The housing recovery is expected to grow at an annualized rate 0.6 percent through the third quarter of this year, then gain momentum and prices are projected to grow 3.7 percent between the third quarters of 2013 and 2014 until settling down to 3.3 percent annual increases over the next three years according to Fiserv, a financial services technology provider using data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Read More »
Recovery Signals
It’s Official! Prices Increased a Lot Last Year
The major national home price reports agree on trends but never agree on numbers because their data comes from different places and are manipulated differently to create the most accurate results. Yesterday S&P Case-Shiller announced 20012’s gain was 7.3 percent. The federal government’s index showed a 5.5 percent gain. Read More »
Hottest Market Sales Going for a Premium Over List Price
Luxury Sales Approach Sellers’ Market
Top tier properties are getting close to ending their multi-year buyers’ market and quickly reaching a more equal balance between buyers and sellers, catching up with less expensive homes. Read More »
Sellers Awaken and Buyers Accelerate
The percentage of customers signing offers in January increased by 12 percentage points according to a leading brokerage and 23 percent of Americans think it is a good time to sell compared to 11 percent the same time last year, according to Fannie Mae’s January 2013 National Housing Survey results. Read More »
As Inventories Shrink, So Do Seller Concessions
With inventories down and prices up, sellers are ending the costly incentives they have been forced to offer buyers during the six-year long buyers’ market. Concession-free transactions make deal-making simply on both sides of the table. Read More »
Housing Recovery Hits a December Speed Bump
Home prices in January were unchanged from December and they barely remained in the black compared to a year ago, but rebounded in January, according to the most current national market report. Read More »
Florida Markets Still the Best Places to Buy Foreclosures
Hot foreclosure markets have come and gone over the past seven years but one thing seems to stay the same. The markets with the most and the cheapest foreclosures are still located in Florida. Read More »
Affordability Hangs Tough Despite Rising Prices
Despite the greatest price increases in years, affordability has hardly budged from six year peaks and in many of the nation’s most expensive markets, it’s still rising. Read More »
Case-Shiller Downplays the Doubters
Weak prices in a number of late fall markets as evident in NAR’s latest pending sales index has been causing concern in the real estate circles, but Case-Shiller, the final word on prices, downplayed the doubters today. Read More »