Customer Satisfaction With Real Estate Companies Falling? A new J.D. Power and Associates study suggests that customer satisfaction with real estate companies is falling among home buyers and sellers. In fact, the study—in its fifth year—suggests that home buyer satisfaction with real estate companies, in particular, is at its lowest level recorded. Seller satisfaction is …
Category: News
Aug 21
REALTOS® vs. FSBOs
REALTOR ® vs. FSBOs Survey Reveals Success of REALTOR ® vs. FSBOs Home sellers are more than twice as likely to get their homes sold if they use a REALTOR ®, rather than trying to sell their home on their own, according to a new survey conducted by HomeGain of 400 home owners nationwide from …
Aug 20
Housing Permits at 4-Year High
Housing Permits at 4-Year High, Builders Still Cautious. Housing permits — a future gauge for home building — reached its highest level since August 2008, rising 6.8 percent in July over the previous month, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. What’s more, Housing permits are up nearly 30 percent over year ago levels. Still, companies are being …
Aug 10
HARP Refinancing Continues to Surge
HARP Refinancing Continues to Surge. About a third of all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans refinanced in June went through the recently revamped Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP). That’s up from a 20 percent share in April. Additionally, the number of HARP refinancing deals with high loan-to-value (LTV) ratios went up substantially. According to …
Aug 10
First-Time Home Buyers? The 5 Popular Markets.
First-Time Home Buyers? The 5 Popular Markets. Loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration often are a lure to first-time home buyers with its low down payment requirements. In some areas, FHA-backed loans are more common than others, creating hot-spots for first-time home buyers. Inman News recently identified the top housing markets for first-time home …
Aug 10
Retiring? How Long Should You Work?
Retiring? How Long Should You Work? How much longer are you prepared to work in the real estate industry before retiring? A new study says that any employee should plan to work up until age 70 if they want to be comfortable in retirement. About 51 percent of working households are at-risk if they are …
Aug 09
US Mortgage Applications Fell Last Week
US Mortgage Applications Fell Last Week. US Mortgage Applications fell last week on lower demand for both new purchase and refinance loans, an industry group said on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of US Mortgage Applications activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 1.8 percent in the week ended …
Aug 09
Improving Housing Markets in nearly 1/4 of the Metros
Improving Housing Markets in nearly 1/4 of the Metros. Eighty U.S. metro areas are holding a spot in this month’s Improving Housing Markets Index, a housing index that spotlights housing markets showing gains over at least six consecutive months. The National Association of Home Builders/First American’s August index shows that 75 metro areas kept their spot …
Aug 09
Gen Y Buyers brought to starter homes by builder
Gen Y Buyers brought to starter homes by builder. A national home builder is wooing Generation Y renters with back-to-basics homes that offer all of the advantages of home ownership on a comfortable budget. Chicago, San Antonio, and St. Louis are the test markets that Centex Homes is using to convert younger tenants to Gen …
Aug 08
Housing Crash Effects on Home Ownership Views?
Housing Crash Effects on Home Ownership Views? Depending on how Americans’ experienced the housing crash – —whether they were a home owner or a bystander reading about it in the news—as well as their age influenced their perceptions of home ownership today, according to a new study by economists at the Boston Federal Reserve. Two-thirds …
Aug 08
Mortgage Closing Costs on the Decline
Mortgage Closing Costs on the Decline. Mortgage Closing costs have dropped by 7 percent over the last year, according to an annual survey on closing costs conducted by Bankrate.com. Closing costs average $3,754 nationwide. Title insurance and other third-party fees also saw a drop in the last year, falling 12 percent, and origination fees fell …
Aug 07
8 Signs Housing Is on the Mend
Housing Is on the Mend… Some Americans are still jittery over the housing market, but here are eight positive signs that should quell some of their fears. Housing prices are on the rise across the country. Foreclosures have slowed. Analysts suggest that as the supply of distressed homes slows, buyers will be forced into higher-price properties …
