Buyers Want Discount to Share New Home With Ghosts

Buyers Want Discount to Share New Home With Ghosts

Based on a Realtor.com poll, nearly a third of prospective home buyers would not rule out buying a "haunted house" or a property where some sort of paranormal activity is said to have to occurred.  However, 29 percent of those house-hunters said they would expect a discount of at least 20 percent for stigmatized property. 

Warm or cold spots in a house, possibly from a supernatural source, are deal-breakers for 62 percent of those polled.  Strange noises and/or voices, flickering lights or appliances, eerie sensations, ghost sightings, and levitating objects are other occurrences that are likely to put a buyer off from going through with a deal. 

About 35 percent of those surveyed, meanwhile, signaled that they would not even consider buying a haunted house in the first place.  At the other end of the spectrum, meanwhile, 2 percent of poll participants said they would pay a premium for a haunted property.

"Borrowers Will Buy Haunted Houses, But Expect Discount," Housing Wire (Oct. 18, 2012)

Market Insider for Harrogate TN

Check out this link to view the Market Insider for Harrogate TN

http://www.barefootrealtyteam.com/mimarket/zip/37752/

House Flipping is Back - Read this great article from the Washington Post

House Flipping is Back

Buying up homes, rehabbing them, and reselling them for a profit was big during the housing boom. But when the housing market started to slump, these house flippers in search of quick profits nearly vanished. 

As the housing market recovers, house flipping may be showing signs of re-emerging, according to The Washington Post. 

In the first half of 2012, house flips increased 25 percent compared to a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac. The average profit on each property is $29,342, according to the real estate research firm. 

“There are flippers in any market, but a market where home prices are appreciating is much more forgiving for flippers than a market where prices are depreciating,” Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, told The Washington Post. “We have turned that corner in a lot of places in the last six months, so that’s going to attract flippers.”

Areas that were the hardest hit in the housing crash are seeing some of the largest increases in flipping as investors buy up foreclosures and short sales at large discounts. Phoenix has had the highest number of reported flips, followed by Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, and Atlanta. 

Source: “Flipping Houses Is Once Again a Booming Business,” The Washington Post (Oct. 14, 2012)

Foreclosures Drop to 5-Year Lows

Foreclosures Drop to 5-Year Lows

Foreclosures continue to do the opposite of what most analysts had predicted: They keep falling rather than rising. 

Foreclosure filings in September fell 7 percent from August and are down 16 percent from last September, RealtyTrac reported Thursday. Foreclosure filings include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions. 

The number of foreclosure filings in September reached their lowest level since July 2007. What’s more, foreclosure filings have decreased 13 percent in the third quarter compared to the third quarter of 2011, marking the ninth consecutive quarter with an annual decrease in foreclosure activity, RealtyTrac reports. 

“We’ve been waiting for the other foreclosure shoe to drop since late 2010, when questionable foreclosure practices slowed activity to a crawl in many areas, but that other shoe is instead being carefully lowered to the floor and therefore making little noise in the housing market — at least at a national level,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Make no mistake, however, the other shoe is dropping quite loudly in certain states, primarily those where foreclosure activity was held back the most last year.”

A backlog of delayed foreclosures in certain states may be problematic in some areas soon, Blomquist says, particularly in judicial states, where foreclosures must be approved by a court. Florida, Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey, and New York have posted the largest year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity.  

Meanwhile, other states are seeing large drops in foreclosure activity, mostly centered in “non-judicial” states, where foreclosures do not have to be court-approved. For example, states like California, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, and Michigan have posted large drops in foreclosure activity. 

Source: RealtyTrac

CoreLogic: Home Prices Rise at Accelerated Levels

CoreLogic: Home Prices Rise at Accelerated Levels

Home prices rose in August by their largest amount since July 2006,  CoreLogic reports in its August Home Price Index, which includes distressed sales. 

Home prices increased 4.6 percent year-over-year in August. This marks the sixth consecutive increase in home prices on month-over-month and year-over-year bases too, CoreLogic reports. 

