Improving Housing Markets in nearly 1/4 of the Metros. Eighty U.S. metro areas are holding a spot in this month’s Improving Housing Markets Index, a housing index that spotlights housing markets showing gains over at least six consecutive months. The National Association of Home Builders/First American’s August index shows that 75 metro areas kept their spot …
Tag: News
Aug 09
Gen Y Buyers brought to starter homes by builder
Gen Y Buyers brought to starter homes by builder. A national home builder is wooing Generation Y renters with back-to-basics homes that offer all of the advantages of home ownership on a comfortable budget. Chicago, San Antonio, and St. Louis are the test markets that Centex Homes is using to convert younger tenants to Gen …
Aug 08
Housing Crash Effects on Home Ownership Views?
Housing Crash Effects on Home Ownership Views? Depending on how Americans’ experienced the housing crash – —whether they were a home owner or a bystander reading about it in the news—as well as their age influenced their perceptions of home ownership today, according to a new study by economists at the Boston Federal Reserve. Two-thirds …
Aug 08
Mortgage Closing Costs on the Decline
Mortgage Closing Costs on the Decline. Mortgage Closing costs have dropped by 7 percent over the last year, according to an annual survey on closing costs conducted by Bankrate.com. Closing costs average $3,754 nationwide. Title insurance and other third-party fees also saw a drop in the last year, falling 12 percent, and origination fees fell …
Aug 07
8 Signs Housing Is on the Mend
Housing Is on the Mend… Some Americans are still jittery over the housing market, but here are eight positive signs that should quell some of their fears. Housing prices are on the rise across the country. Foreclosures have slowed. Analysts suggest that as the supply of distressed homes slows, buyers will be forced into higher-price properties …
Aug 07
Stigmatized Properties Can Offer Big Bargains
Stigmatized Properties Can Offer Big Bargains. Home buyers who can stomach some misfortune in a home’s past may be able to find big discounts. For example, buyers can expect to pay 10 percent to 25 percent off the regular market home price for Stigmatized Properties, according to real estate consultant Randall Bell of Bell Anderson & …
Aug 06
Mortgage Rates Inch Up After Record Streak
Mortgage Rates Inch Up After Record Streak. Following a 13-week record-low streak, 30-year Mortgage Rates—the most popular choice among home buyers—started moving back up this week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey. The average 30-year mortgage had dropped or matched record lows in 13 of the last 14 weeks. But this week, mixed …
Aug 06
Home Ownership Unswayed
Home Ownership Unswayed. Eighty-five percent of Americans say they prefer home ownership over renting, according to a newly released Fannie Mae national housing survey of more than 12,000 interviews from 2011. The study finds that the housing and financial crisis has not been a big factor in Americans’ decisions to rent or buy. “The non …
Aug 03
First Time Home Buyers Make Up Smaller Share of Buyers
First Time Home Buyers Make Up Smaller Share of Buyers. The share of First Time Home Buyers on the market is falling to historical lows, despite record levels of housing affordability. With record low mortgage rates and falling home values, many would expect First Time Home Buyers to be flooding the market for their chance to …
Aug 02
Mortgages, Home Improvement Top Consumer Gripes
Mortgages, Home Improvement Top Consumer Gripes. When it comes to mortgages and home improvement, many consumers have some complaints, according to a new survey by the Consumer Federation of America, which reveals the top consumer complaints of last year. Among its list of 2011 top “worst” consumer gripes: mortgage-related problems, home improvement, timeshare sales and …
Aug 02
Housing Market Lifts Off From the ‘Bottom’
Housing Market Lifts Off From the ‘Bottom’. Recent Housing Market indexes have shown single-family home prices are on the rise, providing more evidence that the “bottom” of the market is already behind. “We’re wiping out just about all of the decline,” Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors, told NBC.com about recent Housing Market data showing …
Aug 01
Short Sale Rush Is On
Short Sale Rush Is On… Housing experts are predicting a drastic rise in short sale of homes, with an all-time high expected to be reached this year. The number of short sale on homes has already risen 25 percent during the first quarter year-over-year, according to RealtyTrac data. Banks are realizing that short sale of …
