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Housing Inventory Decreases

The number of homes for sale declined 2.4 percent in November in the metropolitan areas covered by ZipRealty Inc. In the last 25 years, the decline in November has averaged 1.8 percent.

The data doesn’t include New York, but Miller Samuel Inc., an appraisal firm, reports that inventory was down 7.1 percent from the end of October and down 18 percent compared to November 2008.

October was the first month since January to show a rise in bank-owned homes. The number of bank-owned properties declined over the summer because of efforts to prevent foreclosures. As time runs out for many families, the number of foreclosures is increasing.

As of the end of October, banks and mortgage investors had 639,000 foreclosed homes for sale across the U.S., Barclays Capital estimates. “We expect a rebound in distressed inventory in the coming months,” says Glenn Boyd, a senior analyst at Barclays.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty (12/09/2009)

December 13, 2009 Posted by | economy, real estate, relocation | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

LOL Friday: The Beautiful Blonde…

A man met a beautiful blonde woman and decided he wanted to marry her right away.

She said, “But we don’t know anything about each other.”

He said, “That’s all right, we’ll learn about each other as we go along.”

So she consented, they were married, and off they went on a honeymoon at a very nice resort.

One morning they were lying by the pool, when he got up off of his towel, climbed up to the 10 meter board and did a two and-a-half tuck, followed by three rotations in the pike position, at which point he straightened out and cut the water like a knife.

After a few more demonstrations, he came back and lay down on the towel.

She said, “That was incredible!”

He said, “I used to be an Olympic diving champion. You see, I told you we’d learn more about each other as we went along.”

So she got up, jumped in the pool and started doing lengths. After seventy-five lengths she climbed out of the pool, lay down on her towel and was hardly out of breath.

He said, “That was incredible! Were you an Olympic endurance swimmer?”

“No,” she said, “I was a hooker in Little Rock and I worked both sides of the Arkansas River.”

December 11, 2009 Posted by | humor | , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Home Values Have Been Stabilizing

U.S. homes lost $489 billion in value during the first 11 months of 2009. That’s significantly less than the $3.6 trillion lost during 2008 and evidence that home values are stabilizing, says Zillow.com, online real estate research firm.

Properties in 48 of the 154 markets tracked by Zillow rose in value this year, but Zillow’s Chief Economist Stan Humphries believes prices could decline again in 2010.

“We believe that demand will come under downward pressure as mortgage rates creep back up after the first quarter and that housing supply will experience upward pressure as the volume of foreclosures continues to remain high. Both these factors will challenge the recent stabilization of home prices,” Humphries said in a statement.

Areas where home prices rose the most in 2009 were:
Boston
Providence
Denver, Colo.
Atlanta, Ga.
Rochester, N.Y.

Areas where homes continued to lose the most value:
Los Angeles
Chicago
New York
Miami-Fort Lauderdale
Phoenix

Source: Zillow.com (12/0920/09)

December 10, 2009 Posted by | economy, real estate, relocation | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

GNAR Releases Nashville’s Real Estate Stats for November

http://www.gnar.org/mlsrelease.htm.

December 9, 2009 Posted by | Brentwood, economy, Nashville, real estate, relocation, tennessee | Leave a Comment

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Bernanke Promises Low Rates

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Bernanke Promises Low Rates.

December 9, 2009 Posted by | economy, real estate | Leave a Comment

Cities With the Most Overpriced Properties

Despite having no luck selling their properties, home owners in some parts of the country have clung tenaciously to their notions of the value of their homes.

Forbes magazine ranked markets it considered the most overpriced based on the ratio of the median initial list prices compared to the median list prices at the time the properties actually sold. It also factored in how long the properties stay on the market. In addition, the magazine considered expert forecasts of price increases in the areas, which could be what were encouraging home owners to price high.

The top 10 areas where Forbes found the most over-priced properties were:
1. Orlando
2. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach
3. Jacksonville, Fla.
4. Baltimore-Towson
5. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet
6. San Antonio, Texas
7. Denver-Aurora
8. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
9. Indianapolis-Carmel
10. Austin-Round Rock

Source: Forbes, Francesca Levy (12/03/2009)

December 5, 2009 Posted by | economy, real estate, relocation | , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Mortgage Applications Rise Over Thanksgiving

Mortgage applications rose last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, mortgage loan applications increased 2.1 percent compared to the previous week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased 4.1 percent from the previous week, while the refinance index rose 1.7 percent.

On an unadjusted basis – reflecting the Thanksgiving holiday – the purchase index decreased 30.4 percent compared with the previous week and was 34.9 percent lower than it was the same week a year ago.

Mortgage rates continued to decline, with 30-year fixed rates reaching their lowest level since May.

30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.79 percent from 4.82 percent;
15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.27 percent from 4.32 percent;
1-year ARMs decreased to 6.56 percent from 6.66 percent.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (12/02/2009)

December 4, 2009 Posted by | economy, real estate | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Treasury Plans to Push Banks to Modify Loans

The Treasury Department announced Monday steps it is taking to encourage lenders to complete more loan modifications, but critics say the new initiative doesn’t address the problems of jobless borrowers or those who are significantly underwater.

