real estate trends: Real Estate Milestone Achieved - 05/21/13 03:47 AM
Housing starts are at 1.04 million, up 7% from this February and up 47% from this time last year.
This number is achieved highly due to the recent surge in building apartments and condominiums. These multi-family units alone jumped 82% as compared to last year. Each unit within these types of complexes is counted in the statistics so they can be extremely volatile. When looking at a more stable number, single family units, the percentages have actually fallen by 6% since February.
But, there is a strong demand for the multi-family and rental type living environments that does not seem to … (2 comments)

real estate trends: What Buyers Want. Clear Patterns and Trends. - 03/05/13 01:44 AM
 
In all the recovery of the housing market, there are clear trends developing within the houses that have sold versus the homes that have not. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) conducted a large study to pinpoint on how having a recession followed by a recovery has influenced the lifestyle preferences of home buyers. The survey found the top three items sought for in a home are: energy star appliances, energy efficient laundry rooms, and double sink, French doors, full house technology luxury items. In contrast, buyers do not want: elevators, golf course homes, and laminate countertops.
The … (0 comments)

real estate trends: What is the New Competition For Real Estate Now That REOs are Down? - 01/16/13 02:28 AM
 
Decreasing rates of foreclosures is a positive trend for home owners at large, but shifting trends result in a shifting reaction within the real estate market. The first result from the decreasing inventory was a beneficial growth in home prices across the board. The tighter inventory of a post REO flooded market has nearly run its course in controlling the market economists predict. In fact, CoreLogic goes so far as to say that home prices are stabilized enough to be back ‘on track’ in a way it has not been since 2006.
The stats are as follows:
Foreclosures have fallen 20% … (2 comments)

real estate trends: Today's Foreclosures: Top 10 States, Top 5 Drops, and Breaking News - 12/18/12 11:45 PM
 
Florida: 1 in every 304 homes received a foreclosure filing in November Nevada: 1 in every 390 homes Illinois: 1 in every 392 homes California: 1 in every 430 homes South Carolina: 1 in every 455 homes Ohio: 1 in every 458 homes Arizona: 1 in every 468 homes Georgia: 1 in every 494 homes Michigan: 1 in every 621 homes Indiana: 1 in every 684 homes Source: RealtyTrac
With that list, I would also like to add some positive news. Foreclosure starts fell to a new –year low. They have dropped 28% from only a year ago.

The … (2 comments)

real estate trends: Foreclosure News: This Is A Good One - 10/16/12 01:45 AM
Trends are shifting! Foreclosures continue to drop so much so that the number of those not occurring has passed the critical mass of those that are coming on the market. Foreclosure rates have fallen 7% in September reaching their lowest since July of 2007.
“We’ve been waiting for the other foreclosure shoe to drop since late 2010, when questionable foreclosure practices slowed activity to a crawl in many areas, but that other shoe is instead being carefully lowered to the floor and therefore making little noise in the housing market — at least at a national level,” says Daren Blomquist, … (3 comments)

real estate trends: Investor Real Estate: Backlogs are Clearing On Single-Family Rentals - 10/08/12 11:37 PM
 
The Blackstone Group is now the largest investor in the US of single family rental homes. The private-equity firm has purchased more than 6,500 foreclosed homes this year in eight metro areas. Investors play a significant role in determining the prices and health of a real estate market. Investors have recently been taking advantage of lower home prices in the last few years raising $6-8 billion in purchasing single family homes alone.
“Of course, success is by no means assured for private-equity firms, especially given their high targets for investment returns in general and their lack of experience with this … (0 comments)

real estate trends: The Threat of Shadow Inventory: Where Does It Stand - 09/26/12 03:52 AM
 
Shadow inventory is a real estate reference to properties that are either in foreclosure or those houses owners are delaying putting on the market until ‘the market improves.’ It creates a large degree of uncertainty because it is like a skilled poker player, not revealing the real estate market’s full hand. Data that is exclusive of shadow inventory paints a skewed picture of what the real estate market looks like.

Shadow inventory has been the looming dread behind the slowly recovering housing market. The rising number of short sales has greatly allowed the market to be more transparent.
… (6 comments)

real estate trends: Real Estate: A Beacon of the Economy - 08/30/12 10:25 PM
 

More and more economic analysts are calling the housing market the bright light in the overall economic recovery. Home sales for existing homes ($100,000+) have risen since this time last year in nearly every region in the country. In addition, inventories have dropped nearly 26%. These two trends have done wonders to stabilize and improving market conditions.
“The housing market is clearly superior this year compared with the past four years,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “The latest increase in home contract signings marks 13 consecutive months of year-over-year gains.”
Consumer confidence, a number economists look at … (3 comments)

real estate trends: Future Predictions of the Real Estate Market - 06/27/12 03:45 AM
Predictions on Where the Real Estate Market is Going…
A majority of more than 100 economists and real estate experts say that home prices will likely bottom by 2013, according to the Zillow June 2012 Price Expectations Survey. The real estate experts surveyed predict that home prices will fall 0.4 percent this year before inching up by 1.3 percent next year. 
To support their claim, this trend has already begun to happen. The first quarter this year has brought with it a 2% drop in home prices and the expectation is that they will begin their rebound in the next quarter. … (0 comments)

real estate trends: Generation Y Becoming the Highest in Desire to Buy Real Estate - 06/04/12 01:02 AM
47% of those who are contained within the age group referred to as Generation Y have proclaimed they plan on purchasing a home within the next five years! (the average public is only at a rate of 29%) Furthermore, 10% of Generation Y say they plan on buying within the year!

It has been the trend that Generation Y members spend more when compared to other generations. Generation Y outspends others on leisure activities (hobbies, video games, electronics, sporting events, and recreational equipment). Because of this, Generation Y also has more debt to pay off compared to most. Specifically troublesome … (4 comments)