From the monthly archives:

November 2010

Are You A Trendy Consumer? American Express Report Finds Five Major Trends In Consumer Spending

November 27, 2010
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Tweet A recent American Express study looks at trends in consumer spending, identifying the connective threads between areas that are attracting retail business. The trends reflect the increasing importance of Internet and mobile technology in retail marketing, as shoppers utilize the tools at their fingertips on a regular basis when deciding where to shop and [...]

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Freezing Winter Energy Bills

November 27, 2010
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Tweet When it comes to trimming the season’s heating bills, Mother Nature appears to be playing along: This winter is expected to be about 4 percent warmer than last winter. Unfortunately, the energy companies didn’t get the memo; according to the Energy Information Administration, the cost of heating oil is expected to increase 10 percent [...]

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Mortgage Rates Up, More Buyers Jumping Off Fence?

November 24, 2010
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Tweet Will the prospect of rising mortgage rates lead more potential buyers to jump off the fence? One week after mortgage rates “popped,” applications for purchase mortgages did the same. Average rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans increase to 4.5% last week, up from 4.46% two weeks ago and 4.28% three weeks ago, the Mortgage Bankers [...]

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Why You Should Buy A House Now

November 24, 2010
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Tweet OK, we get that you want to be the one guy in the universe to know precisely when housing prices have reached bottom before you buy. But according to the logic of multi-millionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, today’s record-low interest rates make this the best time to buy homes in 50 years. In [...]

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Lennar Announces Winners Of “Home For The Holidays” Contest

November 24, 2010
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Tweet After receiving more than 530 moving and entertaining entries, Lennar is proud to announce the winners of our “Home For The Holidays” online contest. Congratulations to Reine Bullard for submitting the story that was selected as the winning entry. Based on her submission, explaining why it would be so meaningful to go “home for [...]

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Americans Are Making, Spending, Saving More

November 24, 2010
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Tweet With the holiday shopping season just around the corner, both personal income and spending are on the rise, the government said Wednesday. Personal income rose 0.5% in October, after a revised unchanged report in September, according to data released by the Commerce Department. Spending by individuals ticked up 0.4% from a revised 0.3% the [...]

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Initial Unemployment Claims: Lowest Since July 2008

November 24, 2010
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Tweet The government’s weekly jobs report brought a bit of good news Wednesday, as the number of Americans filing for their first week of unemployment benefits sunk to its lowest level in more than two years. The number of initial claims fell to 407,000 last week, down 34,000 from 441,000 claims filed the week before, [...]

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10 Money Smart Ways To Give Thanks This Season

November 24, 2010
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Tweet You have pies to bake, gifts to buy, and family time to navigate. But there’s one more item to squeeze onto your list: Giving back. Not only will it get you in the holiday spirit faster than spiked eggnog, but it can also boost your happiness levels and reduce stress – and who doesn’t [...]

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Mortgage Applications Rose 2.1% With Double-Digit Gain In Purchases

November 24, 2010
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Tweet Mortgage applications bounced back last week on the back of a double-digit increase in purchase applications. The MBA said its market composite index rose 2.1% for the week ended Nov. 19 with a 14.4% gain in purchases, which is the largest increase since May. “The increase in purchase applications last week aligns with other [...]

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Raleigh: Lennar Set To Start Work On New 307-Home Development

November 24, 2010
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Tweet National home builder Lennar Corp. is getting ready to put a lot of contractors back to work after having closed on the purchase of 40 acres of land for a new community within the Wade development project near the RBC Center arena. Lennar’s land-grading equipment is already being moved to the property to begin [...]

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