New Houses Keep Getting Smaller, With the Median New Single Family Home Now Measuring Just 2,176 Square Feet as Builders Chase Affordability

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Modern suburban house with a green lawn and trees

The median new single-family home in America now measures 2,176 square feet, according to NAHB’s analysis of Census Bureau construction data — smaller than the homes builders were putting up back in 2010, and nearly 550 square feet below the all-time peak. Builders aren’t shrinking floor plans because Americans suddenly want less space. They’re shrinking … Read more

Ninety Two Percent of Homeowners Who Hired a Contractor This Year Ended Up Paying More Than They Planned, With a Third Blowing Past Budget by 30%

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Two workers examining blueprints inside a building under construction, showcasing teamwork.

Ninety-two percent of homeowners who hired a professional for a home project this year finished at or above their original budget, according to Angi’s 2026 State of Home Spending Pulse survey. Dig into that number and it gets more uncomfortable: of the homeowners who went over their estimate, 43% blew past what they were originally … Read more

Federal Forecasters Just Lowered the Odds of an Active Hurricane Season to Just 5 Percent, but Homeowners Along the Coast Are Told Not to Relax

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A powerful storm looms over a deserted beach, creating a dramatic skyscape.

  NOAA has lowered the odds of an active 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, putting the chance of an above-normal season at just 5% in its updated outlook released August 6, 2026. Forecasters still expect 7 to 13 named storms and 2 to 6 hurricanes before the season ends, and they’re telling homeowners along the coast … Read more

Millions of Shield Shaped Stink Bugs Are Squeezing Through Cracks Around Windows, Siding and Chimneys Right as Fall Home Invasion Season Begins

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A close up of a bug on the ground

Stink bugs can squeeze through gaps you’d swear were too small for anything with legs. Researchers cited by University of Kentucky entomologists found that roughly half of adult brown marmorated stink bugs made it through standard quarter-inch window screening, and only mesh finer than a sixth of an inch kept them out reliably. That detail … Read more

Builder Confidence in the Housing Market Has Now Stayed Below Neutral for Sixteen Straight Months, With More Than a Third of Builders Still Cutting Prices to Sell

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gray wooden house

Builder confidence in the U.S. housing market posted a reading of just 35 out of 100 in August, barely moved from July, marking the sixteenth straight month the index has stayed below the neutral 50-point mark, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. More than a third of builders, 35%, cut prices in August … Read more

Buying a Home Just Got a Little Less Painful for the First Time in Over a Year as a Widely Tracked Affordability Score Jumped Five Full Points

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a house with a tree in front of it

Home buying got measurably less brutal in July. The National Association of Realtors’ Housing Affordability Index climbed to 103.3, up five full points from 98.3 a year earlier, even as the average 30-year mortgage rate held above 6.5%. It’s the kind of year-over-year gain the index hasn’t produced in more than a year. Key Points … Read more

Seven Hundred Electric Blankets Bought on Amazon Are Smoking, Melting and Burning Through Their Fabric as Cold Nights Start Arriving Nationwide

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A woman peacefully sleeping on her side in a cozy, sunlit bedroom with decorative elements.

  The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning on July 16, 2026, telling shoppers to stop using Melinora electric heated blankets immediately after five reports of the blankets smoking, melting, or burning through their own fabric. One of those incidents left a person with a documented burn injury. Only about 700 of the … Read more

Salem Massachusetts Homes Now Average More Than 600,000 Dollars, and the Witch Trial Town Tops a New Ranking of American Places With Spooky Charm

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white and gray wooden house near green trees under white clouds during daytime

  Salem, Massachusetts homes now sell for an average of $607,354, according to Zillow’s newest ranking of American towns with the strongest Halloween identity — more than double what buyers pay in New Orleans’ famously haunted French Quarter, and still nearly $370,000 less than the priciest town on the list. Zillow named 13 towns this … Read more

Ninety Thousand Milwaukee Chainsaws Sold at Home Depot Are Being Recalled After Their Safety Brake Failed and Sliced Open a Customer’s Finger

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a chainsaw sitting on top of a log in the snow

  About 90,860 Milwaukee M18 FUEL chainsaws sold at Home Depot are being recalled after the safety brake that’s supposed to stop a spinning chain within a fraction of a second failed at least twice, in one case badly enough to slice open a customer’s finger. The recall, announced by Milwaukee Tool with the Consumer … Read more

Roughly 5,500 Power Strips Sold on Amazon for Under 30 Dollars Are Being Recalled After Two of Them Sparked and Melted in Customers’ Homes

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white power strip

  About 5,543 CCCEI-brand power strips sold on Amazon for under $30 are being recalled after two of them sparked and melted inside customers’ homes — a small number of reported incidents, but a genuinely unnerving one, given how ordinary an unmarked black power strip looks sitting behind a desk, TV stand, or nightstand where … Read more