Thursday, July 28, 2016 / by Ryan Critch
The residential housing market has been hot. Home sales have bounced back solidly and are now at their second highest pace since February 2007. Demand has remained strong throughout the summer as many real estate professionals are reporting bidding wars with listings actually selling above listing price. What about your house?
If your house hasn’t sold, it is probably because of the price.
If your home is on the market and you are not receiving any offers, look at your price. Pricing your home just 10% above market value dramatically cuts the number of prospective buyers that will even see your house. See chart below.
Bottom Line
The housing market is hot. If you are not seeing results you want, sit down with your agent and revisit the pricing conversation. ...
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Wednesday, July 27, 2016 / by Ryan Critch
According to Bankrate’s latest Financial Security Index Poll, Americans who have money to set aside for the next 10 years would rather invest in real estate than any other type of investment.
Bankrate asked Americans to answer the following question:
“Which would be the best way to invest money you did not need for more than 10 years?”
Real Estate came in as the top choice with 25% of all respondents, while cash investments (such as savings accounts and CD’s) came in second with 23%. The chart below shows the full results:
Sterling White, co-founder of Holdfolio, gave one reason as to why real estate may have ranked so high.
"Houses are tangible. You can physically see and feel the product. So you know where your money is going."
July’s poll also found that for the “26th consecutive month, Americans’ sense of financial well-being improved when taking into account debt, savings, net worth, job securit ...
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Tuesday, July 26, 2016 / by Ryan Critch
If you are debating listing your house for sale this year, here is the #1 reason not to wait!
Buyer Demand Continues to Outpace the Supply of Homes For Sale
The National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun recently commented on the inventory shortage:
“With demand holding firm and homes selling even faster than a year ago, the notable increase in closings in recent months took a dent out of what was available for sale.
Realtors are acknowledging, with increasing frequency lately, that buyers continue to be frustrated by the tense competition and lack of affordable homes for sale in their market.”
The latest Existing Home Sales Report shows that there is currently a 4.6-month supply of homes for sale. This remains lower than the 6-month supply necessary for a normal market and 5.8% lower than June 2015.
The chart below details the year-over-year inventory shortages experienced over the last 12 mo ...
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Monday, July 25, 2016 / by Ryan Critch
Just over a month ago, the United Kingdom decided to withdraw from the European Union in a decision commonly known as Brexit. At that time there was a lot of speculation on how that decision would impact the U.S. residential mortgage market. Today, we want to look at the impact of the first 30 days.
Most believed that the Brexit decision would drive mortgage rates down and keep them down for some time. As CoreLogic reported:
“First-time buyers can count on continued low mortgage rates to help with affordability issues. Similarly, re-setting adjustable rate loans will have less of a rate shock, and in some cases may even go down.”
What has actually happened?
Initially, rates did fall. However, Freddie Mac has reported that rates have stabilized and have actually increased marginally each of the last two weeks. This prompted Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sean Beckett to say:
“Post-Brexit volatility tapered off o. ...
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Friday, July 22, 2016 / by Ryan Critch
Some Highlights:
Interest Rates are still below historic numbers.
88% of property managers raised their rent in the last 12 months!
Credit score requirements to be approved for a mortgage continue to fall. ...
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