Roughly half of metropolitan areas continued to show rising home prices in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the latest quarterly survey by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. In the fourth quarter, 73 out of 150 metropolitan statistical areas show increases in median existing single-family home prices from a year earlier, including 11 areas […]
The truth about whether a home is a good investment.
From Blanche Evans Realty Times 2008. It’s high time we told buyers (and sellers, for that matter) the truth about whether a home is a good investment. Despite what Wall Street wants you to believe, owning a home isn’t the same kind of investment as stocks or bonds. What you get is a USE asset […]
House Committee Passes Mortgage Reform Bill
The U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved legislation on Tuesday creating new consumer protection standards in the mortgage industry. The bill drafted by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) would: Ban lenders from making loans that borrowers don’t have the ability to repay. Prohibit lenders from steering home owners into refinanced mortgages that don’t provide any benefit. […]
Weekly Residential Activity Report for St. Louis Metro Real Estate
Newly listed properties and properties back on the market…..1,911* Expired listings, price adjustments, and removed listings…..3,985* Closed sales, under contract firm and contingent…..1,821* Current properties for sale…..30,159* *Numbers obtained through the Mid America Regional Information Systems MLS and represent activity for the past 7 days.
Market Perspective
This is a well written article explaining why the news is bad and the market is good. Interestingly the market continues at a pace only slightly off it’s best ever while some analysts would have us believe market conditions are extremely bad. Economy in Focus BY ROBERT FREEDMAN Beneath Market Punditry, Underlying Strength With some 5 percent of subprime mortgage borrowers facing […]
Weekly Residential Activity Report for St. Louis Metro Real Estate
Newly listed properties and properties back on the market…..1,687* Expired listings, price adjustments, and removed listings…..3,849* Closed sales, under contract firm and contingent…..1,492* Current properties for sale…..30,932* *Numbers obtained through the Mid America Regional Information Systems MLS and represent activity for the past 7 days.
Market Conditions in Perspective
This is an excellent prospective on real estate and investment. The Long View by Lawrence Yun, Vice President, NAR Research “How much have real estate investors lost due to the housing market bust?” That was the (highly loaded) question posed to me recently by a producer of one of the major evening news programs. […]
NAR: Mortgage Conditions Bode Well for Housing
Conditions in the mortgage market are improving for consumers, which should help to release some pent-up demand in early 2008, according to the latest forecast by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Lawrence Yun, NAR vice president of research, notes that widening credit availability will help turn around home sales. “Conforming loans are abundantly available at […]
