Apr 02
The New Hot Housing Market: Vacation Homes It’s a good time to have a vacation real estate niche. Vacation home sales jumped to a record high in 2014, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2015 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey. Vacation home sales climbed to an estimated 1.13 million last year, the …
Mar 27
Why Home Owners Need to Get Moving Do potential sellers in your market need convincing? An article in CNNMoney recently highlighted several reasons why this spring would be the perfect time for home owners to get off the fence. After all, many markets across the country are still tilting in sellers’ favor. Here’s why: Less …
Mar 26
Book Brings Home the Idea of Home As agents keep their eye out for closing gifts that will be relevant and memorable, a new book that kids can enjoy with their parents may help plant some long-growing seeds about the value of home. Carson Ellis’s new Home, according to a review on literary site …
Mar 25
Mortgage Amounts Reach Record Highs A close look at the average size of purchase loans may be an indication of where most of the housing market is being fueled by these days. And if that’s the case – the upper-end of the housing market is the clear winner. The average loan size for a …
Mar 24
Solar Panels Can be a Deal Killer Studies have suggested that the addition of solar panels on a home can boost a home’s value. But sometimes those solar panels can sabotage a deal when it comes time to sell. More companies are offering home owners a contract to lease solar panels where they pay no …
Mar 23
Foreclosure Rates Near a ‘Significant Milestone’ Foreclosures continue to fall across the country and the return to normal levels may be on the horizon for many places, according to a new report. Foreclosure filings fell 4 percent in February, reaching the lowest level since July 2006, according to RealtyTrac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Foreclosure …
Mar 20
Mortgage Lenders Say Credit Is Easing More lenders expect mortgage demand and profit margins to increase over the next three months, according to Fannie Mae’s first quarter 2015 Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey. More lenders say the credit tightening is softening, according to the survey. Seventy-one percent of lenders surveyed about government-sponsored enterprise purchase loans …
Mar 19
U.S. Homes Ended 2014 With Equity Eighty-nine percent of all U.S. properties with a mortgage — or about 44.5 million — had equity by the end of the fourth quarter of 2014, according to CoreLogic. If home prices rise by 5 percent, an additional 1 million home owners currently in negative equity could come …
Mar 18
Why Renters May Be in Trouble The gap between rental costs and household income is widening to unsustainable levels across the country. As more renters face steeper costs, it may put them even further away from home ownership, according to a new study released by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR evaluated income growth, housing …
Mar 17
Home Improvement Spending Is Booming The home improvement industry could see record-breaking spending in 2015, according to a newly released report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Since the recession, the home improvement industry has outpaced the broader housing market’s recovery. There are several factors behind the increase, such as the …
Mar 16
The Social Media Networks Businesses Hate Small business owners have a love-hate relationship with Facebook. The social network can be great for staying connected to clients and prospects, but it’s difficult for small business owners to maintain their business pages, according to a recent survey from Manta.com, a network to find local businesses. Manta.com recently …
Mar 13
Agents See Bright Spot for Town homes More real estate professionals are optimistic about the town home market’s rebound within the next six months, according to the January 2015 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey. A growing interest in “walkable” communities may be helping to boost recent demand for town homes and condos. Town home demand is expected …
