After more than two years of recovery, homes in mid-tier price ranges now offer the now offer home buyers the best deals, relative to peak values, according to a new analysis by Clear Capital. After 32.3% growth from the trough in 2011, low-tier deals appear to be played out compared to mid-tier deals (homes selling between $95,000 and $310,000 nationally), … Read More »

The year over year price increases that the real estate industry has grown accustomed to may be in for some dicey days if sales in April aren’t better than March.  March prices registered an 11.1 increase over 2013, 1.3 percent higher than February, but CoreLogic is forecasting a rise of only 0.8 percent in April. The CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates … Read More »

  April is supposed to be the month that real estate agents’ phones ring off the hooks, yard signs sprout like dandelions, buyers line up for showings and offers fall from the sky like cherry blossom petals. Above all, this was to be the spring season when at last all the stars were properly aligned in the real estate galaxy … Read More »

In the first quarter some 9.1 million U.S. residential properties were seriously underwater — where the combined loan amount secured by the property is at least 25 percent higher than the property’s estimated market value — representing 17 percent of all properties with a mortgage. That’s the lowest level since RealtyTrac began reporting negative equity in the first quarter of … Read More »

Even though it takes an average of 19 months to complete a foreclosure today, at least half of the bank-owned REOs in a recent RealtyTrac survey were still occupied by the former homeowner or a tenant.  Many of the owners who stayed in their homes did so rent-free for as much as two years or more since they made their … Read More »

Daffodils, April showers, robins and a new crop of For Sale signs seem to be working their seasonal magic on home buyers.  The latest Fannie Mae survey, conducted in March, reports that the gloominess that shrouded buyers during the bitter winter months has melted away and attitudes are nearly as positive as they were a year ago. Consumers who said … Read More »

  Market forces are changing the shape of luxury locations, expanding borders to enlarge the supply of million dollar plus homes just outside of historically affluent neighborhoods.  Unlike homes at the other end of the price scale where inventory shortages fueled double digit price increases, the new growth is a result of the reviving economy Coldwell Banker Previews International® released … Read More »

Despite slow sales and paralyzing storms in much of the nation, February year over year prices rose to 12.2 percent, an increase of two points over January and monthly prices rose 0.8 percent, CoreLogic reported today. Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, rose 12.2 percent in February 2014 compared to February 2013, the 24th month of consecutive year-over-year increases in … Read More »

The salad days of low price tier home sales (homes selling for $95,000 and less) that fueled the recovery over the last two years are ending and with them, the legions of investors that have led the nation’s housing recovery. “The Investors Did Their Job,” headlines Clear Capital’s latest market report.  “Can traditional home buyers take it from here?” Deeply … Read More »

Three Texas markets lead the list of markets facing  a housing shortage that will boost home prices even higher than expected in the spring buying season, according to Local Market Monitor’s quarterly top investment targets. “The economy has been growing quickly in these markets, there are lots of renters, and there aren’t many foreclosed properties to provide competition,” noted Ingo … Read More »