Real Estate Trends

August 14, 2025Selling a house can prove a challenging process if your property stays on the market longer than you’d like or sells at a loss. Having access to high-quality real estate professionals in your area can help improve your experience, but there are some cities where selling a house is just a bit easier than others.… read more…

January 30, 2020If you’re thinking about investing in a beach town property – whether to rent out or use as a vacation home for yourself – you might quickly realize that not every city by the ocean may be the right fit. With lots of factors to consider, such as mortgage payments, property taxes and amount of… read more…

August 9, 2025U.S. home prices peaked in the years leading up to the Great Recession and fell dramatically when the housing bubble burst. In fact, national data from the House Price Index (HPI) shows that home prices dropped by 33% between April 2006 and March 2011. Though the economy has broadly recovered since then, home prices have not… read more…

December 16, 2019Finding steady income in a reliable sector is an important consideration for where Americans decide to put down roots and take out a mortgage. The manufacturing industry, one such robust sector, accounts for 8% of the U.S. workforce. Those 12.8 million employees are scattered nationwide, the percentage of the local workforce consisting of manufacturing workers… read more…

December 4, 2019When choosing where in the U.S. to settle down and take out a mortgage, people consider a variety of factors like housing costs, cost of living, safety and dining and entertainment options. It is possible to measure livability by evaluating how cities rank on these fronts. Since U.S. city environments can vary drastically, SmartAsset ran… read more…

August 14, 2025Boomtowns, characterized by prosperity and robust development, are often desirable places to put down roots and take out a mortgage. Economic growth provides employment opportunities and draws new residents. Some places, however, are growing faster than others. That’s why SmartAsset decided to find the cities in America where populations and job opportunities are rising rapidly. In… read more…

November 19, 2019In 2018, the median household income in the U.S. was $61,937 while the median home value was $229,700. But because median household incomes and home values differ greatly by place, home affordability can vary drastically. With this in mind, SmartAsset decided to take a closer look at home affordability in the U.S. To find where… read more…

November 14, 2019Safety is often at the top of most people’s list when they’re picking a place to live. Choosing the right city allows them the peace of mind to work and raise a family. Given those considerations, SmartAsset decided to find the safest cities in America. In order to uncover the safest cities in the U.S.,… read more…

November 18, 2019The middle class is feeling the squeeze, as financial gains for this cohort have not kept pace with those of upper-income households. The median income of upper-income households in 1970 was 2.2 times the income of middle-income households, but by 2016, that ratio had increased to 2.4, according to Pew Research Center. Middle class families, who… read more…

November 14, 2019According to a recent report from the National Council of Nonprofits, U.S. nonprofits employ more than 10% of the total private workforce in the U.S., a higher percentage than in many other industries, including construction, transportation and finance. All told, of the 122 million workers employed by private establishments in America in 2017, almost 12.5… read more…

January 7, 2020Lack of investment in infrastructure within a state can have tangible effects on its residents’ finances. The American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2016 report “Failure to Act” quantifies these effects, stating that on a national level, American families lose $3,400 in disposable income every year – $9 a day – due to infrastructure deficiencies, which… read more…

October 17, 2019State energy efficiency and renewable energy programs may produce significant benefits for residents including lower fuel and electricity costs, increased grid reliability, better air quality and more job opportunities, according to a 2018 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report called “Quantifying the Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.” Some states have transitioned to clean energy… read more…

August 29, 2019Family and general practitioners cover the primary care needs of many people in the U.S. and generally serve as the first point of contact for patients seeking medical help. While family and general practitioners focus on a wide range of preventative health measures such as healthy eating and regular exercise, they also diagnose and treat… read more…

August 21, 2019There comes a time in most people’s lives when they realize it is time to ditch the fifth-floor walkup studio apartment and move into a home big enough to raise a family in. You have to balance finding a home with enough room to accommodate your growing family, with living someplace close to employment and… read more…

August 1, 2019Teachers are some of the most important people in our society, educating young people and molding the leaders of tomorrow. While being a teacher is certainly rewarding, it isn’t always the most lucrative of professions. But various considerations such as housing costs, income and union support can make certain metro areas more attractive than others… read more…

July 29, 2019For those who don’t own a house, rent is one of the most important expenses to account for in a household budget. Keeping your rent-to-income ratio at a reasonable level allows you to use your money for other things, like saving for retirement and stockpiling enough cash to make a mortgage down payment. But because… read more…

March 18, 2023Editor’s Note: This study was originally published in July 2019. When buying a home, there are a lot of considerations to weigh. One of them is how the value of your home is likely to change in the years you… read more…

May 27, 2023Real estate agents are paid on commission. The median gross income earned by real estate agents and brokers was $39,800 in 2017, according to the National Association of Realtors. The main source of that income comes from commissions on real estate… read more…

August 13, 2025Sometimes it feels like a good deal is hard to find, whether you’re buying a car or going out to dinner. That doesn’t change when you are considering where to live. Some towns just give you more bang for your buck, from the quality of life you’ll experience to the living costs you’ll incur. And… read more…

June 12, 2019Tech jobs are in high demand across the country. The positions pay well, the companies often offer great benefits and your work helps to create products and services that run the world. While you might think that you have to live in New York or the Bay Area to work in tech, there are actually… read more…

October 9, 2019Owning a home is a big milestone for many. Despite the costs and maintenance associated with homeownership, it can represent security, achievement and success. There are some states, though, where it is better to own a home than in others. Things like value-to-income ratios, foreclosure rates and the average cost of owning a home all… read more…

May 16, 2019Living the American Dream can mean different things to different people when it comes to their material situation. For some, it might mean a white picket fence. For others, it might mean a gilded penthouse high above a big city. Generally, though, most people agree that the American Dream is about living a full and… read more…

October 31, 2018Tech jobs are some of the hottest in the country. And the increasingly available opportunities to work in tech deliver high salaries, to boot. But because some of the traditional tech hubs are clustered in the cities with the highest cost of living, like New York or San Francisco, that tech pay may not always… read more…

October 17, 2018One of the most important decisions young families make is deciding where to raise their children. Families need to balance priorities like finding a city where they can get an affordable mortgage and living somewhere with access to first-class public schools. Below we look at these and other factors to rank the best cities for children.… read more…

September 6, 2018Most people are faced with a trade-off when choosing where to live. You could move closer to the city center where most of the jobs are but face a more expensive mortgage and more cramped housing options or move outside of the city and enjoy more space but endure a longer commute. For every city and… read more…