Category Archives: Sellers

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Experts Shoot Down Housing Bubble Warnings

Several experts at a conference in Miami a couple weeks ago called into question economist Robert Shiller’s recent comments that the housing market was starting to look “a little bubbly.” Shiller, who co-developed the S&P/Case-Shiller Composite 10 Home Price Index, has said he’s concerned some markets across the country may be over-correcting and starting to resemble a housing bubble.

However, a group of housing experts disagreed during the ABS East 2013 conference. Price appreciation is slowing, says Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist. Fleming says that the rapid growth in appreciation in previous months was a correction after an overshoot in prices falling during the housing crisis.

“We are certainly not in a housing bubble,” added Laurie Goodman, who heads the Urban Institute.

Even if interest rates continue to move higher, the housing market would still be OK, say Goodman and Fleming. Goodman says that even with a 6 percent interest rate, affordability would remain at 2000-2003 levels.

The article…

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Housing Activity “speeding along,” but Pace Slowing as Seasons Change

September tested the housing market’s resilience around Western Washington with fluctuating mortgage rates, record-setting rains, and persistent inventory shortages in some areas. By month’s end, however, both pending and closed sales outgained the same period a year ago, according to the latest figures from Northwest Multiple Listing Service earlier this month.

Prices also increased compared to 12 months ago, but fell slightly from the previous month. Year-to-date figures through nine months show prices for homes and condominiums that have sold in the 21 counties served by the MLS are up 12 percent from a year ago.

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4 Outside-the-Box Ways to Sell Your Home

Moving

You found the perfect agent, your list price is dead on, and your property is pristine. Now what? If you’re committed to doing everything within your power to sell your home, but it’s not coming as easily as you’d hoped, it’s time to get innovative. Here are a few outside-the-box strategies for getting your home sold.

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Small Home Improvements With Big Returns for Sellers

Even in a housing market where inventory is low, buyers still want a move-in ready house and are willing to pay more for one that’s turn-key. Sellers can increase their listing price and decrease the time their home sits on the market just by doing a few home improvement projects, experts say. But not all projects carry the same return.

“A big mistake a lot of home sellers make is they upgrade the kitchen thinking they will make so much more money on the house. But the rest of the house still needs upgrading or repairs,” says Michael Corbett, Trulia’s real estate expert. Home sellers have to look at repairs as a whole rather than a sum of parts, he says.

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Shutdown Will Stall Home Loans for Thousands

Beginning this week, thousands of home buyers will be unable to get approvals for their mortgages because of the government shutdown, potentially undercutting the nation’s resurgent housing market.

Without paperwork from the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration and in many cases the Federal Housing Administration, banks and other mortgage lenders will be less willing to make loans, if they can make them at all. For instance, lenders rely on the IRS to confirm borrowers’ income and on Social Security to confirm their identity.

Every day that government offices remain shuttered will delay an ever-larger fraction of mortgage closings, industry leaders say, jeopardizing mortgage and interest-rate approvals and spooking sellers. About 15,000 new home mortgages and 18,000 refinancings on average are completed across the country each day.

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Homes Near Public Transit Worth More

Homes close to public transportation are worth more than similar properties that don’t have nearby access to subways, rail lines, or buses, according to a study commissioned by the American Public Transportation Association and the National Association of REALTORS®.

Researchers evaluated five years worth of sales data in several major metros with various public transportation options. They found that homes located within a half-mile of public transportation were valued 41 percent higher than properties located outside that area.

“Transportation plays an important role in real estate and housing decisions, and the data suggests that residential real estate near public transit will remain attractive to buyers,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “When consumers choose a home, they also choose a lifestyle. Shorter commutes and more walkable neighborhoods matter to a growing number of people, especially those living in congested metro areas.”

Read the details…

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Where Home Sellers Fared the Best This Summer

As the summer home buying season wraps up, realtor.com® reports which markets fared the best.

For home sellers who listed their homes in April, they tended to have the best chance to receive multiple offers as well as the shortest time on the market, according to realtor.com®. 

Over the season, inventory levels increased, adding greater competition to the field and slowing the appreciation of prices in the majority of housing markets. 

Realtor.com® compiled a list of the “Top 10 Housing Markets Where Home Owners Wish They’d Listed in April,” which includes housing markets that saw the largest jumps in inventory from April to August.

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Demand for Puget Sound area Homes “Still Incredibly Strong”

… but brokers report frenzy is easing in some neighborhoods.

Earlier this month the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported that figures for August show brisk sales, escalating prices and some improvement in inventory, prompting one MLS director to declare, “What these numbers tell us loud and clear is that buyer demand in the Puget Sound region is still incredibly strong.”

In making that comment, OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate, noted the housing market tends to experience some slowing during August, but rising inventory levels and sustained buyer demand fueled “higher than expected home sales and another month of strong appreciation.”

The latest figures from Northwest MLS show pending sales (mutually accepted offers) during August increased 8.7 percent from a year ago. Brokers in the 21 counties served by the MLS reported 9,065 pending sales system-wide. That’s a drop of 500 units from July, but an increase of 727 transactions compared to a year ago (August 2012). In the four-county Puget Sound region (King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish), the total of 6,916 pending sales was the highest volume for August since 2006 when members notched 7,692 sales.

Prices also reflected an upward trajectory. The area-wide median price for last month’s completed sales of single family homes and condominiums was $283,000, which compares to the year ago figure of $250,000 for a gain of 13.2 percent. Only two other months this year have had higher year-over-year increases: March (14.9 percent) and May (13.4 percent). Since January, prices have jumped 18.3 percent.

Prices on single family homes (excluding condos) that sold during August increased from $263,495 to $294,000 for a gain of 11.6 percent.

Read the full report…

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Will The Mortgage Rate Spike Slow Market Recovery?

Thoughts

Have you been watching mortgage rates rise the past few months and wonder what that means for the housing market? So have a lot of other people!

Find out when mortgage rates are likely to bite and what other factors are influencing the current market nationwide.

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Smoking Snuffs Out Home Prices

A recent study of real estate agents in Ontario, Canada, found that smoking can reduce a home’s resale value by 20 percent. The study was commissioned by Pfizer Canada, a pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Selling the home can pose quite the challenge too. Eighty-eight percent of the agents surveyed say that it’s more difficult to sell a home where the residents were smokers.

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