Reading up on real-estate

Sellers of a primary residence can exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 for married couples) of capital gains from taxes if they meet ownership and use tests.

The surge of AI‑related wealth from firms like OpenAI and Anthropic is inflating San Francisco housing prices, prompting buyers to compete and sellers to demand equity instead of cash.

A Brooklyn Heights brownstone sold for $24.5 million, setting a new price record for the borough and signaling its shift from affordable Manhattan alternative.

A vacant IBM campus in Somers, N.Y. has become a destination for trespassing urban explorers, drawing police responses and local frustration.

Meg Ryan is selling her Hamptons property purchased in 2022, while Kristen Wiig and Joe Jonas also list homes for sale.

Coletivo Arquitetos transformed a vast two-story São Paulo penthouse into a warm, inviting home by balancing scale with intimate materials and spatial strategies.

1970s environmental regulations, not geography or transportation, halted U.S. urban land reclamation despite high land values and housing needs.

Hiring an appraiser can clarify whether building an accessory dwelling unit adds enough property value to justify the cost, especially when selling.

Actress Dakota Johnson is finalizing the sale of her Los Angeles house just days after listing it, while Chris Evans lowers his price and Bill Koch prepares to auction his estate.

A designer renovates a Paris apartment to serve as both a family pied-à-terre and a home for their daughter.

Compass and Zillow face legal battles and antitrust scrutiny in their competition to dominate the home-buying experience.

Zillow's Zestimate accuracy depends on the quality of data fed into its system, says a real estate attorney.

A couple with a $1.5 million budget searched for a larger Upper West Side apartment with extra bedrooms, office space, and a short commute to their children's school.

A Manhattan apartment seeker discovers that agreeing to a lease too quickly can hide costly problems, urging thorough vetting of rental deals.

David Sedaris opens up about his two Upper East Side apartments, art collecting, fan interactions, and the unexpected benefits of the neighborhood.

The AI boom has driven San Francisco's median home prices to the nation's highest, with the steepest annual increases amid renewed tech-worker demand.

Online rent payments have become the majority method for the first time, but still barely edge out mailing checks.

An American art curator, after a breakup, moved to Amsterdam with a $350,000 budget and toured studios in three neighborhoods.

The author gambled their savings on using AI instead of a real estate agent to sell their house, finding AI persuasive but blocked by legal requirements.

A Jersey City project preserved a historic house by building three townhouses behind it, showing how YIMBY and NIMBY factions can compromise on housing density.

Actress Andie MacDowell discusses collecting shells, sterling silver, and wearing Hermès scarves to the beach at her South Carolina home.

A Manhattan family finds a 550-square-foot seasonal apartment at Round Dune in East Quogue as an affordable Hamptons summer escape among mansions.

A New York Times piece arbitrates a home-decor dispute, ruling on whether a house truly needs rugs.

The Las Vegas Arts District provides a walkable, creative enclave contrasting with the Strip's glitz, with a rapidly growing residential footprint.

SecondLight offers three AI virtual staging plans: Starter at $199/year, Pro at $469-499/year, and custom Enterprise pricing.

Angelina Jolie listed her historic Beaux-Arts mansion in Los Feliz for $29.85 million, with a TV-famous "Dawson's Creek" home also selling.

The Hotel Carter, once notorious for squalor and crime in Times Square, sits empty and disputed in litigation, though some envision its potential rebirth.

Zillow analysis finds that buying is an affordable alternative to renting for first-time home buyers in large U.S. metros like Detroit and Cleveland.

A couple's ambitious renovation of a 9,000-square-foot Indiana schoolhouse highlights the courage required for large-scale home projects.

The former 'Scarface' mansion in Key Biscayne, Florida, is listed for $237 million, alongside other luxury real estate sales in London and Monaco.

AI startups in NYC are leasing large, flashy offices that often remain mostly empty, using space for prestige and future growth rather than current headcount.

Actress Constance Zimmer’s Los Angeles home in the hills reflects her personal style through displayed memories, mugs, and mustaches.

Angela Donadelle, a housing organizer, lives in an East Harlem complex she fought to keep affordable, allowing her and her son to stay in New York City.

A family of two sisters, their husbands, and a toddler pooled resources to buy a multifamily house in the Bay Area, navigating the region's expensive housing market.

The Nine West building in NYC, once half-empty after the 2008 crisis, now commands record rents and is the hottest office market property.

Actor Daniel Craig and singer Lily Allen have sold their Brooklyn brownstones, with Craig selling after nearly a decade and Allen amid a marriage breakup.

Jenna Phipps and Nick Volkov are renovating their midcentury modern home entirely on their own and filming the process in real time.

The article compiles expert advice on de-escalating neighbor disputes and reaching a peaceful resolution.

Home builders are cutting costs by using cheaper materials like particle-board cabinets and fewer windows to maintain profits in a stagnant housing market.

Prolonged or improperly executed home renovations can damage neighboring properties when buildings are only feet apart.

Hundreds defy eviction in a Gangnam shantytown as Seoul pushes redevelopment, residents fight for a right to own homes in one of the world's most expensive districts.

Zillow's Preview feature provides buyers early access to pre-market listings, fundamentally changing how brokers and buyers approach home sales.

Mortgage rates in the U.S. rose for the fourth time since the Iran war began, reaching 6.38 percent for a 30-year loan.

Luxury condos have arrived in Gramercy Park, shifting the neighborhood's character and sparking a development boom.

After her divorce, Chloe Legras moved from a California cattle ranch to a 400-square-foot studio in Paris's Marais district.

