29% rise in housing market activity

A new report from Connells Survey & Valuation has revealed that total activity in the UK housing market grew by more than a quarter during 2015.



The total number of housing valuations carried out in December 2015 was 29% higher than in December 2014.



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Using Roth IRA earnings for a first-time home purchase

Dear Liz: My 29-year-old son recently married, and as a gift I pledged $20,000 as a down payment on a house. My daughter-in-law is beginning a career as a registered nurse and I know they will not be buying for a few years. Is there any type of account that will grow tax-free or tax-deferred for a first-time buyer? Maybe I could gift this money to them into a retirement account for the time being?

Answer: You may be able to give them enough money to fund Roth IRA accounts for both 2015 and 2016. They would be able to withdraw those contributions tax- and penalty-free at any time in the future for whatever purpose they wanted.



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How the Government Held Back a Real Housing Market Recovery in 2015

Seven years after the housing market collapse, the housing market continued a lopsided recovery in 2015.



Overall, the housing market was stalled by a combination of meddling from the federal government, and the continued weaknesses in the broader economy and labor market. 

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The 10 Biggest Commercial Real Estate Stories of 2015

Whatever else you can say about 2015, it was without a doubt a very big year for the U.S. commercial real estate industry. Here we look back at some of the biggest deals and trends that happened in the past 12 months.  ... http://flip.it/_Il6R