Topic Summary: Did you know that the average U.S. home spends $2,175 on utility costs per year? That’s over $180 per month! A recent survey indicated that 86% of consumers wanted to know average energy costs they would have to pay before they move into a new home. What follows are some resources that will […]
These days adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) are a good deal!
Call to ARMs “Forget the subprime mess. These days adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) are a good deal,” reports Ashela Ebeling, Financial Reporter for Forbes magazine, especially for certain well-off home buyers looking to purchase or home owners wanting to refinance. Many borrowers who purchased houses with ARMs during the subprime boom got hooked into using […]
Foreclosures Dip But Remain High
Daily Real Estate News | March 13, 2008 Foreclosures in February were down 4 percent from January, but the rate of foreclosures remain high year-over-year. The February rate was up 57 percent from February 2007. “The year-over-year increase this February was significantly higher than the 19 percent year-over-year increase in February 2007, indicating we have […]
Housing Market Ready to Rebound?
Daily Real Estate News | February 25, 2008 Is housing about to enjoy a spring thaw or will it remain in the deep freeze? Some observers are optimistic. “I think this is the best buyer’s market that has existed in a decade, maybe longer,” says Russell Shaw, in his 30th year with John Hall & […]
Don’t Fear Falling Prices
Daily Real Estate News | February 22, 2008 Source: Reuters News, Lynn Adler (02/21/08) Yale Professor Robert Shiller, whose Case-Shiller 20-city home price index has become an industry standard, says people shouldn’t fear gradually falling home prices. “There’s nothing troubling about a gradual correction of home prices. If we keep our incomes at the current […]
Home Prices up in Half of Markets
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 […]
Housing Stocks Become Hot Item
Investors who bought housing stocks at the beginning of the year after two and a half years of steep declines are being rewarded for their prescience. As the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates, the stocks of home builders Toll Brothers, Lennar, and Hovnanian rose 40 percent, 52 percent, and 96 percent respectively. Some analysts […]
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. […]
Weekly Residential Activity Report for St. Louis Metro Real Estate
Newly listed properties and properties back on the market…..1,904* Expired listings, price adjustments, and removed listings…..2,813* Closed sales, under contract firm and contingent…..1,371* Current properties for sale…..30,827* *Numbers obtained through the Mid America Regional Information Systems MLS and represent activity for the past 7 days.