The government blames banks and mortgage companies for dragging their feet and, under the new guidelines, will fine them if they fail to increase the number of home owners given relief. It also announced plans to publish a list of the worst banking offenders and to withhold cash incentives until loan modifications are made permanent. The Treasury Department also promises to assign more staff to monitor the process.

The government said it expects 375,000 home owners to be eligible for permanent mortgage reductions by the end of 2009.

Source: The New York Times, Javier C. Hernandez (12/01/2009)

December 3, 2009 Posted by | economy, real estate | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Nine Consecutive Gains for Pending Home Sales

Pending home sales have risen for nine months in a row, a first for the series of the index since its inception in 2001, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in October, increased 3.7 percent to 114.1 from 110.0 in September, and is 31.8 percent above October 2008 when it was 86.6. The rise from a year ago is the biggest annual increase ever recorded for the index, which is at the highest level since March 2006 when it was 115.2.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home sales are experiencing a pendulum swing. “Keep in mind that housing had been underperforming over most of the past year. Based on the demographics of our growing population, existing-home sales should be in the range of 5.5 million to 6.0 million annually, but we were well below the 5-million mark before the home buyer tax credit stimulus,” he said. “This means the tax credit is helping unleash a pent-up demand from a large pool of financially qualified renters, much more than borrowing sales from the future.”

By Region:

  • Pending sales in the Northeast surged 19.9 percent to 100.2 in October and is 44.2 percent above a year ago.
  • In the Midwest, the index rose 11.6 percent to 109.6 and is 36.6 percent higher than October 2008.
  • Sales in the South increased 5.4 percent to an index of 115.4, which is 31.6 percent above a year ago.
  • In the West, the index fell 11.2 percent to 127.7 but is 21.9 percent above October 2008.

Not Out of the Woods Yet
Yun cautioned that home sales could dip in the months ahead. “The expanded tax credit has only been available for the past three weeks, but the time between when buyers start looking at homes until they close on a sale can take anywhere from three to five months. Given the lag time, we could see a temporary decline in closed existing-home sales from December until early spring when we get another surge, but the weak job market remains a major concern and could slow the recovery process.

“Still, as inventories continue to decline and balance is gradually restored between buyers and sellers, we should reach self-sustaining housing conditions and firming home prices in most areas around the middle of 2010. That would mean broad wealth stabilization for the vast number of middle-class families,” Yun said.

Source: NAR, December 1, 2009

December 2, 2009 Posted by | economy, real estate | , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

December Tip: How to Care for Your Fresh-Cut Christmas Tree

When a Christmas tree is cut, over half of its weight is water.  With proper care, you can maintain the quality of your displayed trees. Below are a number of tips relating to the care of displayed trees: 

  • Displaying trees in water in a traditional reservoir type stand is the most effective way of maintaining their freshness and minimizing needle loss problems.
  • Make a fresh cut to remove about a 1/2-inch thick disk of wood from the base of the trunk before putting the tree in the stand. Make the cut perpendicular to the stem axis.  Don’t cut the trunk at an angle, or into a v-shape, which makes it far more difficult to hold the tree in the stand and also reduces the amount of water available to the tree.
  • Once home, place the tree in water as soon as possible. Most species can go 6 to 8 hours after cutting the trunk and still take up water. Don’t bruise the cut surface or get it dirty.
  • If needed, trees can be temporarily stored for several days in a cool location. Place the freshly cut trunk in a bucket that is kept full of water.
  • To display the trees indoors, use a stand with an adequate water holding capacity for the tree. As a general rule, stands should provide 1 quart of water per inch of stem diameter. Devices are available that help maintain a constant water level in the stand.
  • Use a stand that fits your tree. Avoid whittling the sides of the trunk down to fit a stand. The outer layers of wood are the most efficient in taking up water and should not be removed.
  • Keep displayed trees away from sources of heat (fireplaces, heaters, heat vents, direct sunlight). Lowering the room temperature will slow the drying process, resulting in less water consumption each day.
  • The temperature of the water used to fill the stand is not important and does not affect water uptake.
  • Check the stand daily to make sure that the level of water does not go below the base of the tree. With many stands, there can still be water in the stand even though the base of the tree is no longer submerged in water.
  • Drilling a hole in the base of the trunk does not improve water uptake.
  • Use of lights that produce low heat, such as miniature lights, will reduce drying of the tree.
  • Always inspect light sets prior to placing them on the tree. If worn, replace with a new set.
  • Do not overload electrical circuits.
  • Always turn off the tree lights when leaving the house or when going to bed.
  • Monitor the tree for freshness. After Christmas or if the tree is dry, remove it from the house.
  • Go to www.realchristmastrees.org and type in your ZIP code to find a recycling program near you.
  • Never burn any part of a Christmas tree in a wood stove or fireplace.

For additional information, please visit the National Christmas Tree Association.

December 1, 2009 Posted by | monthly tips | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

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