We’ve had a lot of posts related to the cost of living and how it affects real estate and quality of life.  With that in mind, a recent report from Realtor.com reveals their list of the top 10 states with the lowest cost of living.  The say Americans are still feeling walloped with high prices every time they open their wallet—at the grocery store, gas pump, to pay for housing, and beyond.

To get their list, they examined the latest regional price parities data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, whic
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The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales were down 1% in September to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 3.84 million – down 3.5% year over year.  Total housing inventory at the end of September was 1.39 million units, up 1.5% from August and up 23% from one year ago.  Unsold inventory sits at a 4.3-month supply at the current sales rate with properties remaining on the market for around 28 days.  The median existing-home price for all housing types in September was $404,500.

““Home sales have been essentially stuck at around a four-million-unit pace for the past 12 months, but factors usually associated with higher home sales are developing…There are more inventory choices for consumers, lower mortgage rates than a year ago and continued job additions to the economy…”  Said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

The American Land Title Association (ALTA) is reporting that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in mid-October renewed its Geographic Targeting Orders (GTO) requiring U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used in non-financed purchases of residential real estate.  In addition, ALTA reminds readers that FinCEN began issuing Geographic Targeting (GTOs) orders in January, 2016 requiring title insurance companies to file reports & maintain records concerning all-cash purchases of residential real estate above a certain threshold in select metropolitan areas of the United States.

Key points:

• The terms of the GTOs are effective through April 14, 2025.
• FinCEN renewed the GTOs that cover certain counties and majo
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