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New home sales slip in February; still up double digits from a year ago though

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for February 2012 showing a decrease of 1.6 percent from the month before, and an increase of 11.4 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for February was 313,000 homes, down from an

Continue reading… New home sales slip in February; still up double digits from a year ago though

Home sales slip slightly in February but up almost 9 percent from a year ago; home prices increase slightly

Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in February were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.59 million units which is a decrease of 0.8 percent from the month before and an increase of 8.8 percent from a year ago. The actual number of homes sold

Continue reading… Home sales slip slightly in February but up almost 9 percent from a year ago; home prices increase slightly

Mortgage delinquencies continue to decline; good news for the real estate market!

The U.S. mortgage loan delinquency rate was 7.57 percent of all home loans in February, down 5.0 percent from the month before and down 14.0 percent from a year ago, according to the “First-Look” report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data. The foreclosure

Continue reading… Mortgage delinquencies continue to decline; good news for the real estate market!

Report shows For Every Two Homes Available for Sale, There Is One in the "Shadow"

A report released this morning by CoreLogic shows that the current residential “shadow” inventory as of January 2012 was 1.6 million units, equivalent to a 6-months’ supply,  and approximately the same level last reported in October 2011.  The shadow inventory is down from a year ago though, when it was at 1.8 million units, or

Continue reading… Report shows For Every Two Homes Available for Sale, There Is One in the "Shadow"

New home construction on the increase

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for February 2012 showing an increase in single-family home building permits from the month before of 4.9 percent and a 9.9 percent decrease in new home starts compared to the month before.

Report Says Realtors' Existing Home Supply Understated by "Millions of Homes"

A report just released by RadarLogic states the obvious by saying “housing is a buyer’s market” which, I think by now, we all know.  However the report goes on to dig into the driving forces behind this buyer’s market and makes some interesting (and concerning) observations including the fact that, while the National Association of

Continue reading… Report Says Realtors’ Existing Home Supply Understated by "Millions of Homes"

Where are the best places to buy rental property?

Now that the real estate is showing signs of prices stabilizing in many parts of the country, investors are investing in rental property more and more.  However, for many, the $64 question is “where should I invest”?  Well, according to a survey of the “Best 100 U.S. Markets to Invest in Rental Property”, developed by

Continue reading… Where are the best places to buy rental property?

Foreclosure report shows mixed signals; rate down in U.S. but half of large metros up from a year ago

This morning, RealtyTrac released their U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for February 2012 which shows that foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) we’re reported on 206,900 properties in the U.S. during the month, a 2 percent decrease from the previous month and a decrease of 8 percent from the year before. During

Continue reading… Foreclosure report shows mixed signals; rate down in U.S. but half of large metros up from a year ago

Ninety-six percent of American's think now is a good time to buy a house according to survey

According to a national survey released today by Prudential Real Estate, Americans are significantly more optimistic about homeownership than they were a year ago. According to the survey, 60 percent of Americans have favorable views toward the real estate market. That’s up from 52 percent last year.

The survey shows other signs of increased consumer optimism

Continue reading… Ninety-six percent of American’s think now is a good time to buy a house according to survey

Rents increasing while home prices continue to decline

A report released today by Zillow shows that median rents rose 3 percent from January 2011 to January 2012 while, during the same period, home prices fell 4.6 percent.  According to the report, over two-thirds (69.2 percent) of the metro areas covered saw year-over-year gains in rents but only 7.3 percent of the metros saw

Continue reading… “The flourishing rental market is the silver lining to the nation’s housing downturn

Home buyers more motivated by updated kitchens than media rooms

A survey conducted by Coldwell Banker of it’s real estate agents across North America revealed that home buyers are motivated by lifestyle needs and are more willing to buy homes with updated kitchens and open floor plans than homes with “trendy” media rooms.

Highlights from the survey:

Of the real estate professionals surveyed:

94 percent say their

Continue reading… Home buyers more motivated by updated kitchens than media rooms

Report shows optimism for real estate market; home prices up in one of every 4 markets

Today, CoreLogic, a leading provider of real estate market information, released its March CoreLogic MarketPulse report which had a fairly optimistic outlook on the market including the fact that today 25 percent of all markets are experiencing increases in home prices which is in stark contrast to the height of the housing bust when 96 percent of all markets saw home prices fall.

Home prices decline in January; sixth consecutive month of decline

A report released this morning by CoreLogic, one of the nations leading providers of property information shows that home prices in the U.S. fell in January 3.1 percent from the year before and declined by 1.0 percent from the month before marking the sixth consecutive monthly decline in home prices.

Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices declined

Continue reading… Home prices decline in January; sixth consecutive month of decline

The 15 Best and 15 Worst Performing Real Estate Markets

Clear Capital just released it’s monthly Home Data Index™ (HDI) for March, which includes a list of the 15 best performing real estate markets in the U.S. as well as the 15 worst performing markets in the U.S.

At the top of the list for best performing markets is the metro area of Providence, RI –

Continue reading… The 15 Best and 15 Worst Performing Real Estate Markets

How not to evict a tenant

After 33 years in the real estate business I pretty much thought I had heard, or seen it all until this story came along. It seems that a landlord, Paul Fagerlie Finman back in 2010 resorted to using a tractor to begin disassembling an occupied home in Idaho in an effort to evict the tenant.

