14 months, according to a new Redfin housing market update. What makes the number notable isn’t just its size — it’s that mortgage rates actually improved over the same stretch, which normally would have pushed payments down … Read more

August Just Delivered the Weakest Month for Home Sales in More Than a Decade, and Realtors’ Own Numbers Show 4.9 Months of Unsold Homes Now Piling Up From Coast to Coast

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Photorealistic editorial real estate photo of a row of American suburban houses with 'for sale' yard signs, overcast neutral lighting, documentary housing market journalism style, no readable text or logos on signs.

Existing-home sales fell 2.0% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million, the slowest pace for the month in more than ten years, according to the National Association of Realtors’ latest report. Sales are also down 1.2% from a year ago, and the number of homes sitting unsold has climbed to its … Read more

Cottagecore Kitchens Loaded With Open Shelving and Vintage Hardware Are Quietly Overtaking the All-White Look That Ruled Kitchen Design for an Entire Decade, Designer Survey Data Shows Clearly

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Cottagecore kitchen with open shelving and vintage brass hardware

For most of the last decade, the safe answer to “what color should we paint the kitchen cabinets” was white. Bright, all-white kitchens dominated renovation photos, real estate listings, and paint store displays alike. That streak may have quietly ended: in Houzz’s 2026 Kitchen Trends Study, wood-toned cabinets edged out white for the first time, … Read more

One Children’s Loungewear Brand Just Got Recalled for Violating Federal Flammability Rules, and Regulators Say More Than Twelve Thousand Sets Already Reached Families’ Homes Nationwide

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a little boy that is sitting on a wall

Sweet Cubby has recalled approximately 12,461 children’s loungewear sets after federal regulators determined the two-piece sets violate the mandatory federal flammability standard for children’s sleepwear, creating a risk of serious burn injuries or death. The sets were sold nationwide on SHEIN.com between June 2025 and May 2026, meaning tens of thousands of the garments have … Read more

Vertical Gardens Growing Straight Up Exterior Walls Are Becoming the Most Requested Feature Among High-End Landscaping Clients Nationwide, Industry Survey Data Shows, and Small Yards Gain the Most

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Vertical garden living wall covering the exterior wall of a home

Landscaping crews are hearing a request that would have sounded odd a decade ago: skip the flower bed and put the garden on the wall instead. Vertical gardens — modular panels of living plants mounted to fences, retaining walls, and the exterior siding of the house itself — have moved out of hotel lobbies and … Read more

Homes Sitting Near an AI Data Center Are Now Worth $431,750 on Average, Nearly Two and a Half Times What Everywhere Else in America Is Selling For, a Brand-New Realtor Report Reveals

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Editorial photorealistic wide shot of a suburban American residential street at golden hour, with a large modern data center building with server hum-cooling units visible in the background beyond a row of houses. No visible brand names or logos. Documentary real-estate photography style, natural light, slightly desaturated tones.

Homes sitting in counties with the heaviest concentration of AI data centers now carry a median value of $431,750 — nearly two and a half times the $174,500 median in counties with no data centers at all, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors. The gap is real, but it comes … Read more