Seller Shortage Plagues Many Markets

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2013

The low inventory of for-sale homes is creating a seller’s market throughout the country.

"Buyers and agents are literally waiting for the next house," says Rick Turley, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage for the San Francisco Bay Area.

The supply of existing homes for sale reached nearly an eight-year low in January, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Nationwide, there is a 4.2-month supply of existing homes for sale. 

A more balanced market with a six-month supply will occur when home prices rise another 20 percent, says John Burns, CEO of John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Such an increase would then lure sellers to match demand coming in from renters and investors, and the rise in prices will also lead to more home building, Burns says. 

Still, a return to healthy inventory levels could be years off, some say. “Many home owners can't afford to sell because they don't have enough equity to put into buying another house — or would have to write a check to sell,” USA Today reports. “The supply of distressed houses for sale is thinning as the foreclosure crisis recedes, especially in some states. Home building, while improving, is still at low levels. And, after years of holding on, few home owners want to sell when prices are just coming off the bottom, REALTORS® say.”

Source: “Home sellers are scarce as spring buyers stir,” USA Today (Feb. 26, 2013)

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The 5 Most Recognizable Real Estate Brands

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Century 21 and RE/MAX are the most recognized real estate brand names, according to a survey of 1,204 U.S. adults by Millward Brown, a global brand research company. 

The company surveyed adults who had either bought or sold a home in the past two years, or who plan to buy or sell a home in the next two years. 

Of those surveyed, the following brokerage brands were the most recognized: 

1. Century 21: 96%
2. RE/MAX: 91%
3. Coldwell Banker: 86%
4. Prudential: 70%
5. Keller Williams: 44%

Source: Millward Brown

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Branding Products Specs That Matter for Real Estate

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10 Most Searched Housing Markets

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Which markets are attracting the most traffic from prospective home shoppers online? Realtor.com released its top-searched metros for January, which shows that Chicago continues its streak as the front-runner in most searched metro at the site. 

The rankings for January are:

1. Chicago
2. Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.
3. Dallas
4. Detroit
5. Atlanta
6. Boston-Westchester-Lawrence-Brockton, Mass.-N.H.
7. Philadelphia, Pa.-N.J.
8. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.
9. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.
10. Orlando

Source: Realtor.com

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Real Estate Searches Up 253%

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Homebuilders Making a Land Grab

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013

As the housing market heats up, home builders are going after open land. The nation’s four largest builders — Lennar, Pulte Group, D.R. Horton, and KB Home — spent between $500 million to $1 billion each buying land the past year. 

However, one of the most aggressive property buyers has been Standard Pacific, ranked 13th largest homebuilder in the nation. It snatched up $711 million in empty lots and undeveloped land last year — nearly the $785 million that D.R. Horton spent, which has four times Standard Pacific’s revenue. 

Standard Pacific, which was on the verge of bankruptcy five years ago, went on a land buying spree that started by late 2009, buying land up at lower prices to plan for a projected pick-up in housing by 2014. 

The builder’s planning ahead may pay off, with housing experts expecting Standard Pacific to gain market share and see higher-than-average profit margins due to its early start with its land-purchase program. 

“All other builders have done something similar, but in a small scale and not as aggressively,” says Alex Barron, founder and senior research analysts of the Housing Research Center in El Paso, Texas. “So now these companies are facing finishing lot and community shortages and are out desperately looking for land and having to pay top dollar.” 

Nearly half of developers have expressed a concern about a land shortage, according to a survey by the National Association of Home Builders. 

“They haven’t developed any lots for six years, and the big builders were selling lots,” says Steve Melman, NAHB’s director of economic services. “Now that you want to build, they’re in short supply.” 

Source: “Buying Land to Hit Pay Dirt,” Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) (Feb. 17, 2013)

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For-Sale Home Inventories Remain Tight

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Inventory levels in 2012 reached an 11-year low and fell yet again last month, further limiting the number of homes for sale nationwide. Inventories of for-sale homes were down by 16.5 percent in January year-over-year, and fell 5.6 percent from December, according to the latest data compiled from Realtor.com. 

Inventories typically fall in December and January in preparation of the spring buying season. 

“But the shortage of homes for sale in a growing number of U.S. markets is maddening for would-be buyers who frequently complain that there aren’t enough good choices,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “Bidding wars are becoming more common.” 

At a time when buyer demand is strong, inventories remain constrained as banks slow their pace of foreclosures and home owners delay selling until they regain more equity in their homes. 

Metro areas posting some of the largest monthly declines in inventory levels are San Francisco (where inventory levels are down by 21 percent in January compared to December and down 47 percent year-over-year) as well as Seattle (where levels dropped 9 percent from December). The two have also seen some of the largest price increases in the nation. Median asking prices have risen by 16.4 percent and 23.7 percent in those places, respectively. 

Source: “Housing Inventory, Already Low, Dropped Further in January,” The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 14, 2013)

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Low Inventories Prompt Agents to Go After More Listings

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If a Home Gets Hit by a Meteor, Who Pays?

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013

After a meteor struck western Siberia and more meteors threatened the entire globe on Friday, CNNMoney asked the question: Who pays for damage to a home if hit by a space object?

Rest easy, “your insurance covers falling objects," says Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute. In the rare events when meteors have crashed through home owners’ roofs over the years, insurers have paid the damage for those insured, Hartwig says. 

“Blue ice” — the frozen sewage that sometimes falls from airplanes — is more common and is also covered if it falls from the sky onto your home, Hartwig told CNNMoney.

A remnant of a meteor struck in the Urals region of western Siberia Friday injuring more than 700 people and damaging nearly 300 buildings. It was referred to as a “once-in-a-century” event. 

"The earth is pelted with 40 tons of space debris a year," says Laurie Leshin, a former NASA scientist. "Most of that is in teeny dust particles" and rarely does it injure people or damage property.

Source: “Who Pays for Damage From a Meteor?” CNNMoney (Feb. 15, 2013)

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Selling in the Martian Market

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