Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Housing’s Zombies Still Lurk, But Bite Lessens


DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014
The number of homes in the foreclosure process that are vacant – known as zombie foreclosures – are lessening their trail of destruction on housing markets. Zombie foreclosures made up about 18 percent of all active foreclosures (or 117,298) in the third quarter, down from 23 percent (or 152,033) a year ago, according to RealtyTrac’s Third Quarter 2014 Zombie Foreclosure Report.
The homes are vacated by home owner before the foreclosures are completed.
“The most effective preventative vaccine for the blight caused by vacant, abandoned foreclosures has proven to be a short and efficient foreclosure process,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Absent that, the best antidote for a zombie foreclosure infestation is a pro-active land bank program like that in Cleveland and more recently Chicago designed to aggressively take possession of vacant foreclosures and rehab or demolish them.”
The state that saw the largest declines in zombie foreclosures in the third quarter compared to a year ago was Missouri, where such foreclosures have fallen by 73 percent. Zombie foreclosures have also fallen in Virginia, by 59 percent; California (down 56 percent); Massachusetts (down 46 percent); New Hampshire (down 45 percent); and Illinois (down 44 percent).
At a metro-level among cities with populations over 200,000, 138 metros saw declines in zombie foreclosures in the third quarter, led by Portland, Ore. (down 53 percent); Cleveland (down 52 percent); Phoenix (down 52 percent); and Boston (down 52 percent).
But the zombies are still lurking in many housing markets.
“Markets with lengthy and lengthening foreclosure timelines have unintentionally created a zombie foreclosure breeding ground,” Blomquist says. "As we see a backlog of delayed distress finally hit the foreclosure pipeline in some of those markets, the problem is coming more to light.”
In the third quarter, 16 states saw increases in owner-vacated foreclosures compared to a year ago, with some housing markets seeing zombies swell by up to 75 percent in the past year. The states that saw the largest increases were New Jersey (up 75 percent); North Carolina (up 65 percent); Oklahoma (up 37 percent); and New York (up 30 percent).
The following are the top 10 markets for zombie foreclosures (including the total owner vacated):
  1. New York-Northern Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.: 13,366
  2. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla.: 9,869
  3. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.: 7,509
  4. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.: 7,326
  5. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.: 5,405
  6. Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla.: 3,732
  7. Jacksonville, Fla.: 2,462
  8. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.: 1,694
  9. Atlatna-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga.: 1,684
  10. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.: 1,384
Source: RealtyTrac


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Friday, September 5, 2014

Where Homes Are Most Affordable

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2014
Home affordability varies greatly depending on where a buyer lives, as well as other factors. Using RealtyTrac's income-to-price affordability ratios from more than 2,000 counties, 24/7 Wall St. pinpointed where home affordability is highest. In fact, in some markets, home owners may need to use only about 3 percent of their income to afford a median-priced home.
The Affordability Crisis
Unsurprisingly, San Francisco County in California had the least number of affordable homes in the nation. In San Francisco, the median selling price for houses and condos recently reached the million-dollar mark. 
But on the opposite end of the spectrum, the following seven markets are considered some of the most affordable in the nation. (The affordability rate is the percentage of the county's estimated median household income needed to make monthly payments — including mortgage, property taxes, and homeowners insurance — on a median-priced residential property.)
  1. Chattooga County, Ga.
    Affordability rate: 3.75%
    Household median income: $41,864
  2. Lake County, Tenn.
    Affordability rate: 5.75%
    Household median income: $33,512
  3. Edgecombe County, N.C.
    Affordability rate: 6.17%
    Household median income: $40,726
  4. Upson County, Ga.
    Affordability rate: 6.31%
    Household median income: $37,601
  5. Barnwell County, S.C.
    Affordability rate: 6.81%
    Household median income: $35,219
  6. Obion County, Tenn.
    Affordability rate: 6.88%
    Household median income: $45,919
  7. Lamar County, Ga.
    Affordability rate: 6.92%
    Household median income: $33,661
Source: “The 10 Most Affordable Markets in America,” 24/7 Wall St. (Sept. 4, 2014)


