Dec 19
Home Builders End the Year More Upbeat Home builders are getting more optimistic over the single-family home market, specifically over current sales conditions, sales expectations, and prospective buyer traffic, according to the December reading of the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. “Following a two-month pause in the index, this uptick is …
Dec 18
Multigenerational Households a Lasting Trend? The recession set off a new wave of multigenerational households, which began to increase in late 2007. Fewer new households were created as more people doubled up to ride through economic hard times. College grads moved back home, and aging parents moved in with family. But as the economy …
Dec 17
Where Energy Bills are Highest In some states, homeowners are paying nearly twice as much as the national average for electricity. That’s according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the government agency responsible for the collection and dissemination of energy information, which released its most recent “Electric Sales, Revenue, and Average Price” report last month. …
Dec 16
Mortgage Rates Dip Slightly This Week Fixed-rate mortgages changed little this week, but remain near its highs in recent months. Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Dec. 12: 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.42 percent, with an average 0.7 point, dropping from last week’s 4.46 average. Last year …
Dec 13
U.S. Sees Record Low Natural-Disaster Activity in 2013 This year saw a record low number of natural-disaster events in the U.S., despite a few highly publicized storms — such as the twisters that ravaged Central Illinois — according to CoreLogic’s annual Natural Hazard Risk Summary and Analysis. The report covers hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, wildfires, and …
Dec 12
Lenders Urged to Improve Foreclosure Efforts The Obama administration urged banks to improve their service of the government’s anti-foreclosure efforts through the Making Home Affordable Program and to use federal funds more effectively in helping to save struggling home owners from foreclosure. The U.S. Treasury singled out CitiMortgage Inc., telling the bank it needed to …
Dec 11
5 Tech Upgrades for Your Marketing With more consumers seeking out listing photos or virtual tours, there are several technologies that could help real estate agents jazz up their marketing now — and in the future. Matterport’s $4,500 camera allows agents to take photos of a room and transform them into a 3-D rendering that …
Dec 10
The Closer to Campus, the Higher the Rent Multifamily properties near college campuses often can equate to higher returns, and investors haven’t overlooked this sector for steady profits. But how close do you have to be to the college campus to see the highest returns? CoStar evaluated multifamily data of 10 college campuses to …
Dec 09
A Look Back: Trending Real Estate Stories From 2013 Real estate had a big year in 2013 as the housing recovery strengthened, and the public showed an increasing appetite for real estate-related news. Realtor.com® created a “2013 Real Estate Review” Web page that highlights some of the site’s top trends, data, and stories of the …
Dec 06
Broomall PA Santa Claus Fire TruckTour 2013 Sunday, December 15th Starting at Noon All streets North of West Chester Pike. All streets in the borders of West Chester Pike, Springfield Rd & Lawrence Rd. Not including Lawrence Rd cul-de-sacs (Cyprus, Susses, Rose, Woodside) Tuesday, December 17th Starting at 5:15PM All streets in the borders of …
Dec 05
Study: Professional Photos of Listings Boosts Sales Professionally photographed homes tend to sell for more money and sell faster than homes listed with point-and-shoot cameras, according to a new study by the real estate brokerage Redfin. The study found that homes priced between $200,000 and $1 million sold for an average of $3,400 to $11,200 …
Dec 04
Falling New-Home Sales Spark Worry Dropping sales volumes in new-home construction has home builders worried about a possibly dismal spring looming in 2014. “There’s some nervousness about the spring selling season,” says Jody Kahn, a senior vice president at John Burns Real Estate Consulting. “That’s partly because they’re worried [that] the lack of urgency from …
