Jun 06
Living off the grid in a mail-order home. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — House Arc may look like an egg-shaped antidote to McMansion mania, but this small mail-order home was really designed as a way to quickly provide housing to victims of disaster. “We wanted to see how we could produce a house that would fit …
Jun 05
Home prices lowest since 2002. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Home prices hit new post-bubble lows in March, according to a report out Tuesday. Average home prices were down 2.6% from 12 months earlier, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major markets. Home prices have not been this low since mid-2002. “While there …
Jun 04
After three straight months of gains, the latest Pending real estate Sales Index (PSHI) from the National Association of Realtors showed a decline of 5.5 percent for the month of April. This declining figure is not the bright spot many analysts were hoping for, but it does leave pending home sales 14.4 percent above April 2011. …
Jun 01
2011-12 Cost vs. Value: Big-Bang Remodeling Projects. Find out which remodeling projects will provide the biggest bang for your buck this year, according to Remodeling magazine. Optimizing the use of space in a home will not only attract buyers but also give sellers more bang for their buck, according to Remodeling’s “2011–12 Cost vs. Value …
May 31
Passive vs. active real estate investment. GOOD PIECE BELOW on real estate investment: Q: I have been listening to your show through iTunes and have learned a lot over the past few weeks. Thank you for the information you share. After listening to the show outlining the opportunity for real estate investment, I was wondering …
May 30
Home buyers Survey Contains Valuable Information For Agents and Seller. One of the most useful research projects of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) is the annual survey of home buyers and sellers. The 2011 version (Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2011) became available in May of this year. The information is based on …
May 29
Increased Lending, Short Sales Necessary to Reduce High REO Inventories, Say REALTORS®. Improving access to affordable mortgage financing for qualified home buyers and investors and committing additional resources to loan modifications and short sales will help reduce current and future inventories of real estate owned (REO) properties held by government agencies, according to the National …
May 25
Mortgage Applications Rise Again on Low Rates. Record low interest rates continue to pump up Mortgage Applications volume, as more borrowers try to take advantage. Mortgage applications increased 3.8 percent for the week ending May 18, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports. A boost in more home owners refinancing their mortgages was attributed to the rise last …
May 24
What May Delay Some Housing Markets’ Recovery. The difference in how states handle foreclosures may determine how quickly their housing markets make a full recovery, according to a new report by Capital Economics. States with nonjudicial foreclosure markets — where foreclosures can be approved outside the court system — are seeing housing prices stabilize faster …
May 23
What Does It Take to Get a Loan Today? A Lot! One of the biggest obstacles home buyers are facing is qualifying for financing, and a new report by the Federal Reserve shows exactly how big of struggle potential borrowers face. According to a new Federal Reserve report surveying banks, the report found that most banks …
May 22
Housing Affordability Reaches Record Highs. For the median-income family, buying a home has never been more affordable, new surveys by the National Association of REALTORS® and National Association of Home Builders show. Housing affordability reached a record high for the second-straight quarter in the first three months of this year, the National Association of Home …
May 21
Housing Starts Post New Gains, Signs of Healing. Builders broke ground on more homes last month as housing starts jumped 2.6 percent nationwide in April over March, the Commerce Department reported this week. The single-family sector saw a 3 percent increase in housing starts in April, while multifamily construction projects saw a 3.2 percent rise. …