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Thursday, July 24, 2014

The 7 Most Energy-Efficient States

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
Massachusetts overtook California this year as the top state for energy efficiency, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s state scorecard. California had been the leader for the past four years, but Massachusetts’ “Green Communities Act,” which has powered up investments in energy efficiency throughout the state since 2008, helped push the state to the No. 1 spot this year.
Energetic Improvements
“The legislation requires electric utilities in Massachusetts to purchase all available energy-efficiency improvements that cost less than it does to generate power,” Thomas Bourgeois, the co-director of the U.S. Department of Energy Northeast Clean Energy Application Center, told Forbes. “It has been a major boon to energy efficiency in Massachusetts over the past three years.”
Here’s how the states stacked up for energy efficiency, according to ACEEE’s scorecard:
1. Massachusetts
2. California
3. New York
4. Oregon
5. (tie) Vermont
5. (tie) Washington
5. (tie) Rhode Island
Source: “The Most Energy-Efficient States in America,” Forbes (July 2014)


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Friday, July 11, 2014

The 10 Priciest Places to Live in the World

AILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014
In Hong Kong, you might pay $6.64 in U.S. dollars for a cup of coffee, or $6,960 to rent an unfurnished, two-bedroom apartment. Hong Kong landed No. 3 on Mercer’s latest annual Cost of Living Survey. The survey is geared to give those who are working abroad insight into the cost of living and is often used by employers to develop compensation packages for people with international assignments.
To arrive at its list, Mercer researchers analyzed cities in five continents, measuring the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, such as housing, food, clothing, transportation, household goods, and entertainment. They used New York as a baseline city to compare against the other cities.
“Despite moderate price increases in most of the European cities, European currencies for the most part slightly strengthened against the U.S. dollar, which pushed most Western European cities up in the ranking,” Nathalie Constantin-Métral, who compiled the survey, told Forbes. A rise in the cost of rentals has also pushed some European cities up in the rankings, particularly Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt, according to the study.
The following are the most expensive cities in the world in 2014, according to Mercer’s survey:
Exchange rates are benefiting foreign buyers:
1.     Luanda, Angola
2.     N’Djamena, Chad
3.     Hong Kong, Hong Kong
4.     Singapore, Singapore
5.     Zurich, Switzerland
6.     Geneva, Switzerland
7.     Tokyo, Japan
8.     Bern, Switzerland
9.     Moscow, Russia
10.   Shanghai, China
Source: “The Most Expensive Cities in the World,” Forbes.com (July 10, 2014)






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Tiny Homes Spark Big Movement

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014
A 164-square-foot home may sound like a squeeze to most Americans, but to some home buyers, it may very well be the perfect fit.
“Dramatic downsizing is gaining interest among Americans, gauging by increased sales of plans and ready-made homes and growing audiences for websites related to the [tiny home] niche,” Bloomberg reports. National interest in the search term “tiny house” has been soaring since May, according to Google trends. A+E Networks Corp. started airing “Tiny House Nation” this week, a series that highlights the growing small-home movement.
Tiny homes, defined as 500 square feet or less, allow people to cut their housing expenses, live simply, and go mortgage-free.
Why Bigger Isn't Always Better
Such homes weren’t considered so tiny by historical standards. In 1950, single-family homes averaged 983 square feet, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
But the tiny home movement has grown at a time when new homes have bloomed to the biggest on record. The median size of new single-family houses was at a record 2,384 square feet in 2013. Only 1 percent of home buyers are purchasing a home that is 1,000 square feet or less, according to housing data from the National Association of REALTORS®.
“Since I got into the small-house game 15 years ago, every year seems like it’s the biggest ever,” says Cotati,Calif.-based architect Jay Shafer, who founded Tumbleweed Tiny House Company in 1999 and later Four Lights, both micro-building and design companies. “It shows people how little some need to be happy, and how simply they can live if they choose.” Shafer, his wife, and two young children share a 500-square-foot home.
“Tiny houses are no longer strange,” Debby Richman, the company’s chief marketing officer, told Bloomberg. “They are now ‘cute.’ The cultural mores have changed.”
Who’s occupying these “tiny” homes? The largest share — 23 percent — of “tiny home” inhabitants are between ages 31 and 40, according to The Tiny Life blog, which conducted a nationwide survey of more than 2,600 people. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they had zero credit-card debt.
“Wherever you find expensive housing on the East Coast or the West Coast, you find a higher concentration of tiny houses because people understand the need,” Shafer says.
Source: “Tiny Houses Big with U.S. Owners Seeking Economic Freedom,” Bloomberg (July 9, 2014) and “Tiny Houses Offer Big Potential in Some Areas,” The Associated Press (July 8, 2014)




