Housing Chatter delivers the news you need to know about current events in the housing market in simple terms. We have no political or institutional affiliations so you can be confident that our content and commentary is unbiased. Housing Chatter is brought to you by your professional Realtor®.

3 Ways a Cold Home can put Your Health at Risk

As winter rolls into towns across America, furnaces across the valley kick on…and some never stop. Every home gets chilly as the temperatures drop, but some much more than others. And while we all do our best to keep our living spaces warm and cozy, there are many houses that just can’t keep Old Man Winter OUT. Most of us understand the high cost of heating ... Read More »

5 Ways to Stop Colds From Spreading in Your Family

When you've got a family, even a run-of-the-mill cold can be a lot of trouble. As it spreads from one person to the next in your family, that one crummy cold virus can disrupt your lives for weeks -- causing missed school, missed work, sleepless nights, and frayed tempers. So when your child -- or your spouse -- comes home sniffling and coughing, how can yo ... Read More »

Holiday and Christmas Tree Fire Safety

Decorating homes and businesses is a long-standing tradition around the holiday season. Unfortunately, these same decorations may increase your chances of fire. Based on data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), an estimated 240 home fires involving Christmas trees and another 150 home fires involving ... Read More »

Cooking Fire Safety

Many families gather in the kitchen to spend time together, but it can be one of the most hazardous rooms in the house if you don't practice safe cooking behaviors. Cooking equipment, most often a range or stove-top, is the leading cause of reported home fires and home fire injuries in the United States. Cooking equipment is also the leading cause of unrepor ... Read More »

More special decorating ideas for your holiday home

If you're like most people, you don't have much time left at the end of a busy day to do anything extra. But at this time of year, you want to do something to make your home look festive and special and create the wonderful Christmas holiday atmosphere. You'll find some ideas here for quick and simple ways to add a festive look to your home without spending ... Read More »

The Cliff Deal is Better Than it Looks

To be deemed a serious analyst at the moment seems to require a lot of hand-wringing and sneering over how awful Congress looked the past few days as it rushed a “fiscal cliff” deal into law. So permit me to burn my membership card in the League of Commentators and Pundits. Of course, there was much wrong about how Congress, particularly the House of Repre ... Read More »

What Should We Expect in the 2013 Real Estate Market?

The real estate market seems to be strengthening, and it's starting to show locally. Single-family home sales in Massachusetts rose 38 percent in November, according to a recent report by Banker & Tradesman publisher The Warren Group. This was the largest year-over-year percentage increase of 2012 and continued 11 consecutive month of gains, and marked th ... Read More »

2013 Housing Market Trends: What Will Be Different Than 2012

One year ago, I wrote: "Even the best possible 2012 won't get us halfway back toward normal." That turns out to be true, but barely: the latest Trulia Housing Barometer, for October, showed us that the market is 47 percent back to normal. And this year, we launched the Trulia Price Monitor -- which revealed back in March that asking prices were on the rise - ... Read More »

Top 10 Home Improvements That Pay You Back

If you're planning to sell your house any time soon, home improvements that build property value should be on your to-do list. It's a buyer's market, and between tighter purse strings and plenty of properties to choose from, shoppers want homes that are move-in ready and free of the need for home improvement projects that will add to their own bottom lines. ... Read More »

When to Refinance

A woman in her seventies called Clearpoint Credit Counseling Solutions because she could no longer afford her mortgage at a 6.75 percent rate and her house was underwater. The woman wanted to take advantage of the lower interest rates but couldn't refinance because she had no equity in the home. Karen Metoyer, a housing and credit counselor at Clearpoint, w ... Read More »