| |
loan modificat: The Real Estate Geeks - As Buyer Traffic Grows, Homebuilder Confidence Slips - 06/01/11 10:19 AM
Homebuilder confidence is falling -- a good sign for buyers of newly-built homes.
According to the National Association of Homebuilders, the Housing Market Index slipped one point to 16 in April. It's the 5th time in 6 months that the index read 16 -- a figure exactly in line with the 1-year average, but still considered "poor". The Housing Market Index reports on a scale of 1-100.
Values of 50 or better representing "favorable conditions". Values below 50 are considered "unfavorable".
It's been 5 years since the Housing Market Index read north of 50.
As an index, the HMI is actually … (0 comments)
|
loan modificat: The Real Estate Geeks - Pending Home Sales Drop For Second Straight Month - 03/09/11 10:09 AM
After a strong run to close out 2010, the market for home resales softened a bit in January.
On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the Pending Home Sales Index dropped 3 percent last month, and December's figures were revised downward for a loss, too, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
A "pending home sale" is defined as a home under contract to sell, but not yet closed.
The forward-looking index is now at a 3-month low on a national level, but still well ahead of its rolling 6-month average.
Unfortunately, national data isn't overly helpful for buyers and sellers of real estate. … (0 comments)
|
loan modificat: The Real Estate Geeks - The Psychological Tactics That Supermarkets Use On Customers - 03/07/11 04:05 PM
More than 50% of supermarket purchases are "impulse buys". You may not have known that, but the supermarkets do. And they've built their stores accordingly. A fool and his grocery cart are soon filled to the brim.
In this 6-minute video from NBC's The Today Show, you'll learn how supermarkets use everything from packaging to placement so that customers spend more of their money with each store visit.
Among the supermarkets' tricks:
Placing flowers and bakery at the front of the store to "make you salivate" Specific "deal wording" (e.g. Buy 5 for $5.00) meant to entice larger purchases Placing staples … (0 comments)
|
loan modificat: The Real Estate Geeks - New Home Sales Crater In January, Opening The Door For Deals With Builders - 03/07/11 10:55 AM
p>
Not all housing reports are sunny, it seems.
In its monthly New Home Sales release, the U.S. Department of Commerce showed a 13 percent drop-off in annualized new construction sales between the months of December and January.
It's the biggest one-month drop in New Home Sales since May 2010.
In addition, the supply of new homes for sale spiked higher to 7.9 months last month. "Home supply" is defined as the amount of time it would take to sell the complete "for sale" inventory at the current pace of sales.
In December, the supply measured just 7.0 months,
Don't fret … (0 comments)
|
loan modificat: al Estate Geeks - Existing Home Supply Down 40% In Last 6 Months - 03/07/11 08:00 AM
Home resales rose another 2.7 percent last month, according to the National Association of REALTORS® monthly Existing Home Sales report.
An "existing home" is a home that's been previously occupied and is not considered new construction.
The number of existing homes sold on a rolling 12-month basis is now at its highest point since May 2010, the month before the federal homebuyer tax credit ended. It's also up some 40% since July 2010, the month after the tax credit ended.
But that's not the biggest story in the Existing Home Sales report. The precipitous decline in home inventory deserves more attention.
… (1 comments)
|
loan modificat: The Real Estate Geeks - Foreclosure Activity Drops Throughout The Most Foreclosure-Heavy States - 02/27/11 08:47 AM
Foreclosure activity is slowing. According to foreclosure-tracker RealtyTrac, the number of foreclosure filings dropped 17 percent on an annual basis last month. Monthly filings ticked higher 1 percent after a combined 23 percent decrease through November and December 2010.
The phrase "foreclosure filing" is a catch-all term, comprising default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions.
January marked the third straight month of sub-300,000 filings after 20 straight months above it.
As compared to January 2010, six of the nation's 10 most foreclosure-heavy states posted an annual foreclosure filing reduction. The remaining four showed modest worsening.
It's noteworthy that states like California … (0 comments)
|
loan modificat: The Real Estate Geeks - Home Remodeling Projects That You Should Skip - 02/20/11 12:12 PM
Home remodeling is back in vogue.
With contractors dropping prices in most U.S. markets, and a resurgence in confidence among homeowners, home remodeling projects are expected to top $125 billion this quarter.
Not all renovations will be "worth it", according to Remodeling Magazine's 2011 Cost vs Value report, but some projects should never be started -- especially when said projects render a home somewhat un-sellable.
For example, if installing a new toilet requires that the discharge pipes run along the living room ceiling, the project should be re-engineered, or skipped entirely.
A recent renovation article on CNNMoney.com listed several others "never … (4 comments)
|
loan modificat: The Real Estate Geeks - Unemployment Rate Drops To Lowest In 2 Years - 02/20/11 11:46 AM
Americans are getting back to work. Sort of.
This morning, at 8:30 AM ET, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Non-Farm Payrolls report for January 2011. More commonly called "the jobs report", the government's data showed a large decrease in the number of working Americans as compared to December, but a sizable drop in the Unemployment Rate.
The job growth figures were much lower than consensus estimates:
Expected job growth in January : +148,000 jobs Actual job growth in January : +36,000 jobs January's Unemployment Rate surprised analysts, too, but not in a bad way, falling from 9.4 percent in … (0 comments)
|
loan modificat: The Real Estate Geeks - The Home Price Index Shows Flat For November - 02/15/11 08:13 AM
Home values were reported unchanged in November 2010, on average, according to the Federal Home Finance Agency's Home Price Index.
We say "on average" because the government's Home Price Index is a data composite for the country. The index doesn't measure citywide changes , nor does it get granular down to the neighborhood level.
Instead, the Home Price Index groups state data in 9 regions with each regions having as few as 4 states in it, and as many as 8.
Not surprisingly, each of the regions posted different price change figures for the period of October-to-November 2010.
A sampling includes:
… (0 comments)
|
loan modificat: The Real Estate Geeks: How To Keep Your Granite Countertops From Getting "Cloudy" - 02/14/11 08:53 AM
Granite is a popular "finishing choice" for homeowners because of its good-looks and its strength. A well-maintained granite counter-top boasts natural beauty and outlasts most other finishes.
But granite is also natural rock, mined from the earth. It's porous and highly absorbent.
Therefore, if your home features granite in its kitchen, its bathrooms, or other living spaces, you'll want to make sure the counter-tops are cared for to prevent staining and/or clouding over time.
The first step is to seal your countertops every 12 months -- 6 months in areas of heavy use.
Sealing a counter-top is akin to applying polyurethane to … (3 comments)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Melissa Bayles
Long Beach,
CA
More about me…
The Real Estate Geeks A Team of Prudential California Realty
Address: Los Angeles County, Orange County & Surrounding Areas
Cell Phone: (714) 720-2555
Email Me
 Listings
Links
Archives
|
;)
;)
;)
