An interesting article from CNBC about the national housing market.
John W. Schoen | CNBC | July 30, 2013 at 3:02 PM ET
If you tried to buy a home in Phoenix a year ago, you probably would have been able to land it for well under the asking price.
Those days are gone. In a city that was hit hard after the housing bubble burst in 2007, you’re more likely to encounter a bidding war for that split-level ranch on the cul-de-sac you had your eye on.
Prices have leapt 20 percent in the last year in Phoenix. Real estate agent Tucker Blaylock says they will keep rising as long as interest rates remain near historic lows, thanks to the Federal Reserve. Read more…
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RISMEDIA, Thursday, July 25, 2013—
Existing-home sales declined in June but have stayed well above year-ago levels for the past two years, while the median price shows seven straight months of double-digit year-over-year increases, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dipped 1.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.08 million in June from a downwardly revised 5.14 million in May, but are 15.2 percent higher than the 4.41 million-unit level in June 2012. Read more…
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Naples Makes Top 10 Turnaround List
By Nick Caruso
RISMEDIA, Saturday, July 13, 2013— The housing market is on the road to recovery and you know what that means: There is more good news to be shared and celebrated in the industry. According to reports from Kiplinger, 12 metropolitan areas fared the best in 2012, thanks to below-average unemployment rates, an improving economy and increased buyer confidence. All of these factors and more are helping transform these cities into seller’s markets:
• Phoenix, Ariz.
• Provo, Utah
• Cape Coral-Ft. Myers, Fla.
• Minneapolis, Minn.
• Akron, Ohio
• Youngstown, Ohio
• Seattle, Wash.
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Boise, Idaho
• San Jose, Calif.
• Washington, D.C.
• Tucson, Ariz.
This upturn is without question positive news. According to Pat Esswein, associate editor for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, there are many positive and healthy drivers aiding in these cities’ turnaround. Read more…
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Area home prices to jump by double-digits in next year, research group says
Features New Home Buyers Want
By Nick Caruso | RISMEDIA, Tuesday, June 25, 2013
The housing market is on the road to recovery and you know what that means: There is more good news to be shared and celebrated in the industry. According to reports from Kiplinger, 12 metropolitan areas fared the best in 2012, thanks to below-average unemployment rates, an improving economy and increased buyer confidence. All of these factors and more are helping transform these cities into seller’s markets:
• Phoenix, Ariz.
• Provo, Utah
• Cape Coral-Ft. Myers, Fla.
• Minneapolis, Minn.
• Akron, Ohio
• Youngstown, Ohio
• Seattle, Wash.
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Boise, Idaho
• San Jose, Calif.
• Washington, D.C.
• Tucson, Ariz.
This upturn is without question positive news. According to Pat Esswein, associate editor for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, there are many positive and healthy drivers aiding in these cities’ turnaround. Continue reading…
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RISMEDIA, Saturday, June 22, 2013
Freddie Mac recently released its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for June showing the effects rising interest rates are having on certain markets around the country and the overall housing recovery. A short preview video and the complete June 2013 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook are available here.
Outlook Highlights
Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have risen about 0.5 percentage points over the past several weeks and are expected to hover around 4.0 percent during the second half of 2013.
With rising mortgage rates, expect a sharp decline in refinance volume in the second half of this year; refinance originations are expected to total about $1.1 trillion in 2013, down from $1.5 trillion in 2012.
At today’s house prices and income levels, mortgage rates would have to be nearly 7 percent before… Read more
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By Paul Owers | RISMEDIA, Friday, May 24, 2013— (MCT)
Some buyers are solving housing woes with prose.
They’re not writing poems or romantic novels — just short notes to sellers, telling them how happy they’d be to buy their homes.
The simple gesture is paying off in today’s market, where inventory is tight and bidding wars are typical.
“Money talks, but a letter gives a human element to an offer,” says Michael Citron, a real estate agent in Broward and Palm Beach counties. “Sellers want to sell to a buyer who they’re comfortable with and can relate to.”
Cynthia Kelley fell in love with a four-bedroom home in Coral Springs, Fla., as soon as she saw the “doggy doors” and the big back yard.
But four other buyers also wanted the home. So her agent suggested she write a letter, explaining to the seller how much the home would mean to her.
“I have three golden retrievers myself and know they would be in heaven with all that fabulous space to run and play,” she wrote.
Kelley, 48, included a photo of herself with the pooches and also explained that she is a reserve Army nurse who is ready to buy after enduring some financial hardships when she was called to active duty from 2005 to 2007.
“I was hoping to appeal to their personal side,” Kelley says.
She submitted a strong offer, which was the most important factor, said Clayton Banks, the seller. But her note confirmed for him that she was the right buyer. The deal closed last week.
“It made us feel better about selling to her,” Banks says.
Writing a letter probably is one of the easiest things buyers have to do to land a home these days, said Samantha DeBianchi, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., agent.
In some cases, they’re giving sellers more time to move by allowing them to stay in the homes after the closing. Lawyers typically advise against these post-occupancy agreements, but buyers are willing because so few properties are available, agents say.
One of DeBianchi’s clients had to adopt the seller’s cat as part of the purchase. The client was a dog owner, but she agreed to the deal.
“This is just how it is,” DeBianchi says. “Sellers are completely in control.”
A letter from a buyer probably won’t make a difference if the offer is considerably lower than others that the seller has received, agents say. Nor will a letter sway a lender, which wants the highest price and the easiest closing possible.
But many traditional sellers feel attached to their properties and don’t want to unload to just anybody, said Judy Trudel, an agent in Lighthouse Point, Fla.
“Sellers want to know the buyer will live in and enjoy the home as much as they did,” Trudel says.
Heather Cameron found a quaint, three-bedroom home in Coconut Creek, Fla., but it had multiple offers.
Cameron, a fan of HGTV’s “House Hunters,” saw that an eager buyer on the show wrote a letter to a seller, so she figured it was worth a try.
Cameron began by complimenting the sellers on the home and explained that she and her fiance, a Fort Lauderdale police officer, hope to buy before they get bogged down in wedding plans.
She added that they want to start a family, and the home would be perfect because her sister lives in the same community.
Within hours of receiving the letter, the sellers accepted the offer.
“Everyone told us horror stories about buying a home,” says Cameron, 23, an event planner. “But this was the easiest process.”
©2013 Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Distributed by MCT Information Services
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