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Thursday, July 10, 2014

Survey: Buyers, Sellers 'Not on the Same Page'

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014
Home buyers and sellers are “not on the same page” when it comes to the state of the housing market, according to a new Redfin survey of 707 of its agents and partner agents across 35 U.S. markets. Buyers and sellers are taking a more aggressive stance in the market, with some sellers overpricing their homes and more buyers refusing to get in bidding wars, the survey found.
In This Guide:
“In May, 40 percent of sellers surveyed by Redfin said that they planned to list their homes above market value, even though home sales had dropped by 9 percent since the year before,” says Nela Richardson, Redfin’s chief economist. “Typically, it takes sellers six to nine months to adjust to a price change, but this latest shift is longer. Prices have moved down and then up so much over the past five years that it’s even more difficult for sellers to have a realistic baseline for what their homes are worth in the current market.”
Fifty-eight percent of Redfin agents say that sellers are holding unrealistic expectations about the value of their homes, up from 49 percent in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, buyers are showing less willingness to chase after a home, as they face affordability and financing hurdles, the survey found.
“Buyers who have been searching for a long time may still try to win deals with aggressive offers,” Richardson says. “However, new buyers in the market are much less willing to chase an escalating sale price to compete with multiple bids. The demand side of real estate is moving from ‘please take my offer’ to ‘take it or leave it as you please.’ Home buyers’ willingness to walk away from a deal that’s a bad fit is good for them and is ultimately healthier for the housing market.”
So is it a seller’s market or a buyer’s market? It depends on who you ask. Twenty-four percent of Redfin agents surveyed say that “sellers have all the power,” a drop from 35 percent three months ago.
Rising inventories have been beneficial for buyers who are less willing to participate in a bidding war, but they are facing other challenges, such as access to credit and affordability, the survey finds. The top challenges Redfin agents identified as growing problems for buyers are: lack of affordability; qualifying for a mortgage; saving enough for a down payment; and worries about the economy.
Source: Redfin



www.RebeccaSellsAZ.com
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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Builders Say Labor Shortages Grow More Widespread

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JULY 09, 2014
The real estate industry has called for homebuilders to ramp up construction to meet inventory shortages. But homebuilders increasingly are facing significant labor shortages that is making it more difficult to complete projects, a new study shows.
A June 2014 survey from the National Association of Home Builders shows that the industry is facing shortages of labor and subcontractors that have become “substantially more widespread since 2013.” Shortages are particularly notable for basic skills like carpentry and framing, the NAHB notes.
The Homebuilding Shortage Continues
Forty-six percent of builders reported a shortage of labor in 2014, the highest shortage reported since 2000 and slightly higher than at the peak of the housing boom in 2004 and 2005, when the United States was averaging about 2 million housing starts a year, the NAHB notes in its report.
Today, annual housing starts remain mostly under 1 million. New-home construction has only about partially recovered from its 2008 downturn and labor shortages are persisting despite relative slowdown in activity compared to previous years, the NAHB notes.
Builders say a shortage of subcontractors is raising their costs. On average, builders said their direct labor costs on the same house rose by 2.9 percent, while subcontractor costs grew by 3.8 percent.
Three out of five builders say the labor shortages have caused them to pay higher wages or subcontractor bids (65%); raise home prices (62%); and created difficulty in completing projects on time (60%). Thirty-six percent of builders said the labor shortages were making some projects unprofitable, and 18 percent of builders reported having to even turn down some projects.
Source: “Builders See Shortages of Labor And – Especially – Subcontractors,” National Association of Home Builders Eye on Housing Blog (July 8, 2014)




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Wednesday, July 2, 2014

More Home Owners Getting Bit by Selling Bug?

