Feb 05
Where Investors Are Targeting with Rentals Where are the biggest increases in rental rates likely to occur this year? Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, and Michigan may offer some of the highest returns for investors, according to a new analysis by RealtyTrac, which recently analyzed the markets most likely to offer the best returns in buying residential …
Feb 04
Does Starbucks Brew Higher Home Values? The arrival of Starbucks’ coffee shops may help indicate where higher home values will soon surface, asserts a new analysis by Quartz, a digital business publication of the Atlantic Media Company. In fact, Quartz claims that “Starbucks equates with venti-sized home-value appreciation. Moreover, Starbucks seems to be fueling – …
Feb 03
Cutting-Edge Design Trends for 2015 Innovative marketing techniques, an emphasis on renewable features, and using big data to meet clients’ needs are just a few of the architectural trends that are set to influence real estate in 2015, according to a recent blog post from MIPIM, an organization that hosts a conference that attracts upwards …
Feb 02
Home Ownership Rate Falls to 20-Year Low The U.S. home ownership rate posted declines across all four regions of the U.S. in the fourth quarter, plunging to its lowest level since the third quarter of 1994. But a sharp rebound in household formation during the quarter has more economists optimistic that a turnaround in the …
Jan 30
Inventory Problems Stall Home Sales Pending home sales dropped in December, despite interest rates being at the lowest levels in more than a year, the National Association of REALTOR® reports. All regions across the country posted declines in December. In December, pending home sales nationally fell 3.7 percent month-over-month. Still, NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index, …
Jan 29
2015: The Breakout Year for Sellers? Home owners are living in their homes longer. Typically, home owners stay in their homes six or seven years before making a move. But in 2014, that number grew to a 10-year average, according to research by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR researchers are predicting that “pent-up …
Jan 28
How does Home Staging Really Win Over Buyers? Home staging can influence buyers’ perceptions of a home and even motivate them to pay more, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2015 Profile of Home Staging, a survey of more than 2,300 REALTORS® representing buyers and sellers. Eighty-one percent of REALTORS® who represent buyers say …
Jan 26
A Hot Trend to Watch: Tiny Homes Could you imagine living in 97 square feet? Tiny houses – some might even call them teeny-tiny – are growing in popularity among buyers in the second home market. Some are even making them their primary residence. Leaf House, a tiny home builder based out of Whitehorse, Yukon, …
Jan 23
States with Highest, Lowest Foreclosure Rates. Foreclosures are falling, but not everywhere. Some economists are forecasting that lenders are gearing up for a “spring cleaning of deferred distress” in the first half of 2015 in some local markets. “While the national level of foreclosures may normalize in the next two years, there will always be …
Jan 22
What You Don’t Know About Outdoor Kitchens. Now that the 2015 International Builders’ Show has partnered with the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, there are plenty of examples of beautiful cooking spaces, indoors and out. But what about the numbers? The results of a new survey released at the show attempt to define what consumers …
Jan 21
Housing Market Only 75% Back to Normal The housing market is only about three-quarters of the way back to what is considered “normal,” when factoring in new-home construction, existing-home sales, prices, mortgage delinquencies, and the Millennial employment rate, according to a newly released report by Trulia. Two particular areas holding back the return to …
Jan 20
More Home Owners Are Remodeling Again A housing index that measures activity in the remodeling market reached a record-high in the final quarter of 2014, showing that home owners are once again sprucing up their homes following a large slowdown in remodeling activity in the years following the Great Recession. The National Association of …
