Jan 14
White House Still Calling Housing Recovery ‘Fragile’ The latest Housing Scorecard from the Obama Administration shows progress on several fronts—notably home prices—but continues the familiar cautionary language in describing the recovery. The scorecard evaluates housing data from December 2013. The majority of such scorecards provided by the administration this year utilize the word “fragile” to …
Jan 13
New Mortgage Rules Roll Out – What Will Be the Impact? New mortgage rules take effect Friday that set out to protect borrowers against risky lending practices. One of the biggest changes is that borrowers will likely need to show more proof that they can actually afford the mortgage they’re applying for. Here are …
Jan 10
The Most Powerful Person in Real Estate Is… When it comes to influencers in residential real estate, no one was more powerful in 2013 than Realogy CEO Richard A. Smith, according to a new ranking of the 200 most powerful people in real estate by Stefan Swanepoel, who authors the Swanepoel TRENDS Report and Swanepoel …
Jan 08
More Home buyers Willing to Compromise Faced with tight inventories of homes for sale, more buyers are realizing they may have to bend a little in order to get the home they want. According to a new survey by the real estate brokerage Redfin, 35 percent of real estate agents said that buyers are now “willing …
Jan 07
Banks Aim to Clear Foreclosure Backlogs Banks are trying to capitalize on rising home prices by selling seized homes more quickly. States with some of the largest backlogs of foreclosures are seeing an upswing in properties that are moving to auction for quicker sales since last July, according to RealtyTrac. “Lenders know there’s …
Jan 06
Mortgage Rates Edge Higher Entering 2014 Fixed mortgage rates continued an upward climb this week, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage starting the year more than a full percentage point higher than last year at this time, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage survey. “Mortgage rates edged up to begin the year on signs of …
Jan 03
More Than 3 Million Regained Equity in 2013 Home prices rebounded in 2013, helping more than 3 million home owners regain long-lost equity, according to CoreLogic’s latest MarketPulse report. “We’re encouraged by the improvements of the past year and have every reason to be cautiously optimistic about continued progress in 2014. That said, monitoring the …
Jan 03
Dome Homes the Next Big Thing? Dome homes may become more popular in the future because of their reputation for holding up well against natural disasters. Dome homes are reportedly strong enough to withstand the force of an EF5 tornado, a mammoth hurricane, and even a powerful earthquake. They are made of concrete and …
Dec 31
The Most Desirable Celebrity Neighbors Americans chose late-night TV host Jimmy Fallon as the most desirable celebrity neighbor for 2014, according to the recently-released seventh annual Zillow Celebrity Neighbor Survey. Fallon nabbed 11 percent of the vote, dethroning last year’s “most desirable neighbor” duo—Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton. In order to be Fallon’s neighbor, …
Dec 31
Housing’s Best Buys for 2014 Home prices and mortgage rates are on the rise, and some investors are retreating from the market. However, Forbes believes there are still plenty of housing deals left for home buyers in the new year, and with possibly less competition. Forbes recently released a list of cities where prices are …
Dec 30
Investors Likely to Curb Buying in 2014 Institutional investors who have been buying up thousands of foreclosed single-family homes will likely take a “more restrained” approach in 2014, according to a new report by RealtyTrac and Pintar Investment Co., a single-family rental investment company. Over the past two years, institutional investors have been scooping …
Dec 30
Buyers Facing Fewer Bidding Wars With bidding wars easing in many markets, buyers may face less competition in their attempts to snag a home this winter. That’s according to the latest Bidding War Report by the real estate brokerage Redfin. According to the report, competition for homes hit its lowest point since 2011 last month. …
