Homeowners are acquiring record amounts of home equity, thanks to fast-rising values in the housing market. People are starting to tap into that cash, mainly to make their homes even more valuable.
Spending on home renovations topped $152 billion in 2017, and is expected to increase almost 5% this year. According to the National Association of Home Builders, projects included regular updates and repairs, as well as large remodeling requests.
Homeowners are using that cash for education expenses and paying down other debt. Additionally, owners are borrowing against their homes and putting cash into other investments such as as stocks and additional real estate.
Eric Lynch, managing director of Scharf Investments, joined Cheddar News to discuss market trends and what lies ahead as the Federal Reserve paused interest rate hikes.
On this edition of Stretching Your Dollar, AJ Ayers, certified financial planner and co-founder of Brooklyn Fi, provided some tips on how to boost your credit score.
The Federal Reserve, having raised interest rates at the fastest pace in four decades, is poised Wednesday to leave rates alone for the first time in 15 months to allow time to gauge the impact of its aggressive drive to tame inflation.
On Tuesday, the Bahamas Supreme Court allowed FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to review the terms of his extradition and temporarily delayed the country from agreeing to let U.S. prosecutors pursue criminal charges against him.
Microsoft's planned $69 billion purchase of video game company Activision Blizzard was blocked by a federal judge Tuesday, giving more time for an antitrust review of the deal.