San Francisco home prices in desirable neighborhoods are surging again after a slump, fueled by the AI boom.

Small landlords reliant on rent struggle with housing court's high costs and slow processes, often leaving them with few effective remedies for nonpaying tenants.

Young people aspire to become farmers but are blocked by prohibitive land prices, low wages, and student debt.

A family sold their Austin house and bought a Chicago condo for $900,000, testing affordability in three North Side neighborhoods.

Mortgage rates in the U.S. have risen above 6% again after briefly dropping, driven by renewed inflation worries that undermine housing affordability efforts.

Belwood Investments defaulted on an $18.5M loan for rebuilding Kanye West's former Malibu mansion, putting hundreds of small investors at risk of losing their funds.

High housing costs in London force many adults in their late 20s and 30s to share apartments with multiple roommates and sacrifice living spaces.

A stubborn Upper East Side townhouse survives engulfment by new luxury construction, illustrating the city's ever-changing real estate landscape.

Billy Joel’s Long Island mansion sold for $28.75 million, $14 million below its original asking price, after years on the market.

Former Microsoft executive Brian Janous and his firm Cloverleaf act as modern land men, packaging electricity and land to meet AI data center demand.

A newlywed couple searched co-ops in Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, Queens, and found two-bedroom apartments under $400,000 to put down roots.

Florida's troubled 67-year-old nudist colony is for sale, as owners seek a buyer to resolve its problematic history.

The New York Times profiles three $450,000 homes: a Vermont farmhouse, a Savannah townhouse, and a Colorado Springs cottage.

Big Tech firms like Microsoft and Google are buying up land for data centers in Northern Virginia, outbidding home builders and reducing housing supply.

The piece describes three California homes for sale at around $1 million each, including a Berkeley contemporary, a Los Angeles 1947 bungalow, and a Sacramento County midcentury modern.

Designer Kyle O’Donnell meticulously renovated a sunnier apartment in his Greenwich Village condo with bespoke details after moving upstairs.

An architect redesigns his family's unfinished D.C. basement into a luxurious in-law suite, prioritizing light, privacy, and high-end finishes.

Induction cooking has evolved from a compromise into a driver of innovative, high-end luxury kitchen designs in the United States.

A couple bought the Los Angeles house they had been renting and undertook a full renovation, transforming almost every aspect of the property.

Gene Hackman's Santa Fe compound has been put on the market one year after his death, with other celebrity estates also recently listed.

A compact 1,000-square-foot London home, the Jealous House, is expanded but retains its green brick trim, hidden on a quiet street.

The piece reports on three homes listed at $300,000 in Georgia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, each with unique architectural styles.

A couple sold their suburban home and bought a house in downtown Helena, Montana, seeking a walkable lifestyle after becoming empty nesters.

The piece reports on recent real estate transactions by celebrities, including Anthony Hopkins buying another Los Angeles home and Martha Plimpton leaving Brooklyn.

Stan Kroenke acquired 937,000 acres in December, bringing his total holdings to 2.7 million acres and making him the largest private landowner in the U.S.

Florida's rising costs of living are pushing out middle-class retirees and attracting wealthy ones, reshaping the state's identity as an affordable retirement haven.

Compass finalized its September 2025 acquisition of its top rival, creating the largest real estate brokerage in the world.

Two Californians sought an income-generating traditional home in Atami, Japan, that they could also live in as an investment property.

An architect buys a below-street-level 1,000-square-foot bungalow in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, as a second home for a bicoastal life.

Cash buyers made up 64 percent of Manhattan co-op and condo sales in 2025, outpacing buyers who needed mortgages.

Mickey Rourke refused $100,000 in donations after being evicted for unpaid rent, claiming the home was uninhabitable.

New York skylights are a coveted design feature, and the piece showcases examples that double as functional works of art.

Designers John and Christine Gachot converted a carriage house on their Shelter Island retreat into a studio and recreation room.

Amy Schumer is selling her Brooklyn home, once featured in Moonstruck, while Steve Buscemi sold his brownstone and Russell Wilson and Ciara list a West Coast property.

The New York Times' annual roundup of home-buying stories from 2025 follows buyers across 17 states and three countries, with a median price of $596,000.

Interior designer Leanne Ford keeps her 1900s home's sunroom casual with a corduroy sofa, oversize TV cabinet, and Art Deco-inspired molding.

A Texas couple returning from Europe found a home in a Dallas suburb that met their needs for space, good schools, and multigenerational living.

Gary Winnick, once Los Angeles's richest man, died deeply in debt, leaving his widow fighting to retain properties and assets he used as loan collateral.

A former Microsoft employee permanently moved into his weekend cabin in the woods, downsizing from his primary residence.

Buyers should have upfront access to climate risk information for prospective homes to avoid taking on excessive exposure.

The JPMorgan Chase headquarters at 270 Park uses dynamic LED lights to create a bold new addition to the New York City skyline.

Adult children who witnessed their parents' grueling labor buy them homes as a tangible repayment and gift of financial security.

In the year before his death, Charlie Munger made over $50 million from a bet on shunned industry, increased real-estate activities, and questioned if Moore's Law applies to AI.

A brutal 2022 siege devastated Mariupol; now Russia is remaking the city, and Ukrainians returning find it unrecognizable and cannot reclaim their property.

Older homeowners are leveraging their long-held home equity to provide down-payment gifts, enabling their adult children to afford first homes in today's expensive housing market.

New research finds that rising home insurance premiums in disaster-prone areas are reducing home values and pushing some homeowners beyond their financial limits.