| |
market trends: Will speculators prevent a housing recovery? - 01/27/09 01:37 PM
Kathleen M. Howley wrote an interesting article recently. Check it out on Bloomberg.com. Howley's thesis, built in large part upon interviews with Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz and co-creator of the widely used S&P/Case Shiller real estate price index Robert Shiller, submits that speculators are largely to blame for the current housing recession and these same flippers/professional investors will keep prices down for some time to come.
How did this happen? Flippers bought more than they could afford thanks to no-documentation loans and other risky mortgage products during the housing market bubble in the late 1990s and early 2000s. When many … (2 comments)
|
market trends: Pending home sales down across country; Northeast no exception - 01/06/09 12:40 PM
The National Association of Realtors® reported today that their forward-looking statistic, “Pending Home Sales Index“, based on contracts signed on previously owned homes, is down nationwide. With the economy going down the drain, huge job losses in many sectors, and consumer confidence very low, this number is no surprise.
Here in the Northeast, the numbers are the worst. The index dropped 7.2 percent to 63.2 in November and is 14.6 percent below a year ago.
Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Perhaps. The NAR’s “housing affordability index”, a complicated relationship between prices, mortgage rates, and family income, is … (2 comments)
|
market trends: MA mortgage rates down? Thank you, Federal Reserve - 11/25/08 08:10 PM
The Federal Reserve announced today that over the next year (18 months at most), they will be buying up mortgage-backed securities to the tune of $500 billion.
This is what the Fed had to say in a statement, per a Bankrate.com article,
"This action is being taken to reduce the cost and increase the availability of credit for the purchase of houses, which in turn should support housing markets and foster improved conditions in financial markets more generally."
What a nice Thanksgiving-week treat! Rates have immediately dropped today, and are likely to drop slightly over the next few weeks barring any … (1 comments)
|
market trends: MA residential property inventory down - 10/29/08 06:55 PM
A needed step appears to be taking place in the Massachusetts housing market. The Massachusetts Association of Realtors® reported September 2008 market data recently, and the housing correction continues.
Feel free to read all about it over at Bay State Realtor News. Here is an excerpt:
“The inventory of residential properties on the market as of September 30, 2008 decreased 13.6 percent compared to the same time last year (from 53,957 listings in 2007 to 46,598 listings in 2008). At the current sales pace, this represents approximately 10.2 months of supply, a decrease from 12.0 months of supply in September 2007. … (0 comments)
|
market trends: July home sales in Massachusetts and on the North Shore - 09/04/08 10:38 AM
The following numbers come from the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR). Surprise surprise, prices are down as are the number of units sold. It is interesting to note that condo prices statewide dropped a very small amount on average. The towns north of Boston were hit a little harder, with both single-family and condo prices dropping 12.1% versus a year ago. As always, real estate is local, and some towns are very insulated from the effects of these price drops. That said, it is quite a buyer's market right now, with plenty of inventory and lower prices. When this whole thing … (0 comments)
|
market trends: When will housing prices improve? - 06/11/08 03:35 PM
Home sales are way down, that much we know. Sales closing in March of 2008 were down almost a third from the same time frame a year earlier. How come? Without knowing all the facts, one would first point to the struggling economy. Recession fears are all over the news right now. Is that the problem? No. Boston’s economy continues to improve, and although there have been some layoffs in the financial services industry, job growth in our area remains steady. Popular sectors still hiring and growing in the Boston area are high tech and biotech firms. In fact, the economy … (4 comments)
|
market trends: How much should you offer? - 08/29/07 04:51 PM
A few years ago when the average time to sell a house was shorter than the current 9 months, a much different type of valuation and expected sales price was in place. One could normally expect to pay about $100k over the assessed value when purchasing a given property in Massachusetts. My, how times have changed.
In today's buyer's market where there is a glut of homes for sale and not enough qualified buyers to buy them, sellers feel rather lucky when they get $10k over assessed in many towns. Indeed, many homes today are listed at under assessed value in the hopes of … (1 comments)
|
|
|
|
|
|
John Morrison - Boston area real estate - Exclusive Buyer's Agent, CBR
Ipswich,
MA
More about me…
Buyer's Choice Realty
Address: 162 Main Street, Wenham, MA, 01984
Office Phone: (800) 252-8937
Email Me
 Links
Archives
|
;)
;)
