Dec 18
Incentives Still Help Seal Deals, Builders Say While home buying has picked up, some builders say reluctant buyers may need an extra push to get moving. Some developers are offering up incentives or discounts paid by the developer at closing to help speed up deals, finish out housing projects, and sell hard-to-unload homes. “[Incentives] …
Dec 14
Fed Plans to Keep Interest Rates Low The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it plans to keep interest rates low as long as the unemployment rate is above 6.5 percent. This was the first time that the Fed has ever identified an exact unemployment rate to be reached before it plans to raise interest rates. …
Dec 14
The Best Buyers’ Market Is … Chicago is the top housing market for home shoppers, according to recent rankings of 30 of the largest U.S. metro areas released by Zillow. This is the second year in a row the Second City has nabbed the top spot. To arrive at its rankings, Zillow analyzed selling prices …
Dec 13
Blogging Mistakes to Avoid for Real Estate Agents Many real estate professionals have blogs to help them reach out to new customers and establish credibility and expertise. But if you’re not careful, blogging could hurt your brand — not help it. Forbes recently highlighted some of the following common blogging mistakes to avoid: Not posting …
Dec 10
Number of Improving Housing Markets Soars The number of improving housing markets grew by 76 in December to a total of 201, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Market Index. The index identifies U.S. metro areas that have shown improvement in home sales, employment, and housing values for at least the …
Dec 07
Short Sales Surge Before Potential Tax Hike Real estate professionals are rushing to get short sales completed before the end of the year. That’s when a tax break expires that could leave borrowers responsible for paying any unpaid mortgage debt. Short sales from borrowers behind on their payments jumped 22 percent over last year for …
Dec 07
Home Prices Post Another Big Gain More housing surveys are showing a rise in home prices, and the latest coming from CoreLogic this week shows values soared to their largest annual increase in more than six years. CoreLogic says the Home Prices index jumped 6.3 percent in October compared to a year ago, marking the eighth-consecutive …
Dec 05
Luxury Home builder Sees Profits Surge Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. is being considered one of the top performers in the home-building sector, reports The Wall Street Journal. The home builder saw its quarterly profits surge, with its home building rising across all regions. The Northeast makes up 60 percent of Toll Brothers’ business …
Dec 05
No Foreclosures for the Holidays From Fannie, Freddie Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced Monday that they will temporarily halt all bank repossessions and evictions beginning in mid-December until Jan. 2, 2013. The temporary foreclosure suspension goes into effect beginning Dec. 17 and Dec. 19, respectively. The moratorium will not affect the filing …
Dec 04
Can Rising Home Prices Actually Delay the Recovery? The rapid increase in home prices in some markets may wind up hampering the housing recovery, CNBC columnist Diana Olick reports. “The reason is that the rise in prices is mainly due to investors, mostly large hedge funds, that have been swooping into the most distressed markets …
Nov 28
‘Tis the Season to Stay Connected With Clients The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be a challenging time for real estate agents, as families focus their attention on traveling, entertaining, and other family activities. But that doesn’t mean property deals grind to halt. Sending out newsletters or holiday greeting cards, e-mailing clients the newest …
Nov 27
First-Time Home Buyers Being Shut Out? First-time home buyers are a shrinking pool, making up less of the housing market. Typically, they represent about 40 percent of buyers, but today their numbers have dropped to about 31 percent of buyers, according to housing data by the National Association of REALTORS®. First-time home buyers are the …
