news_banner_400

Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

24/7 Wall St. recently asked real estate experts and several real estate organizations to weigh in on how sellers can get their house sold at the best price and in the shortest amount of time.

Here’s what they had to say as some of the best ways to get the “sold” sign out this spring:

  1. Pay attention to “curb appeal”:First impressions are critical, and homes with inviting landscapes and…

4231 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Seattle and Portland among cities to posted new index lows in February 2012.

news_banner_400

Nine Cities and Both Composites Hit New Lows in February 2012 According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices

Press Release: S&P Indices – 5 hours ago

NEW YORK, April 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Data through February 2012, released today by S&P Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller(1) Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed annual declines of 3.6% and 3.5% for the 10- and 20-City Composites, respectively. This is an improvement over the annual rates posted for the month of January, -4.1% and -3.9%, respectively. In addition to the two Composites, 15 of the 20 MSAs posted better annual returns in February compared to January; Atlanta,…

4080 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

news_banner_400 

Daily Real Estate News | Friday, April 20, 2012  

Living near a high-scoring public school district can raise home values $205,000 higher compared to homes located in neighborhoods with low-scoring school districts, according to a new study by Brookings Institution. Brookings analyzed the nation’s 100 largest metro areas to find the differences between living near a high-scoring public school and a low-performing school.

“We think of public education as being free, and we think of the main divide in education between public and private schools,” Jonathan Rothwell, a senior research analyst at Brookings, told The New York Times. “But it turns out that it’s actually very expensive to enroll your children in a high-scoring public…

2272 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

news_banner_400

Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Nationwide median list prices rose more than 5 percent in March compared to February, according to Realtor.com housing data of 146 markets. The median list price nationally is now $189,900.

In fact, nearly all of the 146 metro areas saw median list prices rise or hold steady month-over-month except for five metros (Columbia, Mo.; Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, Fla.; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.; Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo.; and Reading, Pa.).

The areas seeing some of the largest month-over-month increases in median list prices are:

1. San Francisco

Month-over-month increase: 6.10%

Median list price: $649,000

2. Washington, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va.

Month-over-month increase: 5.92%

…

2189 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

news_banner_400

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The nationwide inventory of residential homes for-sale dropped 21 percent in March compared to a year ago, according to newly released housing data from Realtor.com, tracking 146 metro markets.

In fact, all 146 markets posted a drop in their inventory, except for two — Hartford, Conn., and Philadelphia.

The nationwide median list price in March also saw improvement, increasing more than 5 percent last month compared to last year at this time.

The housing…

2093 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

news_banner_400

 

"Buyer Ready" Home Shoppers Have Edge as Brokers Report Rise in Multiple Offers

KIRKLAND, Wash. (April 5, 2012) – The housing market in the Puget Sound region is pointing toward a sustainable recovery, according to several brokers who commented on the March activity report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

MLS Members reported 9,126 pending sales during March, a year-over-year increase of nearly 21 percent. That total surpassed the previous month by 1,503 transactions (up 19.7 percent). Coupled with shrinking inventory, attractive financing, and rising consumer confidence, the market is becoming more balanced, and even being described by some brokers as "frenzied." Other brokers commented on the "remarkable opportunities for…

2397 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

As of Monday April 2nd, 2012, the median price for a single family residential Carlsbad home has increased dramatically to $678,490 with an average of 137 days on market, up 6 days from last weeks report.  Days on market have held fairly steady over the last few weeks, however only 34% of all listed properties who had a price decrease in the last seven days, while 5% of the homes had price increases.  Inventory levels have been relatively consistent given the current sell through rate, and overall days on market are trending downward.  Recently, the seven day moving price average recently made a strong move up away from the 90 day moving average, which would suggest that price stabilization is starting and short term prices are on the rise in the Carlsbad…

3389 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

news_banner_400

Daily Real Estate News |      Friday, March 30, 2012  

Mortgage rates were down across the board this week compared to last week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey.

After posting a big jump last week, 30-year mortgage rates were back below the 4 percent mark this week, offering another boost in home affordability for buyers.

Here’s a closer look at rates for the week ending March 29.

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.99 percent, with an average 0.7 point, falling back from last week’s 4.08 percent average. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.86 percent.
  • 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.23 percent, with an average 0.8 point, also slipping from last week’s 3.30 percent average. Last…

3936 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

news_banner_400

Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Scammers are increasingly taking actual online listing ads of homes for sale from real estate agents’ sites and reposting them on sites such as CraigsList as rentals, duping a growing number of renters.

Tug Pierson, a RE/MAX real estate professional in Indiana, says he learned of one of his for-sale listings being used in a rental scam, reposted online several times throughout the Internet.

Another real estate agent, whose listing was also reposted as a rental, says he learned of it when an unsuspecting renter contacted him to say he was at the house with a truck of furniture ready to…

3615 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post