Almost half of all properties sold were on the market for less than a month in May 2015, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
Category Archives: Sellers
Housing Bubble? Despite Rising Prices, Most Economists Still Say No
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released recently was the latest report to show a relentless rise in housing prices, causing some economists to ask: Is another bubble forming?
According to Tuesday’s data housing prices have been climbing for 35 consecutive months, but economists pointed to several reasons why that isn’t a concern, namely that while prices keep rising the rate of growth has slowed. In the first three months of this year home prices gained 0.8%, according to the S&P Case-Shiller national index. That’s down from 2.8% in the first three months of 2013 and 1.2% during the same period of last year.
Home Prices Are Climbing Faster and Faster, but This Is Not a Bubble
This spring buying season is off to a strong start—in fact, prices are going up faster than they were just a few months ago, according to nearly every recent metric. So does that mean we’re in a bubble?
Nope, that’s just what happens when demand increases faster than supply. After all, existing-home sales were up 9% year over year in March, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Inventory is also increasing, but not as fast as sales, resulting in a tight supply getting even tighter.
The 5 Hottest Single-Family Markets Are…
The national housing market is regaining steam after a slowdown in late 2013 and early 2014 and a handful of areas are seeing a surge in home prices and sales growth.
Auction.com highlights the “hottest” major single-family markets based on current and expected future housing measures. Of the 49 largest U.S. markets, the five emerging at the top of the rankings have shown consistently strong demand, home price appreciation, and economic and demographic growth. Three of the top five ranking markets are located within the Southwest region, and two are located in the Southeast.
The 20 Most Active Housing Markets
Home buyers are turning out in markets across the country for the spring selling season, and some markets are seeing more action than others.
Homes are selling faster too. The median number of days on the market fell to 89 in March – 13 percent lower than a year ago.
Kirkland, Bellevue among nation’s priciest for high-end homes
If you own a home in Kirkland or Bellevue, you live in one of the nation’s top 10 luxury markets, according to a new report by Redfin. Though the Eastside cities rank high, they are nowhere near Miami Beach, where the average luxury home sold for $8.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Top Reasons People Want to Move
One in three U.S. households say they plan to move in the next five years, according to a survey conducted by the Demand Institute of 10,000 households’ current living situations. And it’s the location of the home that will be driving most of those moving decisions — more so than the physical home itself.
Seventy-five percent of the households surveyed cited one or more location-related reasons for why they were moving. The top reasons were the desire for a safer neighborhood (30%); being closer to family (27%); a change of climate (26%); being closer to work (25%), and moving for a new job (23%).
The Best Seasons to Sell a Home
Spring is traditionally considered the best season to list a home, but it doesn’t inch out the other seasons by much, according to a new analysis by the real estate brokerage Redfin.
Redfin’s research team analyzed 7 million homes listed from 2010 through 2014 to gauge how important the season is in listing a home. It examined how many of the homes went under contract within 30 days and how often they sold for more than their list price.
Foreclosures on a Free Fall, 66% Below Peak
Foreclosures are making up a much smaller share of many markets’ housing inventories and slowly falling back in line with historical norms. Completed foreclosures totaled about 39,000 nationwide in December 2014, a 13.7 percent year-over-year decrease and a 66 percent plunge from the peak in September 2010, according to CoreLogic’s December National Foreclosure Report.
What’s more, the 12-month sum of completed foreclosures for 2014 — 563,294 — is at its lowest point since November 2007, according to the report. Completed foreclosures have fallen every month for the past 34 consecutive months. Historically, prior to the housing crisis, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide.
Inventory Problems Stall Home Sales
Pending home sales dropped in December, despite interest rates being at the lowest levels in more than a year, the National Association of REALTOR® reports. All regions across the country posted declines in December.
In December, pending home sales nationally fell 3.7 percent month-over-month. Still, NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, remained about 6 percent above year-over-year levels for the fourth consecutive month.
Managing The Real Estate Details 