Home prices and mortgage interest rates are rising, and people looking to buy a home for the first time are feeling the pressure.
In this installment of MSN’s Buying Advice, agents, a housing analyst and an economist share what to expect this year, and the latest housing statistics are also included.
As the economy continues to grow jobs, consumer confidence rises and residential rental rates increase, the demand for housing rises. Given a very tight inventory of builder-ready lots, new home construction is trailing demand. As a result, asking prices for both new and existing homes, and ultimately sales prices, are climbing. In some cities prices are literally rocketing.
Dr. Ted Jones is Stewart Title’s Vice President/Chief Economist and Director of Investor Relations. You may read this article on his blog…
If you’re trying to grab a good house for sale before someone else does, does it help to get up early?
That’s hard to say. But an analysis of when would-be buyers are perusing listings at HomeFinder.com at least tells you when your fellow shoppers are online.
There are night owls and there are early birds, the company found.
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Do you prefer to surf the web in the early morning or late at night? Leave a comment here and let us know!
Low inventory and interest rates are why Realtors call Seattle one of the most competitive housing markets in the country.
“Good houses are disappearing instantly, you look at it one day online and say honey maybe we should look at this Sunday. By then, it’s already pending,” said Charles Harper, a home buyer.
According to the Northwest Listing Service, the median price of homes in Snohomish County is up 14 percent, and up 10 percent in both King and Pierce Counties.
Many real estate professionals have been blaming low appraisals for derailing transactions over the last few years. But now home prices are heating up across the country. Are appraisals still coming in lower than the agreed-upon sales price?
Even with prices rising and the number of foreclosures falling, some appraisers say assigning a value to a property isn’t getting any easier. One of the big reasons, they say, is because of low inventories in many markets. “An undersupply of available homes has prompted bidding wars above list price, a price that isn’t necessarily justified by an appraisal,” The Chicago Tribune reports.
Underwriters are being extra vigilant in verifying every detail of a mortgage application, and some of their requests for information, borrowers say, are downright odd.
For example, one borrower says an underwriter demanded a letter from his doctor that an illness he had would never come back. Another borrower says that an underwriter told her she needed to get verification from her employer on her employment status when she listed “homemaker” as her occupation.
A borrower said an underwriter asked him for a letter of explanation on a $6 deposit he made (the borrower earned $10,000 a month at the time).
There is a new breed of quick-change artist on the real-estate front: luxury flippers who focus on high-end properties.
Popular before the housing bust, house flipping—where a property is bought, renovated and sold quickly to make a profit—is seeing a comeback nationwide. Rising prices and tight inventory are driving more investors to the upper end of the market. Flips of homes priced at $1 million or more shot up 35% in 2012 compared with 2011, according to market researcher RealtyTrac.
Surging mortgage rates may have little effect on the housing market, at least in the near term, housing experts say. Mortgage rates rose sharply last week following comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the Fed will begin tapering off its asset purchases later this year if incoming data continues to show the economy is on the mend.
Owning a home can make families healthier, happier, and more financially secure, according to new research by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. on the benefits of home ownership. Researchers worked with Habitat for Humanity families to evaluate how their lives changed after moving into their homes.
Eighty-nine percent of the Canadian families surveyed said their lives improved since they moved into their homes. Eighty-six percent said they’re happier since owning a home.
Home prices have been soaring by double digits compared to last year’s numbers and the National Association of REALTORS® are calling the rises “unsustainable.”
The price for existing home sales surged 15.4 percent higher in May compared to last year.
“Some of the increases can be explained by the fact that it is recovering from an over-corrected situation,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “But with people’s income rising at only 1 or 2 percent and prices rising in double digits, it cannot continue.”
Managing The Real Estate Details 