Continue reading… How not to evict a tenant

Homeowners with negative equity increases in fourth quarter

A report released today by CoreLogic shows that nationally 11.1 million, or 22. 8 percent , of homeowners with a mortgage were in a negative equity position at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011. This was an increase from 22.1 percent for the prior quarter. Negative equity is also referred to as being

Continue reading… Homeowners with negative equity increases in fourth quarter

Top Ten Cities to Buy REO's and Pre-Foreclosures

This morning, RealtyTrac released their U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for fourth quarter 2011 which showed that pre-foreclosure and REO home sales accounted for nearly one of every 4 home sales (24 percent) during the quarter which is an increase from 20 percent in the prior quarter, however down from 26 percent in the fourth quarter

Continue reading… Top Ten Cities to Buy REO’s and Pre-Foreclosures

Case-Shiller Home Price Index Falls to New Low in December; Maybe sign of new period of decline

This morning, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for December was released showing all three of the home price composites ended the year at new index lows. The national composite fell by 3.8 percent during the fourth quarter of 2011 and was down 4.0 percent from the year before. Both the 10-city and 20-city composites

Continue reading… Case-Shiller Home Price Index Falls to New Low in December; Maybe sign of new period of decline

Pending home sales index hits highest level since April 2010

The National Association of REALTORS released it’s Pending Home Sales Index for January today showing an increase of 2.0 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and an 8.0 percent increase from a year ago. This marks the highest level the pending home sales index has been at since April 2010 when

Continue reading… Pending home sales index hits highest level since April 2010

New home sales decline slightly in January; Inventory of new homes to lowest level in over a year

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for January 2012 showing a decrease of 0.9 percent from the month before, and an increase of 3.5 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for January was 321,000 homes, down from an

Continue reading… New home sales decline slightly in January; Inventory of new homes to lowest level in over a year

Existing home sales and prices increase in January

Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in January were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.57 million units which is an increase of 4.3 percent from the month before and an increase of 0.7 percent from a year ago. The actual number of homes sold

Continue reading… Existing home sales and prices increase in January

Babies and jobs key to real estate market recovery

Two things are driving home buyers into the real estate market; babies and jobs, according to a survey just released by Coldwell Banker.  According to the survey, 70% of real estate professionals surveyed say the “most common” reason buyers are searching for a new home today is a result of a new baby or growing

Continue reading… Babies and jobs key to real estate market recovery

Foreclosure activity increases in January; down from a year ago though

This morning, RealtyTrac released their U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for January 2012 which shows that foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) we’re reported on 210,941 properties in the U.S. during the month, a three percent increase from the previous month and a decrease of 19 percent from the year before. During

Continue reading… Foreclosure activity increases in January; down from a year ago though

New home construction activity picking up

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for January 2012 showing an increase in single-family home building permits from the month before of 0.9 percent and a 1.0 percent decrease in new home starts compared to the month before.

Victims of bad foreclosure practices get more time to apply for review and possible compensation

Last November I wrote about how victims of wrongful foreclosure could apply for an independent review of their file and possibly receive compensation under a new presented by acting Comptroller of the Currency, John Walsh. The deadline to apply for this was to be April 30, 2012, however, today, the Office of the Comptroller

Continue reading… Victims of bad foreclosure practices get more time to apply for review and possible compensation

REALTORS tell President Obama his budget proposal will harm housing and homeowners

Today, Moe Veissi, President of the National Association of REALTORS, issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s budget proposal: “As the leading advocate for housing and homeownership, NAR is strongly opposed to elements of President Obama’s budget proposal that would limit itemized deductions, including the mortgage interest deduction, for thousands of families.”

Foreclosures in 2011 down 24 percent from 2010

1.4 Million Homes in the Foreclosure Inventory at the End of 2011

According to a report just released by CoreLogic, there were 830,000 foreclosures completed during the year in 2011, a 24 percent decrease from 2010 when there were 1.1 million. For the month of December, there were 55,000 foreclosures, down 3.5 percent from November when

Continue reading… Foreclosures in 2011 down 24 percent from 2010

Real estate markets to watch in 2012

Where will the “Hot” real estate markets be in 2012? 
What would be the best cities to buy real estate in?

Boy, wouldn’t we all love to know the answers to those questions!  Considering this is, by far, the worst, and longest lasting, downturn in the real estate market I have seen in my 33 years in

Continue reading… Real estate markets to watch in 2012

Mortgage Interest Rates Fall Again to Yet Another New Record Low

Today Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, showing average mortgage rates have dropped to new all-time record lows!

Mortgage Interest Rates Reported:

What are the hot spots in the U.S. attracting home buyers?

Well, I guess my wife and kids aren’t the only people that want to move to Florida!  According to a report released by Trulia, house hunters from all over the country are searching for homes in Florida.  In fact, of the top 10 metro areas where demand among online house hunters is strongest, seven are

Continue reading… What are the hot spots in the U.S. attracting home buyers?