Apr 15
How Buyers Can Irk Sellers Both parties have to come together in a transaction, and real estate professionals sometimes find themselves wedged in the middle of buyer and seller disagreements. Some sellers may accuse the home buyers of being too pushy with their demands. Bankrate.com recently highlighted several ways that homebuyers have been annoying some …
Apr 14
Sunnier Days Ahead in Housing The housing market is stronger today than at any point since the Great Recession and has made progress in several key areas after hitting bottom in 2009, Freddie Mac reports in a blog post looking at the state of the housing market heading into spring. Home sales are up 13 …
Apr 11
Foreclosures Rise as Banks Take More Action Foreclosure activity rose last month by 4 percent, but it remains at the lowest level since 2007, RealtyTrac reports in its latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Last month’s increase was mostly attributed to a 7 percent month-over-month rise in foreclosure starts and a 6 percent rise in scheduled …
Apr 10
Obama’s Housing Scorecard: Cautious Progress The housing recovery is strengthening across the country, but the Obama administration cautions that the economy is still healing from the recession and the recovery is fragile, according to the administration’s March Housing Scorecard. The report highlights several of the latest housing indicators, including reports showing that home prices …
Apr 09
Consumer Confidence in Housing Hot This Spring Consumer attitudes are reflecting greater optimism in the housing market heading into real estate’s traditionally strong spring selling season, according to Fannie Mae’s March 2014 National Housing Survey. In the poll of 1,000 people, 38 percent say it’s a good time to sell a home, up from 26 …
Apr 08
Cities in Search of More Storm-Proof Trees Following a winter filled with snow and ice storms, more city officials in the Midwest and Northeast are taking a closer look at the stability of their trees and whether some tough choices need to be made to possibly cut damage costs of future storms. Ice layers …
Apr 07
Mortgage Rates on the Rise Again This Week Mortgage rates ticked up slightly this week, as the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 4.41 percent – more than a full percentage point higher than it was a year ago at this time, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Freddie Mac reported the following …
Apr 04
More People Are Moving South The population is shifting to the South. Between 2010 and 2013, 51 percent of the population increase in 52 major metro nationwide was in the South, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. In comparison, the West accounted for 30 percent of the increase, followed by the Northeast at 11 …
Apr 03
Survey Reveals 15 Happiest Cities Are you in a happy place? Healthways and Gallup wanted to find out the well-being of cities across the country. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index measures Americans’ perceptions of physical and emotional health, healthy behaviors, work environment, social and community factors, financial security, and access to necessities such as food, shelter, …
Apr 03
Home Prices Likely to Moderate Soon Home owners have been enjoying big home price rises across the country, but those increases – often by double-digit percentages – will likely level off soon, according to CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index, which reflects February data. The index, which also includes distressed sales, was up 12.2 percent in …
Mar 28
Property Taxes at a 20-Year High Property taxes continue to increase, as the amount collected by state and local governments in 2013 reached the highest level in about two decades, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. About $488 billion in property taxes were collected last year, a 3 percent increase from 2012 and a …
Mar 27
Weather Chills New Home Sales to 5-Month Low Sales of new single-family homes dropped 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 440,000 in February, the lowest level since last September, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau report. “There is no doubt that the persistently bad weather took …
