The high cost of housing is leaving California families locked out of homeownership and contributing to persistent homelessness, says RAND economist Jason Ward.

Yet, local policies and politics keep the Golden State from building enough homes to make housing affordable.

Obstacles range from regulation to resistance among residents who fear ...Read more

Las Vegas Realtor Noah Herrera is noticing a few eerie similarities between the housing market before the 2008-09 economic crisis and the current scene.

Before, it was Wall Street packaging risky subprime mortgages into mortgage-backed securities. Now it’s Wall Street buying as many entry-level homes they can get their hands on, renting them ...Read more

Americans outside the wealthiest 20% of the country have run out of extra savings and now have less cash on hand than they did when the pandemic began, according to the latest Federal Reserve study of household finances.

For the bottom 80% of households by income, bank deposits and other liquid assets were lower in June this year than they ...Read more

Tens of thousands of customers of Florida's state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. are getting a stunning surprise in their mailboxes.

It’s a letter from Citizens’ “Depopulation Unit” stating their policies have been assumed by a private-market company.

Cause for celebration? Not if the private company’s estimated annual ...Read more

When city approval of a proposed $350 million skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles was on the line, project manager Hamid Behdad knew he had to give in to the last-minute demand of a planning commissioner to quadruple the number of electric vehicle charging stations in the condominium tower.

"When you are in the heat of the hearing in the last ...Read more

They constantly rank among the top requested design features on American Society of Landscape Architecture surveys. Among outdoor decor renovations, “fire features” (fire pits and fireplaces) were among the top: Purchases of them rose 18 percent in 2022, according to the “2023 Houzz & Home Study.”

Affordability may be part of the fire ...Read more

After a summer that saw many of California's top home insurers pull back from the state market, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Thursday that he struck a deal with the insurance industry to encourage new coverage in the state.

Insurers, Lara said, agreed to return to the high-risk fire zones in the hills and canyons of California ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Tucked alongside a large dorm building on the fringes of Woodbury University's campus in Burbank is a small but very eye-catching house. The 425-square-foot home is contained by a gently curving concrete form equipped with a generous porch and a dramatic sloping roof. Slender, carefully staggered floor-to-ceiling windows gently ...Read more

Several years ago, immersive experiences showcasing popular artists such as Prince and Vincent van Gogh began popping up around Chicago, putting life back into the streets and filling once-vacant storefronts.

It was unclear whether immersive-style attractions, which allow guests to interact with the exhibits around them, were a passing fad or ...Read more

Studying accounting at La Salle University, Latisha Redmond knew she wanted to go into business: “You don’t have to take a state job or do the cookie-cutter deal. You can create whatever you want.” In 2012 she started buying Philadelphia rowhouses (at what now look like bargain prices).

Jesse Fells was a star basketball guard at ...Read more

Before you take on a new project, it’s important to understand the differences between a remodel versus renovation.

Not only does each one come with its own range of costs, time frames and permit rules, but they may also differ in the value you’ll recoup from your investment. Considerations like these can help guide your decision and ...Read more

Hardwood flooring provides one of the best returns on investment. The National Realtor Association’s 2022 Remodeling Impact Report states that homeowners who install new wood flooring before selling their homes recoup 118 percent of the cost at resale. That means hardwood floors essentially pay for themselves.

But before deciding to take on ...Read more

Ho, ho, happy September.

It still feels like summer. The kids have only been back at school for a matter of days. And astronomical fall is still a week away.

But, hate to break it to you: It’s pretty much the holiday season.

At least in the retail world.

Deloitte unveiled its holiday shopping forecast last week, predicting retail sales ...Read more

Personal finance fact: Your money loses purchasing power over time, especially if it’s in a savings account that isn’t earning interest.

But there’s good news for savers: For the sixth straight month, the top savings yield is outpacing inflation, according to Bankrate data.

The current savings rate environment features many top savings ...Read more

State lawmakers approved legislation late Wednesday that would bar mandatory evictions or exclusion for California tenants and their families based on criminal histories or brushes with law enforcement.

Assembly Bill 1418 combats local policies known as “crime-free housing” that can require landlords to evict tenants for arrests or prohibit...Read more