Daily Archives: June 2, 2015

Is this a home buyer, seller or #flipper market? | Armonk Real Estate

Pending home sales rose 3.4% in April to the highest level since May 2006. The home builder sentiment bounced back after dipping in March and housing starts jumped 20% in April from March. Home prices also rose more than expected in March; the S&P/Case-Shiller index gained 5% year-over-year in 20 cities.

Housing’s brightening outlook is welcome news, not just for homeowners but also for home flippers, said Nav Athwal, the CEO of Realty Shares, an online real estate investment marketplace. “Markets like Tampa, Miami, Jacksonville and Orlando present opportunities in terms of both available supply for flipping and also large returns…and we’ll see this trend continue,” said Athwal.

According to RealtyTrac, 4% of all single family home sales in this country in the first quarter were flips. Florida dominated the list for top markets for home flipping. But when it came to making a profit, flippers in the Baltimore area saw a whopping 94% return. “Markets like Baltimore have less supply, thus profit margins push up. Another similar market is Memphis, there’s not a lot of supply in the market, so the home flippers that successfully acquire the supply are better able to flip a profit better,” said Athwal.

But with home price appreciation slowing, is this a better time for buy-and-hold investors than flippers? Athwal pointed back to the old adage that what matters most in real estate is location. “The strategy that’s going to lead to the most success, profit, depends on what city, what zip code you’re focused on,” he said. “If you look at markets like Florida and Detroit, because there’s still ability to buy ‘right’, which is key to a successful flip, they’re great markets for flipping but if you turn to other markets, where profit potential for flips isn’t as high but where you can buy a house for cheap and rent it for $1,000, $1,500 and get a double-digit yield, then you have to turn to a buy and hold strategy.”

This formula for flipping makes Florida unique in Athwal’s assessment. “In markets like Tampa, Jacksonville, you can be successful both with the ‘buy and hold’ as well as the flip strategies but it’s really going to depend on the market’s economics to determine what the best strategy is there,” he said.

 

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/is-this-a-home-buyer–seller-or-flipper-market–160145337.html

 

U.S. house prices accelerate in April | #Katonah Real Estate

U.S. house prices accelerated further in April, as low inventories and growing sales push costs higher, a leading data provider said Tuesday.

CoreLogic reported a 2.7% monthly advance to take the year-on-year gain to 6.8%.

The spring is traditionally the strongest portion of the year for housing, and data from CoreLogic and other providers suggest an upturn.

“Old-fashion supply and demand, fueled by historically low mortgage rates and improving consumer finances and confidence, continue to push home prices up,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.

Dallas and Houston prices are showing few signs of let-up despite the collapse in energy prices. Dallas prices were up 10.3% in the 12 months to April, and Houston prices were up 9.5%. The Washington, D.C., area brought up the rear with just a 1.6% advance.

South Carolina was the strongest state, with an 11.4% advance, while Massachusetts saw a 1.7% drop, one of only four states to register a decline.

CoreLogic is the first of the three major house-price trackers to report results. The Case-Shiller/20-city composite rose 5% in the year to March, and the FHFA house price report showed a 5.2% gain in the 12 months to March.

 

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-house-prices-accelerate-in-april-corelogic-says-2015-06-02