Luxury: Flat Panels up 17% Year over Year
May 28, 2009 by admin
Filed under Positive Real Estate
Are luxury items a sign of a good economy? According to iSuppli Corp, flat-panel TVs are still flying off the shelves in the U.S. and Canada. Sales of new flat-panel TVs totaled 7.8 million in the first three months of the year, an increase of 17 percent from the same period in 2008.
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Consumers Feeling Better About Economy
May 26, 2009 by admin
Filed under Positive Real Estate
Consumer confidence extended its rebound in May, soaring to the highest level since last September as more shoppers are feeling the worst of the recession is behind them.
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index, which had dramatically increased in April, zoomed past economists’ expectations to 54.9 from a revised 40.8 in April. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting 42.3. In February, confidence levels had hit a new historic low of 25.3.
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- Consumer confidence jumps on jobs outlook (dailyfinance.com)
- Economists React: Shift From ‘End of the World’ to ‘Regular Slump’ (blogs.wsj.com)
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Realtors See Better Times Really Close/Already Here
May 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under Real Estate Articles
The table shows a recovery in confidence about both the current market and the expected outlook in recent months. A score of less than 50 indicates relatively poor market conditions; the current score of 33.5 for Single Family homes is clearly reflective of current market conditions, and the score of 45 shows continued concern in terms of the market outlook. However, overall confidence for the single family market outlook is improving. Increases in confidence are also apparent for townhouses and condos, but to a significantly lesser degree. The data in graph form are portrayed below. The reason for a weak condo market outlook appears to be due to stringent requirements for condo loans.
Realtors® Confidence Index—Current Conditions
Realtors® Confidence Index—Six Month Outlook
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Best Affordability In 18 Years
May 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under Positive Real Estate
Wow-Housing Affordability Highest in 18 Years!
Nationwide housing affordability jumped 10 percentage points during the first quarter of 2009 to its highest level since the series began 18 years ago, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).
The HOI showed that 72.5 percent of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2009 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,000, up from 62.4 percent during the previous quarter and up from 53.8 percent during the first quarter of 2008.
From http://charrissacawley.com/
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- Most affordable city in the nation (money.cnn.com)
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Housing To Rise
May 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under Positive Real Estate
- Image by Allie_Caulfield via Flickr
The Housing Market Hits the Bottom http://www.huliq.com/4745/81119/housing-market-hits-bottom
According to Real Estate Professionals and most of the major indices, the beleaguered housing market has finally hit the bottom or is only weeks away from being at the bottom of the market.
The mood in the Real Estate Industry seems to be on an uptrend. A recent survey conducted by HomeGain.com showed that almost half of Real Estate Agents who took part in the survey expect home prices to stop falling and begin increasing in the next six months. The majority of these Agents (85 percent) said that the homes in their areas had dropped in value in the last twelve months. However, the last couple of months they have definitely seen an increase in activity and sales.
Distressed Real Estate entrepreneur – Sam Zell – agrees with the survey. He is forecasting that the housing market will bottom out this summer because the drop in building is starting to impact supply. Zell recently said that “the U.S. will recover and recover first around the world because we have a culture and we have an environment where we face up to reality quickly and effectively.”
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- Sam Zell calls bottom for residential real estate, says GM is done (dailyfinance.com)
- U.S. housing may be nearing bottom: Case-Shiller index (financialpost.com)
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Bay Area Come Back
May 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under california, Positive Real Estate
- Image via Wikipedia
Bay Area home prices edged higher in April for the first time in 18 months, a sign that the region’s housing downturn may finally be easing, according to a new report.A total of 7,139 new and resale houses and condos sold in the Bay Area last month, up 13.1 percent from a year ago. It was the eighth consecutive year-over-year gain for the nine-county region.
From http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090521/BUSINESS/905219940/1036?Title=Is-the-Bay-Area-housing-market-stabilizing-
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U.S. expands housing aid program
May 21, 2009 by admin
Filed under Positive Real Estate
Banks could get incentive payments for allowing borrowers to sell their homes at a loss rather than go through foreclosure under new guidelines issued Thursday for the Obama administration’s $75-billion housing plan.
The program, known as Making Home Affordable, focuses on paying lenders to modify distressed borrowers’ loans so that payments are cheaper.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-housing15-2009may15,0,7106579.story
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American Institute of Architects: More Deals on the cusp
May 21, 2009 by admin
Filed under Real Estate Articles
The American Institute of Architects, the leading trade group for the profession, said Wednesday that its index of “work on the boards” reported by architects was 42.8, down from the 43.7 mark in March. This was the first time since last August and September that the index was above 40 for consecutive months, but the score still indicates an overall decline in demand for design services. The score must go above 50 to indicate an increase in billings.
One the plus side, the April score for new inquiries from clients about possibly starting projects was 56.8.
“The most encouraging part of this news is that this is the second month with very strong inquiries for new projects. A growing number of architecture firms report potential projects arising from federal stimulus funds,” said Kermit Baker, the institute’s chief economist. “Still, too many architects are continuing to report difficult conditions to feel confident that the economic landscape for the construction industry will improve very quickly. What these figures mean is that we could be seeing things turn around over a period of several months.”
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2009/05/architects-report-contracts-are-down-but-new-business-inquiries-are-up.html
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“Investors are going out there and outbidding everyone”
May 21, 2009 by admin
Filed under Positive Real Estate
“The free market is at work,” said Shannon Hubbard, a real estate agent and blogger here. “Prices got driven down so much that people said, ‘I’m going to come out and play.’ ”
More homes are selling than at any time since 2006. Prices are slowly stabilizing. Buyers are once again finding themselves in frantic bidding wars — only this time over foreclosed houses selling at deep discounts rather than ranch homes listing for vast sums.
“Once this thing turns, it may turn slowly,” Gunterman said in an interview. “But at some point I think it’s going to pick up because prices are so low.”
Mike Orr, a Phoenix real estate analyst, thinks the market already has hit bottom. Among the signs: As recently as January, a year’s worth of homes sat on the market; in March, that dropped to seven months’ worth of inventory.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-phoenix18-2009may18,0,7979477.story
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Multiple Offers More Common
May 19, 2009 by admin
Filed under Positive Real Estate
From Craig at the Harper-Mees Team in East Bay area of California
It happened again, just yesterday. A buyer wants to buy a foreclosure in hopes of getting a good deal on California real estate. After looking at several properties, they decide to put in an offer.
Hoping to offer the bank less than the asking price, they are shocked to learn there area already 8 offers in. What to do? What to do? Well, the bank is going to take the best offer, which is not necessarily the highest priced bid. A lower bid by a more qualified buyer might be accepted, but what to do?
The buyer ups the offer 5% over the asking price. Now it’s wait and see.
This is common tale these days as buyers that have been sitting on the fence decide the time to act is at hand. Unfortunately, the time to act may have been two months ago when there was a higher inventory of homes for sale and fewer offers.
Real estate market activity is picking up for many East Bay communities including: Danville, San Ramon, Pleasanton, Dublin and Walnut Creek. Many homes coming onto the market are seeing multiple offers in the first week. These are not short sales or foreclosures. Home prices are down, home sales climbing.
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