If there’s one thing the impending back-to-school season makes clear, it’s that the cost of higher education in the U.S. is nerve-racking. The average tuition and fees for the 2021 to 2022 school year is $10,338 at an in-state public college, $22,698 at an out-of-state and $38,185 at a private school, according to U.S. News data.

Based on ...Read more

Home ownership has reached a milestone in the U.S.

Nearly half of mortgaged properties were considered equity-rich in the second quarter — meaning owners had at least 50% in home equity. This marked the ninth straight quarterly rise, fueled by soaring house valuations in the pandemic era and an increase in down payments by recent buyers, ...Read more

With so much attention fixed on soaring prices for gasoline and groceries, one can almost overlook the fact that we’re also enduring an affordable housing crisis. The question is, why?

Spanning the pandemic era from February 2020 through May 2022, home prices soared 43.5%. Over the past 12 months, home prices are up 19.7%, while residential ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Just when we thought the real estate market had cooled, along comes evidence that in the land of make-believe, there is no ceiling.

My colleagues Roger Vincent and Andrea Chang have reported in the last few days that even the humble condominium, which once was sort of like a starter house on training wheels, is going for ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Out-of-state real estate investors and homebuyers would pay a special tax under a state senator’s plan designed to tackle sky-high rents pricing tenants out of Orange County.

Sen. Randolph Bracy, who is running for U.S. Congress, unveiled a proposal Tuesday he intends to submit at the next Orange County Commission meeting on...Read more

There’s no dispute that the cost of consumer goods is soaring. The U.S. inflation rate rose 9.1 percent for the 12 months ending June 2022. With rising prices across many sectors, the prospect of shopping for your child’s school items can be daunting. What was once economical may now be expensive.

To take the edge off, look for your state�...Read more

EUGENE, Ore. — As a boy in the late 1950s, Terry McDonald watched as workers built an 80,000 square-foot manufacturing plant in an industrial neighborhood on the west side of Eugene.

Long after childhood, McDonald felt an affinity for the factory, where American Steel once fabricated heavy-duty logging equipment until the timber industry ...Read more

Out-of-state real estate investors and homebuyers would pay a special tax under a state senator’s plan designed to tackle sky-high rents pricing tenants out of Orange County.

Sen. Randolph Bracy, who is running for U.S. Congress, unveiled a proposal Tuesday he intends to submit at the next Orange County Commission meeting on Aug. 9.

“I ...Read more

A mini bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid, with its signature blue color and cute duck imagery, doesn’t raise many eyebrows. To notice its secret, you’d have to squint: the bottle contains 6.5 fluid ounces, down half an ounce from its 7-ounce predecessor. But the price point is the same.

It’s just one of many recent examples of “...Read more

Dear Liz: I have a credit card issue that I’ve not been able to resolve and hope that you can provide some helpful suggestions. I am a debt-free senior. I owe nothing on my house or vehicles and I pay off my one credit card each month. I’ve no missing payments on utilities.

My credit card reduced my credit limit last year saying that my ...Read more

Sky-high towers as tall as 500 feet could start cropping up all over Fort Lauderdale, critics fear.

It could happen if a controversial proposal goes through that would raise the height cap to 500 feet on projects that get special zoning. The new ordinance would apply citywide, not just in high-rise-friendly downtown, where zoning already ...Read more

Fifty-nine-year-old Danzell Madison spent 11 months living out of hotel rooms or sleeping on couches at friend’s homes as she tried to find a place to live in South Florida.

Madison, an outreach coordinator with the Lord’s Place, a nonprofit that actually addresses homelessness in West Palm Beach, never expected to find herself without a ...Read more

Dear Liz: I recently obtained copies of my credit reports from the three major credit bureaus and discovered my brother’s home address listed in the personal information section. I am extremely concerned about how and why this happened since I have never lived with my brother.

This brother is the executor of our father’s estate, and the ...Read more

Home buyers have had to accept that mortgage rates probably won’t drop back down to record lows anytime soon.

The average 30-year fixed rate was 5.3% as of Thursday, according to the government-backed mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. That’s up from 2.8% a year ago.

Because of higher mortgage rates and still-rising home prices, fewer aspiring ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Nearly five dozen Florida companies have submitted plans to tap into a $2 billion taxpayer-financed plan designed to shore up the struggling property insurance industry that would only save homeowners about 1% to 3% on their annual premiums.

That would barely make a dent in the double-digit increases in premiums millions ...Read more

Rising tuition costs, increasing student loan interest rates and a higher cost of living in the U.S. has left potential college students questioning the value of a college degree. Many students regret how much student loan debt they took out for their education; in a Bankrate survey about student loan debt, 69% of respondents said that they ...Read more