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JULY 02, 2014
Reports of rising home prices are making selling more attractive to the largest share of home owners in eight years, according to a gauge from the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters. Few of the home owners surveyed said they expected to lose money if they decided to sell their home now.
The findings could signal the beginnings of a major shift for the housing market, which has been haunted by the low number of homes for sale across the country.
Inventory Issues Improve
Home price increases over the past two years may give more families confidence to sell their homes, alleviating low inventories and giving home buyers who were sitting on the sidelines because of fewer housing choice more incentive to make a move too, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Rising confidence among consumers could also translate into more sales in new homes. Last week, a report by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that new-home sales surged nearly 19 percent last month, reaching the highest rate since May 2008. 
Two home-building giants reported a steady turnaround in new orders and price rises too in the second quarter. Lennar reported that new orders were up 8 percent, with average sales prices of its homes blooming 14 percent year over year. KB Homes, meanwhile, reported that orders increased 5 percent and its average selling price increased 10 percent in the past year.
Source: “More Would-be Home Sellers Say Prices Are Attractive,” The Wall Street Journal (June 27, 2014)


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Thursday, June 26, 2014

10 Biggest Rebound Cities Since the Recession

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014
Everything is bigger in Texas, including the economy.
Eight of the top 10 cities in the country that have rebounded the most since the recession are in the Lone Star State, according to a new analysis by financial site NerdWallet. Texas has seen large economic growth, and its housing market has been following the upward trend.
What Does a Recovery Look Like?
With the recession officially coming to an end in June 2009, NerdWallet looked at data over the last five years to see which cities improved the most since then. In its analysis of the 510 largest U.S. cities, the site considered factors such as the performance of the labor market, median household income, and median home values.
The following cities were ranked in the top 10 for largest recoveries since the recession. (Each city is listed below with the change in median home values since the recession.) 
  1. McAllen, Texas: 15.61%
  2. Midland, Texas: 21.67%
  3. San Angelo, Texas: 20.92%
  4. Fargo, N.D.: 13.30%
  5. Bryan, Texas: 10.81%
  6. Chattanooga, Tenn.: 14.04%
  7. College Station, Texas: 3.67%
  8. Odessa, Texas: 5.87%
  9. Edinburg, Texas: 6.50%
  10. Amarillo, Texas: 11.87%
Source: “Recession Recovery: Cities That Have Improved the Most,” NerdWallet Finance (June 23, 2014)




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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

6 Ways a Home May Turn Off Buyers

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 2013
Bankrate.com recently featured a list of the top ways buyers back away from a home listed for sale. Its list includes these items, among others: 
1. Dirt: "The No. 1 biggest mistake is not getting the home in the best possible condition. That's huge," says Chad Goldwasser of Goldwasser Real Estate in Austin, Texas. "I won't even represent sellers at this point unless they are fully aware of how important it is to get their home in the absolute best condition that they've ever had it in." Goldwasser suggests also steam-cleaning tile and grout and carpets and replacing carpets if necessary. 
2. Odors: "Odors are a big one, especially kitchen odors," says Julie Dana, co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell. "I advise my clients not to cook fried food, fish, or greasy food while the house is on the market. ... Interestingly, next to the kitchen, the smelliest room in the house is actually the living room. That's typically the room that has the most fabric, so that is where odors get absorbed." She recommends having curtains and upholstery cleaned, particularly if someone in the home is a smoker, and taking steps to eliminate any pet odors. 
3. Old fixtures: "You need to change out old fixtures in your house," Goldwasser says, adding outdated ceiling fans and light fixtures should be replaced prior to listing a home. "New cabinet hardware and doorknobs will probably cost all of $400 or $500, but it makes a huge difference."
4. Wallpaper: When buyers see wallpaper, they think of another thing to add to their to-do list, says Dana.  "Wallpaper is extremely personalized. You've spent hours looking over books to pick out the wallpaper you want," she says. "What are the odds that the person walking in the door will also like that wallpaper that you picked out?"
5. Popcorn acoustic ceilings: These ceiling were popular in the 1960s and 1970s but now can date a home. Still, it can be a mess and costly to remove, so real estate professionals say sellers may need to be prepared to credit a buyer in certain markets if they decide to keep the popcorn ceiling when selling a home. 
6. Too many personal items: Cluttered homes make it difficult for buyers to see past the home owner’s belongings and start envisioning themselves there. "Anything that makes your house scream 'you' is what you don't want," Dana says. "I tell all my clients that how we decorate to live and how we decorate to sell are different, and right now, we're decorating to sell."
Source: “10 Ways to Turn Off a Would-Be Homebuyer,” Bankrate.com (June 10, 2013)
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