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Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Countertop maker Cambria wants big tariffs on cheap quartz imports. Homebuilders are fighting the effort

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Countertop maker Cambria and seven other U.S. manufacturers won a resounding victory from the International Trade Commission, which ruled that a significant increase of cheaper quartz imports from Pacific Rim countries seriously undercut their ability to be profitable.

This is the second big trade win for Cambria, the giant in the U.S. quartz ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Should HOA pay to move fences that town says are too close lake?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: I live in a homeowners’ association, and our yard is enclosed by a fence that sits a few feet from the lake that my house and several others border. Our association is now telling us that the town said the fences were mistakenly allowed to be put too close to the lake. They are telling us we have to pay to move our fences farther back. We ...Read more

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

'You have to make sacrifices': Central Floridians struggle with high costs

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

ORLANDO, Florida — At a west Orlando Walmart, Natilee Hamilton carefully considers the cost of each item she places in her cart as she struggles to adhere to a budget outpaced by inflation.

It is a balancing act that extends beyond the grocery store. In the past few years, she’s had to defer dental work, eye exams and home repairs because ...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LA's trailblazing home builder is the latest to leave California

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

One of Los Angeles’ most influential home builders, KB Home, is relocating its headquarters out of state, becoming the latest high-profile firm to do so.

The company, which has been based in Los Angeles since 1963 and helped build its sprawling suburbs, is moving its main office to the Phoenix metropolitan area by spring 2027, in part to ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Gov. JB Pritzker's ambitious housing plan for Illinois: More four-flats, looser rules

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Above the bay windows that run up the center of a two-story apartment building in Uptown, Nick Serra stands on what had been the roof but will soon be the balcony for a new third-floor unit he’s adding.

In many circumstances, the construction work would be a sure sign that another traditional Chicago apartment building was being gutted and ...Read more

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Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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Home Robotics in the Modern World

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Home robotics, once the domain of science fiction and speculative design, has steadily moved into the mainstream, reshaping how people clean, cook, monitor and even interact within their homes. What began with simple, single-purpose machines has evolved into a growing ecosystem of connected devices that promise convenience, efficiency and, ...Read more

The Lived-In House

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The house was not finished when it was built. It was only prepared.

Walls were painted, floors laid, fixtures installed. It was, by every conventional measure, complete. And yet, in the days and months that followed, something else began—something quieter, slower, and far more defining than construction.

A lived-in house is not arranged. It ...Read more

Chicago lands nation's first Candy Hall of Fame as retail district continues recovery

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

CHICAGO — The Magnificent Mile got some good news Thursday when the National Confectionery Sales Association said it will open the first Candy Hall of Fame Experience next year at 830 N. Michigan Ave.

The attraction will occupy 60,000 square feet on three floors just across the street from Water Tower Place. It’s one of the biggest leases ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Rebuilding permits in Altadena have picked up, but construction lags and financial woes loom

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

A few weeks after the first anniversary of the Eaton fire, the number of homeowners who neither put up their home for sale nor moved toward rebuilding has dropped to fewer than half, as more have taken some action toward recovery, according to data released Thursday by UCLA's Latino Policy & Politics Institute.

That total is a significant drop ...Read more

Dean Musgrove/Los Angeles Daily News/TNS

Does a new report offer a way out of California's home insurance crisis?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

As insurers hike rates and cancel policies for thousands of homeowners across California, a new state report has proposed a series of reforms to prevent the property insurance market from cratering amid increasingly catastrophic wildfires — but some consumer advocates say it doesn’t go far enough.

The report, released this week, is the ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Can HOA suddenly fine me for parking my work pickup truck in my driveway?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: I drive a pickup truck for work. It has my company’s logo on the side, and I’ve always parked it in my driveway. Last week, I got a letter from my HOA saying I’m violating the rules by parking a “commercial vehicle” in my driveway and threatening to fine me if I don’t move it. This is the only vehicle I own. Where am I supposed to...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

AI boom catapults San Francisco median home price above $2 million

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The artificial intelligence boom has driven up San Francisco's median home sales price to a record $2.15 million.

Real estate brokerage firm Compass said that recent transactions showed that some parts of the tech capital have emerged from its doom loop on the back of the surge in AI investment and hiring.

"The economic changes created by the ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Trump Tower couple alleges their intimate exchange was recorded in federal lawsuit: 'I felt very violated'

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

CHICAGO — Georgia Litle and her husband, Clint Litle, huddled in the bathroom of their lavish condo at Trump Tower and turned on the shower.

They hoped the running water would drown out their “highly personal and sexual” conversation last May after a neighbor complained about the noise. But what happened next crossed the line, the couple...Read more

Heather Diehl/Getty Images North America/TNS

Bond traders boost bets on a Fed cut this year after ceasefire

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Bond traders boosted wagers that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates this year as a U.S.-Iran ceasefire sent oil tumbling.

Treasuries rallied along with other government debt markets, paring losses since the war began Feb. 28. The energy price surge it caused threatened to stoke inflation and cause central banks either to delay ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Fight over private home listings heats up in WA as real estate giants clash

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Imagine you're shopping for a home. You've been scouring Zillow and Redfin for months with no luck. But, unbeknown to you, your dream home is actually for sale — you’ll just never see it, let alone get a chance to compete for it.

That scenario is a nightmare for homebuyers, and for the group in charge of Washington's real estate listing ...Read more

David Guralnick/The Detroit News/TNS

Sign of the times: GM brand names removed from Renaissance Center

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

General Motors Co.’s vehicle brand names are no longer displayed on the Renaissance Center's digital signage.

The vehicle brand names had appeared after the GM logo was removed from the tallest tower in January when the company moved its headquarters to Bedrock's Hudson's Detroit on Woodward, said GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly.

GM, which owns ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Downtown LA's cratering real estate market is changing -- rich renters are buying their buildings

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

LOS ANGELES — As the office market bottoms out after a long fall, renters are swooping in to buy their own buildings.

Occupant businesses are seizing the opportunity to become owners, especially in downtown Los Angeles, where glittering high-rises have plummeted in value since occupancy dropped during the pandemic. It has never fully ...Read more