Mar 11
Are Foreclosures a Better Buy Than Short Sales? Consumers may find buying a bank-owned home better than buying a short sale. Increasing REO inventory, deeper discounts, and shorter times to close can make foreclosures a more attractive option to home buyers, according to new data from RealtyTrac. The average sales price of a bank-owned …
Mar 11
Best Crime Prevention? Add Housing, Report Says A new study suggests that adding residential neighborhoods can lower crime rates. Changes to zoning in Los Angeles — in areas that also then saw new development — were linked with a reduction in crime in surrounding neighborhoods, according to a new study by RAND Corp. The …
Mar 11
Housing Looking Good Despite Economic Headwinds The number of consumers who believe home prices will increase over the next year rose to record highs, according to Fannie Mae’s February 2013 National Housing Survey, which polled more than 1,000 Americans to assess their attitudes toward housing. Forty-eight percent of consumers surveyed say they believe home …
Mar 04
Jumbo Mortgage Comeback Helps Lift Luxury Sales. The revival in the luxury real estate market is being fueled by growth in jumbo mortgages, Reuters reports. Jumbo loans typically are more than $417,000. “Jumbo loans are returning to the mortgage market after almost disappearing entirely in the wake of the credit crisis of 2008 and the …
Mar 04
Economist Makes Bold Statement on Home Prices. Home values could surge 35 percent without stretching housing affordability, Raj Dosaj, vice president of the home price index at LPS Applied Analytics, said during a recent webinar hosted by HousingWire. Dosaj says that the increase in home prices could be less than that if mortgage rates rise, …
Mar 01
January Pending Home Sales Up in All Regions. Pending home sales rose in January, and have been above year-ago levels for the past 21 months, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. There were healthy monthly gains in all regions but the West, which, despite being constrained by limited inventory, still improved slightly. The …
Mar 01
Home Foreclosures Spark Crime, Report Says. As few as three Home Foreclosures on a block can lead to more crime in a neighborhood, according to a report by the New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy. Researchers evaluated the impact of Home Foreclosures filings and auctions in neighborhood blocks in New York. …
Feb 28
Asking/Selling Price Gap Closing A growing number of home owners are selling for an amount closer to their asking price, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Nationally, the average home sold for 98.3 percent of the sellers’ list price in December 2012, up from 97.1 percent in January 2011. Be sure your clients achieve the same …
Feb 28
Seller Shortage Plagues Many Housing Markets. The low inventory of for-sale homes is creating a seller’s market throughout the country. “Buyers and agents are literally waiting for the next house,” says Rick Turley, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage for the San Francisco Bay Area. The supply of existing homes for sale reached nearly …
Feb 27
Ivy League School Offers Free Homes Princeton University is offering free houses to the public, but they have to be able to haul the domiciles away. The homes—which have in the past been used as university offices or for other purposes—are all located south of campus on Alexander Street and have been made available …
Feb 27
60% of Single-Family Renters Plan to Buy Within 5 Years Renters of single-family homes are twenty-five percent more likely than apartment tenants to stay in their current homes fives years or longer, according to a new survey by Opinion Research Corporation. The finding suggests that “demand for single-family homes, the fastest growing rental category, …
Jan 11
Housing Recovery ‘Pushes Ahead’ As Prices Rise Housing prices are showing resiliency, posting their largest yearly gain in nearly two and a half years, according to Clear Capital’s Home Data Index Market Report, which covers housing data through December 2012. Year-over-year, home prices gained 4.9 percent nationwide, according to the report. For 2013, home …
