It's a slow time of year for homebuying, so it's not surprising to Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni that purchase applications didn't jump last week.

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If you’ve ever found yourself standing ankle-deep in water wondering how on Earth your bathroom turned into a kiddie pool, you’re not alone. In fact, water damage is one of the most common reasons why homeowners file insurance claims.

Most homeowners insurance policies cover sudden and accidental water damage. That includes any damage done to your home’s structure, personal belongings, and other structures on the property.

But when an accident occurs—like a burst pipe or a leaking dishwasher—homeowners want to know exactly how much their insurance company is going to help them out.

If you ever find yourself in this stressful (but all too familiar) situation, there are some key things you should know in regard to home insurance and the things that it covers.

The Passaic County township attracts those seeking more affordable homes than in neighboring Montclair, but with the same easy access to the city.

The Passaic County township attracts those seeking more affordable homes with easy city access. (And yes, an episode of ‘The Sopranos’ was shot there.)

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When it comes to demand for real estate, certain areas of the U.S. are hot—and others definitely are not. And the most in-demand spots right now aren’t those balmy climates you might presume people pine for this time of year.

For the sixth month in a row, warm, sunny, formerly desirable Western markets are nowhere to be found in the Realtor.com® 20 Hottest Markets rankings. The Southern markets haven’t charted on this list for two months. Instead, the hottest markets of November are clustered in the snowy Midwest and Northeast, spread out across 11 states.

It’s not the possibility of building snowmen or carving ski runs that’s drawing homebuyers to these regions; it’s the relatively low home prices.

(The hottest markets report factors in a combination of demand measured by the number of unique views per listing and how quickly properties sell measured by the number of days on the market.)

Zillow bounced back after folding its iBuyer in 2021, multiple listing services finally caught up, enterprise solutions arrived and other signs property technology approached maturity in 2022.

A Mediterranean-style house in West Palm Beach, an 1836 farmhouse on 11 acres in Knoxville and an adobe home in Santa Fe.

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If you’ve always dreamed of living in a fairy-tale castle, and aren’t afraid of a few friendly ghosts, then we have just the home for you.

Priced at $1,649,000 (reflecting a $100,000 discount from when it came on the market in November) and located on a private, 2-acre lot in the Westchester County village of Irvington, NY, this five-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot castle comes with a one-of-a-kind story that begins in the Roaring ’20s.

Cinderella story

In 1929, a man named Joseph Keen and his wife arrived in New York state and decided to build their very own Cinderella-style castle.

Not long after its completion, the property, dubbed Villa Keen, was sold to one Lloyd Stratton, then president of the Associated Press news service, who’s said to have spent many hours clacking away on his typewriter in the old oak library.

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A marvelous mansion in Southlake, TX, is so big and bountiful, it even caught the eye of Tracy Tutor from Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.”

She’s co-listing the 31,234-square-foot property, built in 2016 and located on the outskirts of Dallas, with Breah Brown. Both are with Douglas Elliman Realty.

“My clients’ experience in construction really leads to the quality of the architecture and the actual build-out for this house,” Tutor says of the homeowners. “Driving up to this home, I knew immediately … I wanted to be a part of the listing.”

But another reason could be that the home is just plain fun.

Photo courtesy of JASMIN REESE INTERIORS via Houzz / Getty Images / Pantone

Pantone just announced its 2023 Color of the Year. And for the third time in seven years, the hue is something you could describe as a shade of purple.

The new top color: Viva Magenta! While the shade is more pink-leaning than its purplish predecessors (including last year’s winner, Very Perri, and 2018’s Ultra Violet), it’s still a bold plum that pulls in both red and blue hues.

So how is this color—once reserved for children’s toys and velvet maxi skirts—suddenly making a comeback in high-end interiors? We asked designers to dish on the details, and they divulged their expert do’s and don’ts for decorating with purple.

What’s so special about purple?

Before we get too plum-crazy, it’s helpful to know why the color is having such a moment in the first place. One theory? It helps us get in touch with our inner royals.

Coraopolis, Pennsylvania-based BCHH provides national title and settlement services to mortgage servicers, real estate investors, asset management companies and government entities.

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In a welcome relief for tenants, rents began falling in earnest in November in some formerly red-hot real estate metros.

Arizona, Florida, and Texas saw massive rent increases in many cities during the COVID-19 pandemic. But now rent is beginning to decline in some Sun Belt cities for the first time in nearly two years, according to a recent Realtor.com® report that looked at rental prices in the nation’s 50 largest metros. Rents fell in places like Phoenix, Tampa, and Austin in November compared with a year ago—a big difference from the past few years of ever-increasing costs.

Rents are still growing nationwide, but they’ve slowed significantly from a peak reached in January. The growth rate hit its lowest point in over a year and a half in November, rising 3.4% year over year to reach $1,712 a month. While any hike is unwelcome news for renters, it’s much lower than the 17.4% annual surge at the start of the year.

“The rental market continues to cool down, which is a relief,” says Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu. “But the rent is still higher than this time last year, which means there will continue to be affordability issues.”

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The former home of the Swedish ambassador in Washington, DC, is also the most expensive listing in the nation’s capital.

Priced at $19.5 million, the 11,212-square-foot property has been on the market for just over a month and already has a contingent offer.

“The home is owned by the Swedish government and is right by American University, which is just so rare,” says listing agent Cara Pearlman, of Compass.

“The real standout feature is that three lots make up the 6.7 acres,” Pearlman says. “At the back of the property, there is a lit tennis court where they would do some fundraising and have famous tennis players come and play.”

Federal regulators allege bank improperly denied thousands of mortgage loan modifications over at least seven years, in some cases leading customers to lose their homes.

The Talent Brokerage’s virtual support programs and coaching will help members learn how to move away from offering canned, unoriginal marketing content.

HGTV

While property brothers Jonathan and Drew Scott have many shows under their tool belts, “Celebrity IOU” might be the best to get in the holiday spirit. After all, this series features famous folks bestowing home makeovers as surprise gifts to people who deserve a huge thank you for all of their hard work—talk about heartwarming!

In the latest episode, “Cheryl Hines Gifts a Garage Makeover,” the comedic actress best known for playing Larry David‘s wife on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” helps the brothers convert her longtime assistant and friend Sarita‘s garage into a backyard sanctuary.

HGTV

Sarita is in Florida for 3.5 weeks visiting her mother, so Jonathan and Drew have an extremely limited amount of time to “transform Sarita’s unused garage into a multipurpose personal retreat meets guest suite,” says Drew.

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The numbers: Construction on new U.S. homes fell a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in November to 1.43 million, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The drop in construction on homes follows the decline in October, when housing starts also fell by 2.1%.

Economics polled by the Wall Street Journal expected housing starts to drop to 1.4 million from October’s initial estimate of 1.43 million.

The annual rate of total housing starts fell from 16.4% from the previous year.