Even when distressed sales -- short sales and REOs -- are excluded, CoreLogic shows that home prices rose nearly 5 percent in August compared to year-ago levels. 

The signs are pointing to a sharp increase in September, too. Excluding distressed sales, CoreLogic’s forecast for home prices in September shows home prices rising 6.3 percent compared to year-ago levels.  

The five states with the highest price appreciation in August, when including distressed sales, were Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Hawaii, according to CoreLogic. Meanwhile, five states with the largest home price declines, when including distressed sales, were Rhode Island, Illinois, New Jersey, Alabama, and Connecticut.  

“Sustained economic recovery in the United States requires a healthy housing market,” says Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “You cannot have a healthy housing market without price stabilization and ultimately home price appreciation. Improving pricing trends over the past few months and our forecast for continued gains in September bode well for a progressive rebound in the residential housing market.”

CoreLogic uses multiple listing system data to measure price changes on a monthly and yearly basis. 

Source: CoreLogic

Read More

Home Prices Continue to Rise Over Last Year’s Levels
Interactive Median Home Price Map

Let the Fall Buying, Selling Season Begin

Let the Fall Buying, Selling Season Begin

The fall housing market isn’t known for being as robust as the spring market, but there are different motivations that tend to attract consumers during this season, experts say. 

"We've observed in seasonal household buyer patterns that there is a higher ratio of first-time buyers and childless couples in the fall," says Walter Molony, economic issues media manager at the National Association of REALTORS®. "Families with children time their purchase based on school-year considerations, so they peak in the spring and summer.”

According to a recent ERA Real Estate survey, based on 30,000 of its broker and agents, about 20 percent of buyers are emotionally driven in the fall to purchase a house so that they can be in a new home by the holidays. Ten percent are motivated by tax benefits. 

Sellers in the fall tend to be highly motivated too and face less competition with smaller inventories, says Shaun White, vice president for corporate communications for RE/MAX LLC in Denver, Colo.

"Some sellers will opt to lower their price in the fall because they're afraid of missing the boat and being stuck trying to sell during the holidays," says White. "Buyer traffic drops in the fall, too, so buyers may have less competition as well as better prices. You find motivated sellers and motivated buyers in the fall, especially as you get closer to the holidays.” 

In some areas of the country, such as in Arizona and Florida, the prime selling season doesn’t even begin until the fall as snowbirds come in from the cooler climates looking for new homes, White says. 

Source: “Homebuying: Fall Is the New Spring,” HSH.com (Sept. 26, 2012)

Home Prices Continue to Rise Over Last Year's Levels

Home Prices Continue to Rise Over Last Year's Levels

More housing reports released on Tuesday showed home prices on the rise. The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. home prices increased 3.7 percent from a year ago in the 12-month period ending in July. 

FHFA’s home price index is now at about the same level it was in June 2004. However, it’s 16.4 percent below the peak reached in April 2007. To calculate its housing index, the FHFA uses purchase price data on mortgages owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. 

Also on Tuesday, S&P/Case-Shiller released a report also showing home prices on the rise for the fourth consecutive month and at their highest level in nearly two years. S&P/Case-Shiller report measures home prices in 10-city and 20-city composite indices. In its 20-city index, S&P/Case-Shiller reported home prices up 1.2 percent compared to a year earlier. 

"The news on home prices in this report confirm recent good news about housing,” David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, told The Wall Street Journal. “Single family housing starts are well ahead of last year's pace, existing home sales are up, the inventory of homes for sale is down and foreclosure activity is slowing. All in all, we are more optimistic about housing." 

Last week, NAR reported that the median price on existing-homes rose 9.5 percent over year ago levels. The median home price in August is $187,400. 

The increase to the sales price in August was the strongest since January 2006 when median home prices had risen 10.2 percent higher than what they were a year ago. 

The National Association of REALTORS® will release its pending home sales report on Thursday.

Source: “FHFA Home Price Index Now Equals 2004 Levels,” HousingWire (Sept. 25, 2012) and “Case-Shiller Shows Home Prices Rise Sharply Again,” The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 25, 2012)

Read More

Home Sales, Prices Both Up in August