real estate news: NAR Launches Political Candidate Training Academy - 09/21/12 10:02 AM
If you like watching CNBC and C-SPAN more than ESPN and A&E, the National Association of Realtors has an initiative to help you hone your political chops if a run for public office ever grabs your fancy.
Launched a few months ago, the Candidate Training Academy was developed to give Realtors and industry-friendly candidates an introduction to how to run for elected office. It’s intended to give candidates a head start if they choose such a patch on the local, state or national level, in addition to supplying information on how to run a campaign.

The NAR says … (1 comments)

real estate news: Dictionary Inducts New Real Estate Terms - 09/05/12 02:22 AM
The real estate term “underwater” is here to stay. Look it up. You can do so because the term commonly used now in the housing industry has made it to the big time – Merriam-Webster, which recently included it in its dictionary passages.
According to the 2012 update, underwater in the real estate sense is defined as “having, relating to, or being a mortgage loan for which more is owed than the property securing the loan is worth.” And while it’s unfortunate that such a definition had to come about, there was semi-good news recently when national outlets reported that … (2 comments)

real estate news: July’s New Home Construction Building a Good Foundation - 07/31/12 01:23 AM

A foundation is being built for the housing recovery as 2012 makes the turn toward the backstretch of a year many see as the start of something good, or at least a lot better than the previous five or six years. That foundation, appropriately enough, is coming from homebuilder confidence. A report from the National Association of Home Builders in July showed the largest one-month gain since September 2002 in the newly built single-family home market. Gains were shown in homebuilder confidence over rising sales conditions, prospects for future sales and traffic of prospective buyers.

“This is greater … (0 comments)

real estate news: Affordability Index Another Positive Factor for Housing - 04/30/12 02:41 AM

If you work primarily with buyers, you’ve probably used historically low interest rates as one of the carrots to dangle in front of potential clients. Now there’s even more positive food for thought to offer in the form of a recent National Association of Realtors report showing housing affordability at its highest level since records started being kept in 1970.
NAR’s Housing Affordability Index rose to a record high 206.1 early this year, based on the relationship between median home price, median family income and average mortgage interest rate. The higher the index, the greater the household purchasing power. And … (1 comments)

real estate news: Improving market conditions! Is it happening in your city? - 04/20/12 01:52 AM

Ah, spring is in the air. Time for a young Realtor’s fancy to turn to … improving market conditions! Is it happening in your city? Hopefully it is, because things apparently are booming and blooming in a number of areas, according to a HouseHunt agent survey.
Whether the uptick in numbers and attitudes from the first quarter of 2012 continues hinges on a variety of issues, but any sign of life has to be taken as a positive, right? Now if only the government can refrain from mucking things up.
Much of the upbeat attitude from HouseHunt’s report stems from tighter … (3 comments)

real estate news: Things are Tightening Up Regarding Inventory, According to Agents - 04/09/12 02:09 AM
Normally the word “tight” has negative connotations. It could mean a tense atmosphere or a scarcity of money, among other things. It has mixed messages for real estate, however, as a tightening of inventory means things are shifting toward the other end of the pendulum in some spots. More offers on homes means prices could go up, but a limited supply of options could also be the calm before the storm when more bank-owned properties flood the market. Alvarez said investors and cash sales are driving up the market and that short sales account for approximately half of the activity. She … (1 comments)

real estate news: Lending Standards and Appraisals Remain Hot-Button Topics - 04/06/12 01:37 AM
There are signs that the housing market is getting back on track, but the gains are fragile and could become derailed by a number of issues. One reared its head in February, according to a Realtors Confidence survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors, which showed that nearly one-third of polled agents experienced a contract cancellation during the month. That’s up drastically from a year ago that had only 9 percent reporting cancellations.
What’s the deal? The escrows aren’t falling apart, according to the NAR, but more than triple the number of agents reported deal-busting problems compared with a year … (0 comments)

real estate news: Obama’s Mortgage Plan Divides, But Can it Conquer? - 03/30/12 02:56 AM

President Obama recently introduced a mortgage refinance plan in an attempt to shake things loose in a housing market showing signs of recovery. But as is typical with politics these days, the only thing he shook up was rhetoric and posturing.
California Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren says some ideas are “quite good,” but “unfortunately a large portion of it would require legislation, and we have seen that the Republicans ... are unwilling to pass legislation.”
Countered California Republican Congressman John Campbell: “Like many things that are happening right now, particularly from the president, this is a campaign-oriented proposal and not … (3 comments)

real estate news: Real Estate News Recap - Nov. 22 - 26 - 11/30/10 09:35 AM
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with their family and has readjusted back to a regular work schedule, so let’s take a look at some of recent goings on in real estate.
Little Change in Interest Rates
Mortgage rates saw a minuscule rise last week, but essentially remained the same as they were in the previous week. Rates on the 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage ended the week at 4.40%, up only a hundredth of a point from a week prior. The 15 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage was also up a hundredth of a point to 3.77%. 
Housing Remains Affordable … (2 comments)

real estate news: 3Q 2010 Market Conditions Report from HouseHunt - 10/13/10 06:04 AM
Record Low Interest Rates and Buyer Tax Credits Lead to More Buyers than Sellers on the Market for the First Time in Years, New HouseHunt Survey Shows
Boosted by record low interest rates and homebuyer tax credits, the number of buyers in the market has pulled slightly ahead of the number of sellers in the United States’ housing market.
Forty-four percent of real estate agents polled by HouseHunt.com reported that there were more buyers than sellers in their local market, the largest figure recorded in nearly three years and up 10 percent from the second quarter of 2010.
The number of … (1 comments)

real estate news: The Week in Real Estate 10/4 - 10/8 - 10/11/10 07:01 AM
Bank of America Pauses Foreclosure Sales
Bank of America announced this morning that they will stop for the time being foreclosure sales across the United States while they continue their review of foreclosure documents. “Our ongoing assessment shows the basis for our past foreclosure decisions is accurate,” Bank of America said in a press release. “We continue to serve the interests of our customers, investors and communities. Providing solutions for distressed homeowners remains our primary focus.”
Mortgage Rates Continue to Drop
Once again mortgage rates continued to drop to record lows this week as rates on 30-year Fixed Rate … (0 comments)

real estate news: The Week in Real Estate Ending 9/24 - 09/27/10 05:00 AM
 
The mortgage rate freefall of the past few months might have dropped as low as it’s going to drop for now as rates on 30-Year and 15-Year Fixed Rate Mortgages remained the same as last week, holding steady at 4.37% and 3.82% respectively. While both figures are still hovering just slightly above record lows, the trend of continuously falling rates throughout most of 2010 has slowed down throughout September.
The National Association of Realtors announced this week that sales on existing homes saw an increase of 7.6% in August after a drop in sales in July. While the figure is … (0 comments)

real estate news: Real Estate News Recap for August 1 - 6 - 08/11/10 06:18 AM
Hello everyone!
I wanted to do a quick write up recapping last week's happenings in the real estate industry as reported across the country.
For the week of August 1 - 6
The trend of rates dropping on 30 year Fixed Rate Mortgages continued last week as rates saw yet another record low, dropping last week to 4.49%. For buyers able to make a purchase, this is literally one of the best opportunities to buy in decades. The rate on 15 year Fixed Rate Mortgages also fell to a new record low, ending the week at 3.95%, down from last week’s … (0 comments)

real estate news: Catching Up on the Latest Real Estate News - 07/07/10 04:21 AM
I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend as we head back into the grind this week. Though we may rest, real estate does not, so I wanted to take some the space in the blog today to share a few recent links to some real estate articles from over the last few days.
Treasury Launches New Mortgage Help for Unemployed in July – From HousingWire.com
HUD's American Housing Survey Results – From RealtyTimes.com
Pending home sales 'fell off a cliff' – From CNNMoney.com
Economic Rebound May be Losing Ground, Data Show – From RISMedia.com
Burned by solar - Stimulus program undermined … (2 comments)